TEHRAN, Iran – Iran’s nuclear chief said Friday the country has started making more efficient centrifuge models that it plans to put in use by early 2011 — a statement that underscores Tehran’s defiance and adds to international concerns over its nuclear ambitions. The official, Vice President Ali Akbar Salehi, …

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – Shots were fired from the Gaza Strip on Saturday at Egyptians installing an underground barrier meant to choke off the smuggling of goods and weapons through tunnels into blockaded Gaza. No one was reported injured in the attack, Palestinian and Egyptian officials said. But Egypt …

COPENHAGEN – The largest and most important U.N. climate change conference in history opened Monday, with organizers warning diplomats from 192 nations that this could be the best, last chance for a deal to protect the world from calamitous global warming. The two-week conference, the climax of two years of …

WASHINGTON – Use of antidepressant drugs in the United States doubled between 1996 and 2005, probably because of a mix of factors, researchers reported Monday. About 6 percent of people were prescribed an antidepressant in 1996 — 13 million people. This rose to more than 10 percent or 27 million …

Sri Lankan authorities questioned the new leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels Friday after he was arrested in Southeast Asia and flown to this island nation. Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the insurgent group’s former chief arms smuggler, assumed the leadership of the Tamil Tigers after government forces routed the rebels in May …

CENTRAL, La. – The Central High football team is fighting a tough opponent before the season even begins. The school says 20 football players, about one-fifth of the team, are either sick or recovering from the flu. With so many players out sick, the coach says the football field reminds …

KABUL – Insecurity in significant portions of Afghanistan has hindered election preparations and disproportionately affected Afghan women, a report co-authored by the U.N. mission in the country said Sunday. Militant violence has risen steadily in the past three years, and a record number of U.S. and NATO troops are now …

NEW YORK – At St. Francis Preparatory School this fall, the auditorium will double as a sick room. New York City might make students wash their hands several times a day. There will be a unit on H1N1 in health class. In the weeks after the H1N1 outbreak that began …

Iran’s opposition leader said on Monday that the protest movement that has swamped Iran since the country’s disputed presidential elections in June will continue, saying the government crackdown on protesters will only increase the size of his movement. “The pro-reform path will continue,” Mir Hossein Mousavi said in a statement …

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras – Honduras’ interim government closed its main airport to all flights on Monday after blocking the runway to prevent the return of ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Clashes with his supporters caused the first death in a week of protests. Police and soldiers blanketed the streets of the capital …