The chief minister of India's most populous state came from humble origins, but Mayawati, as she is known, has not been shy about displaying her wealth. Recently, the show of opulence at a political rally — where she accepted a garland made entirely of money — seems to have gone too far, even by her standards.

The opium trade in Afghanistan is a key source of income for the Taliban. The group uses the money to carry out suicide bombings and other attacks. But a team of Afghan police commandos is working around the clock to cut off this dangerous funding source.

The child and sex abuse scandals that rocked the Catholic Church in Ireland harmed the church's standing in the eyes of many Irish. But the church is so deeply woven into the fabric of Irish life, it is difficult for many people to distance themselves from it.

In the throes of a vicious drug war, Mexico's border city of Juarez — with its endless wave of kidnappings and executions — has become one of the most violent places on earth. The city is shouldering unfathomable sorrow, and its mothers are the most public face of that suffering.

NATO forces, who took the southern Afghan region of Marjah last month, are now trying to establish their hold on it by winning the confidence of local people. That includes paying for damage to businesses and farms from battle and paying condolences to families of civilians who were killed. A U.S. Marine commander faces one of his hardest tasks: apologizing and paying compensation to the family of a father whom Marines killed by mistake.

A dozen ancient shipwrecks have been discovered in the Baltic Sea, just east of Sweden. The well-preserved ships are hundreds of years old. The oldest wreck may date back 800 years.

Ahead of regional elections later this month, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's right-wing coalition is facing a storm of accusations over alleged corruption. Beyond politics, many Italians report a "feeling of decay" amid a culture of fraud. An estimated one-third of Italians evade their taxes.

To show support for schoolchildren devastated by the earthquake, fifth-graders in Northridge, Calif., sent the kids letters that included poems, comic strips and stickers. The students in California and those in Haiti say they'd like to be pen pals for life.

U.S. Marines are now trying to build relationships with local people after gaining ground in the southern Afghanistan area of Marjah. But after two years of Taliban control, the group's presence is still deeply felt — especially the threats sent in "night letters" to those who cooperate with foreigners.

UNICEF estimates that more than 20,000 children lost their parents in the Jan. 12 quake and its aftermath. Relatives or neighbors are caring for many of these children. Others, such as a group of boys in a Port-au-Prince park, are fending for themselves.