Marissa Mayer, Google’s Vice President of Search Product and User Experience has been named as one of Glamour Magazine’s Woman of the Year for 2009.

Violence erupted in Tehran on Wednesday as Iranian security forces clashed with thousands of anti-government demonstrators who were seeking to disrupt a state-sponsored rally marking the 30th anniversary of the takeover of the US Embassy.

Hamid Karzai was handed a second term as President of Afghanistan on Monday when poll officials scrapped the second round of voting following the withdrawal of his challenger.

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah withdrew Sunday from the upcoming runoff election against President Hamid Karzai, saying that the government is not meeting his demands for a fair vote.

Britain plans to host a “world-class” sporting event at least once every two weeks from now until the start of the London 2012 Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXX Olympiad.

Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas is the largest passenger vessel ever built. This “floating resort” is five times larger than the Titanic, has seven neighborhoods, an ice rink, a golf course and a 750-seat outdoor amphitheater.

A huge fire erupted in a fuel storage facility in India Thursday night, killing at least 12 people and injuring around 150.

A giant version of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa has gone on display at a shopping centre in Wrexham, Wales. It measures 17.5 meters across and is 50 times bigger than the original painting.

A powerful car bomb tore through a packed marketplace in Pakistan’s northwest city of Peshawar on Wednesday. The massive explosion occurred a couple of hours after U.S. State Secretary Hillary Clinton arrived in Islamabad, for three days of talks with Pakistani leaders.

A Japanese warship collided with a container vessel last night, causing fires on both crafts and injuring three crew members.

A Frenchman with multiple convictions for sexual crimes went on trial on Monday charged with kidnapping and raping a five-year-old boy. The case has prompted officials to consider castration for repeat offenders.