INDIA - Scientists have created genetically modified tomatoes which stay fresh for a month longer than usual. The fruits remained firm for 45 days, three times as long as normal tomatoes which start to wilt after just 15 days, researchers said.
CHINA - China has warned the US president that it will harm ties between the two countries if he meets the Dalai Lama. Chinese Communist Party official Zhu Weiqun said there would be "corresponding action" if the meeting went ahead. The White House has indicated that Barack Obama intends to meet the head of Tibetans in exile.
VATICAN - The Pope has urged Catholic bishops in England and Wales to fight the UK's Equality Bill with "missionary zeal". Pope Benedict XVI said the legislation "violates natural law" and could end the right of the Catholic Church to ban gay people from senior positions. The Pope has confirmed he will visit the UK this year, the first since Pope John Paul II in 1982.
USA - Eight years ago, federal officials were struggling to remove potentially deadly E. coli from hamburgers when an entrepreneurial company from South Dakota came up with a novel idea: injecting beef with ammonia.
USA - Witches, Druids and pagans rejoice! The Air Force Academy in Colorado is about to recognize its first Wiccan prayer circle, a Stonehenge on the Rockies that will serve as an outdoor place of worship for the academy's neo-pagans.
CANADA - With over 15,000 highly-trained security personnel, backed by a lethal arsenal of military hardware, Vancouver is about to be wrapped in a billion-dollar security blanket for the Winter Olympics.
MIDDLE EAST - Tension between the US and Iran heightened dramatically today with the disclosure that Barack Obama is deploying a missile shield to protect American allies in the Gulf from attack by Tehran.
USA - The US will take on a broader range of military responsibilities, including defending space and cyberspace, in spite of growing pressure on budgets, a long-awaited administration report is set to conclude on Monday.
SWITZERLAND - Switzerland's justice minister warned in an interview on Sunday that top bank UBS could collapse if sensitive talks with the United States over a high-profile tax fraud investigation fall through.
CHEYENNE, WYOMING, USA - Yellowstone National Park is shaking again, but jitters seem few so far. Over eight days, more than 1,270 mostly tiny earthquakes have struck between Old Faithful and West Yellowstone. The strongest dozen or so have ranged between magnitudes 3.0 and 3.8.
IRAN - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the nation will deliver a harsh blow to the "global arrogance" on this year's anniversary of the Islamic Revolution. "The Islamic Revolution opened a window to liberty for the human race, which was trapped in the dead ends of materialism," Ahmadinejad said during a cabinet meeting on Sunday.
VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict on Sunday called on businesses and officials to stem job losses and made an explicit reference to two Italian plants to be shut soon, in a surprise boost to union efforts to keep the factories open.
WASHINGTON DC, USA - Sometimes there are no fireworks. Turning points can pass in silence, almost unobserved. It may be that way with the "Great Schism," the most serious division in the history of the Church. The end of the schism may come more quickly and more unexpectedly than most imagine.
VATICAN CITY - A Bulgarian Orthodox prelate told Benedict XVI of his desire for unity, and his commitment to accelerate communion with the Catholic Church. At the end of Wednesday's general audience, Bishop Tichon, head of the diocese for Central and Western Europe of the Patriarchate of Bulgaria, stated to the Pope, "We must find unity as soon as possible and finally celebrate together," L'Osservatore Romano reported.
BEIJING, CHINA - A moderate earthquake jolted southwestern China on Sunday, killing one person and injuring 12 others, officials said. More than 200 houses were damaged or destroyed. The quake struck at 5:37am (2137 GMT Saturday; 4:37pm Saturday EDT) in Sichuan province and registered a magnitude of 5.2, the US Geological Survey said. It said the quake was centered at a depth of 11.6 miles.