The World leaders on Monday hailed news of the death of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden in a firefight with covert U.S. forces in the Pakistani city of Abbottabad, northeast of the capital Islamabad.

His death marks the biggest triumph yet in the 10-year U.S. war against terrorism launched after the September 11 attacks.

A 12-year-old suicide bomber killed four people and wounded a dozen in east Afghanistan Sunday, while rebel clashes with police and NATO-led troops left five civilians and two police dead, officials said.

The death toll from the day's fighting included at least three children besides the bomber, and dozens of civilians were wounded in firefights as violence appeared to escalate after the Taliban announced a spring offensive.

Pope Benedict XVI bestowed the status of "blessed" on his predecessor John Paul II on Sunday in front of a cheering crowd of over a million people, putting the late pope on the path to sainthood.

A giant banner bearing a youthful portrait of the Polish pontiff was unveiled over the facade of Saint Peter's Basilica after Benedict pronounced the formula of beatification just six years after John Paul's death.

One of three alleged members of al-Qaida detained in Germany was ordered by a high-ranking member of the group last year to carry out an attack in the country, prosecutors said Saturday.

The 29-year-old suspect, identified as Abdelakim El-K, "was ordered by a high-ranking member of al-Qaida in 2010 to carry out an attack in Germany," the deputy federal prosecutor general, Rainer Griesbaum, said at a press conference.

A Brazilian zoo Friday signed off on their two new Bengal tigers and in a nod to their regal bearing named them William and Kate in honor of the royal wedding in England, Agence France Presse reported.

The big cats, a four-year-old male and five-year-old female, were acquired in a deal with an amusement park and are expected to arrive at the Rio zoo on Monday.

Several gunmen killed a policeman early Saturday in the largely Muslim region of Karachayevo-Cherkessia where an ancient church was also set on fire, officials said.

During a nighttime attack several assailants approached an off-duty policeman and shot at him in front of a bar in the Caucasus city of Cherkessk.

Shocked Americans struggled Thursday to grasp the magnitude of the worst U.S. tornadoes in decades, which carved a trail of destruction across the south, claiming at least 305 lives, Agence France Presse reported on Friday.

Communities like Alabama Governor Robert Bentley's home town of Tuscaloosa were virtually wiped off the map, and officials warned the body-count would rise as rescuers uncovered more dead in the debris.

Russian security forces killed five militants in a special operation in its violence-torn Northern Caucasus region, Agence France Presse reported on Friday.

The Interfax news agency quoted investigators as saying that the militants were killed in the village of Progress on the administrative border between the Stavropol region and the largely Muslim region of Karbadino Balkaria.

A 12-year-old boy has been crowned Maharaja of Jaipur, becoming head of what was once one of India's most glamorous and wealthy royal families, Agence France Presse reported.

In a grand marble hall, Kumar Padmanabh Singh was blessed by priests at the coronation ceremony before he walked slowly through the city palace to receive a military guard of honor.

Thailand and Cambodia said Thursday they had agreed to end fierce fighting on their shared border after seven days of clashes that have left 15 dead, Agence France Presse reported.

"After discussions by the military on both sides this morning, there is a ceasefire agreement... border checkpoints will be reopened and villagers will start to return home," said Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn.