Recently in International News Category

A Russian court denied parole to a member of the band Pussy Riot on Friday, news sources reported.

Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, who has served half of her required sentence after staging a protest about Vladimir Putin in Moscow's cathedral, has been denied parole, USA Today reported.

Her parole was denied because she did "not always follow the rules of behavior," said Judge Lidiya Yakovleva to Huffington Post.

Other band members have served time for the protest conduct in March 2012, USA Today reported.

All the band members were charged with hooliganism motivated by religious hatred, the Huffington Post reported.

"Both the Pussy Riot girls and those lads who desecrate soldiers' graves should answer before the law. We don't convict people for their political views but for breaking the law," Putin said to USA Today.

Britain's only female panda has been artificially inseminated Sunday to increase the likely-hood of her becoming pregnant, news sources reported.

The Edinburgh Zoo had been monitoring it's male and female panda for the past week looking for signs of "natural mating," The Guardian reported.

Tian Tian, which translates to "Sweetie," exhibited signs that weren't "conducive to mating," the Huffington Post reported.

Yang Guang, which translates to "Sunshine," is Tian Tian mate and showed "encouraging behavior," but they pair never "mated naturally," the Guardian reported.

The pandas will not be displayed until Tuesday, the Huffington Post reported.

Scientists will know if the artificial insemination was successful by mid-July and if so, the cubs will be expected to be born end of August or the beginning of September, the Guardian reported.

The death of several individuals in Pakistan in suspected to be result of U.S. drone strike in northwestern Pakistan Sunday, news sources reported.

Two missiles made impact in the small village of Data Khel, CNN reported.

The missiles struck after a double-cabin pickup truck entered the village, which is suspected to be a militant's hideout, NBC News reported.

"Five bodies were later recovered from debris of the house when two drones flying over the area disappeared," said a local tribe member Hashim Khan to NBC News.

The identities of the causalities are still unknown, NBC News reported.

The British born actor, Richard Griffiths, died Thursday of complications following his heart surgery, news sources reported.

Richard Griffiths, 65, the popular British actor who was known for his supporting role as Uncle Vernon Dursley in the Harry Potter series, died of complications following his heart surgery at University Hospital of Coventry and Warwickshire Thursday, The Guardian reported.

"Any room he walked into was made twice as funny and twice as clever just by his presence, " Griffiths co-star Daniel Radcliffe said, BBC news reported.

Griffith stared in a number of other films, stage performances and TV shows including Withnail and I, The History Boys and Minder, BBC News reported.

"Richard gave acting a good name. He was a remarkable man and one of our greatest and best-loved actors. He will be greatly missed," Simon Beresford, Griffiths' agent, said in a statement to The Guardian.

A new Catholic Pope has been elected in Rome Wednesday, news sources reported.

Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was elected as the new Catholic Pope Wednesday, Time News reported.

Cardinal Bergoglio, who chose the name Pope Francis, was elected on the fifth ballot, BBC News reported.

Pope Francis will be replacing former Pope Benedict XVI was announced last month that he was retiring, Times News reported.

Pope Francis is 76-years-old and is the first Pope from Latin America, BBC News reported.

A Nigerian Islamic group claimed Saturday that they have killed hostages on their website, news sources reported.

Ansaru, a Nigerian Islamic group, kidnapped seven foreign construction workers and now has claimed to have killed them, The Guardian reported.

The seven workers worked for a Lebanese company called Setraco where they were seized and a guard was killed in the process, BBC News reported.

The UK government said that Ansaru is now classified as a terrorist group, BBC News reported.

The Foreign Office said that they are working urgently on this incident, The Guardian reported.

The official Twitter account of Burger King was hacked Monday, news sources reported.

The account photo was changed to McDonald's logo, which was accompanied by the tweet "We just got sold to McDonalds!" the Star Tribune reported.

The account name was also changed to McDonalds, CBS News reported.

Burger King contacted Twitter to have the account suspended after the site had been hacked for an hour and 45 minutes and over 55 tweets had been sent, the Star Tribune reported.

The hackers were able to send links to celebrities and profanity to Burger King's 85,048 followers, CBS News reported.

Who the hackers are is still unknown, but McDonald's and other competitors were empathetic towards Burger King and the incident, the Star Tribune reported.

Burger King regained control of their site and sent out the tweet, "Interesting day here at BURGER KING, but we're back! Welcome to our new followers. Hope you all stick around!" the Star Tribune reported.

Pope Benedict XVI announced Monday his future resignation that will occur on Feb. 28, news sources reported.

Benedict announced said that his position, "both strength of mind and body are necessary, strength which in the last few months has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me," New York Times reported.

Benedict resignation is the first to occur in 600 years, Huffington Post reported.

Benedict was elected in 2005 after the death of John Paul II, New York Times reported.

A new pope is expected to be elected by Easter, Associated Press reported.

Lindsey Vonn, defending gold medal Olympian, needs reconstruction knee surgery after falling during the super-G race in Schladming, Austria Tuesday, news sources report.

After medical personnel assisted Vonn for 12 minutes she was airlifted to a hospital. Vonn suffered two torn knee ligaments and a lateral tibial plateau fracture, United States ski team's medical director said to New York Times.

Dr. Tom Hackett, a team physician for the United States Ski and Snowboard Association, told the New York Times the future for Vonn looks optimistic. "We've had a lot of skiers and snowboarders come back in a year and do very well, " Hackett said.

In a special interview Vonn told the Denver Post that she was unable to train prior to the race Tuesday because of the weather conditions. Many other contestants were unable to finish the race because of the "extreme situation" the weather had caused, USA Today reported.

Vonn "is expected to return to racing for the 2013-14 Audi FIS World Cup season and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi," the Washington Post reported.

Ten rare and endangered borneo pygymy elephants were found dead in a forest in Malaysia Tuesday with an unknown cause of death, new sources report.

Over the past three weeks the carcasses of the ten dead Borneo pygymy elephants have been found at the Gunung Forest Reserve in Borneo, according to the New York Times. The cause of death appears to be poisoning, but whether the poisoning was intentional is still unknown, USA Today reports.

Sabah environmental minister, Masidi Manjun, told USA Today that there are no signs that the Borneo pygymy elephants were poached for their tusks. Masidi Manjun also said in his statement to USA Today, "The death of these majestic and severely endangered Borneo elephants is a great loss to the state."

The World Wildlife Foundation estimates that less than 1,500 Borneo pygymy elephants are still alive, according to the New York Times.