FILE - A Thursday Dec. 4, 2008 photo from files showing author JK Rowling reading to around 200 schoolchildren at a tea party in the Parliament Hall Edinburgh Thursday Dec, 4, 2008, where she read passages from her new book "The Tales of Beedle the Bard". J.K Rowling described how press intrusion made her feel like a hostage, Hugh Grant traded insults with a newspaper editor and a former tabloid reporter insisted that only evildoers had any need of privacy. The first phase of Britain's media ethics inquiry ended this week after 40 days of dramatic hearings that heard from 184 witnesses _ celebrities, journalists, editors, academics and lawyers _ and revealed wildly differing perspectives on the murky workings of the tabloid press.

David Cheskin, File, Pool/AP Photo

UK gov't: Press must face tougher penalties

The British Cabinet minister responsible for the media says the press must face tougher penalties for breaches of standards in the wake of the tabloid phone-hacking scandal. 1329052682

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Iran urges Hamas to continue fight against Israel

Iran's supreme leader has urged the Hamas prime minister of Gaza to continue the Islamist militant group's resistance against Israel. 1329049408
Al-Qaida executes 2 Yemenis suspected of US links

A security official says al-Qaida-linked militants have publicly executed two Yemenis suspected of collaborating with the United States. 1329047288
France's far-right leader attempts image change

Marine Le Pen has purged the old guard from her father's extreme-right National Front party and is reaching out to Jews, maligned under his leadership, in her bid to be the next president of France. 1329046101
Hamas strongman in Gaza rejects unity deal

A rare public rift broke open Sunday in the usually tightly disciplined Islamic movement Hamas over a reconciliation deal that would require it to relinquish key areas of control in the Gaza Strip. 1329050889
Turkish jets hit suspected rebel targets in Iraq

Turkey's military says warplanes have bombed suspected Kurdish rebel targets in northern Iraq. 1329041289
Al-Qaida urges Muslims to help Syrian rebels

Al-Qaida's chief has called on Muslims from other countries to support rebels in Syria seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad, saying they cannot depend on the West for help. 1329054481
Militants decry attacks against Pakistani military

Pakistan's leading militants have called on fighters to honor an agreement not to attack the Pakistani military in the most important sanctuary for the Taliban and al-Qaida along the Afghan border. 1329049094
Officials: Gaza man killed in Israeli airstrike

Palestinian officials say Israeli airstrikes have killed a security guard in the Gaza Strip.
Gunmen kill provincial judge, child in Afghanistan

Gunmen burst into a family home of a provincial judge in eastern Afghanistan, killing him and his niece in the latest assassination of an Afghan government official, authorities said Sunday. 1329046403
Venezuelans: Will Chavez's challenger pose threat?

With Venezuela's first-ever opposition primary set to begin, allies and adversaries of President Hugo Chavez are focused on one burning question: Will the winner have what it takes to defeat a shrewd and charismatic leader who thrives during election campaigns? 1329054788
Malaysia deports Saudi accused of prophet insult

Malaysian authorities on Sunday deported a young Saudi journalist accused of insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter, a police official said. The move came despite concerns from rights groups that he may be persecuted at home.
New Maldives leader names conservatives to Cabinet

The Maldives' new president expanded his Cabinet on Sunday to include religious conservatives who have been demanding the introduction of strict Islamic laws in the Indian Ocean nation that relies on high-end tourism. 1329045492
Japanese emperor to have heart bypass surgery

Japanese Emperor Akihito will have heart bypass surgery later this month, his palace said Sunday after the 78-year-old monarch was hospitalized for tests over the weekend.
Mystery disease kills thousands in Central America

Jesus Ignacio Flores started working when he was 16, laboring long hours on construction sites and in the fields of his country's biggest sugar plantation.
Turkmenistan votes in presidential election

Voters in Turkmenistan headed to the polls Sunday in a presidential election designed to cement the incumbent's hold on power in the authoritarian Central Asian nation. 1329050595
Teenage Tibetan nun sets herself on fire in China

An 18-year-old Tibetan nun has set herself on fire in western China in the latest such protest against Beijing's handling of the vast ethnic Tibetan regions it rules, an overseas activist group said Sunday. 1329055382
Former President Silva hospitalized in Brazil

Brazil's popular former president has been hospitalized.
Mob in Mexico kills 3 suspected kidnappers

Authorities say a mob in central Mexico has beaten three suspected kidnappers to death.
Top US general meets Egyptian leader amid strained relations

The Pentagon's top general met Saturday with the head of Egypt's ruling military council amid the fraying of bilateral relations over a criminal case against 16 American civil society workers.