AP - If the Academy Awards are like the Super Bowl of entertainment, then it's game week in Tinseltown.

AP - A strong aftershock to Chile's deadly earthquake provoked a brief panic in the city of Concepcion, but no tsunami warning was issued and no injuries or damage have been reported.

AP - With creditors demanding solutions to the Greek debt crisis and the financial world increasingly on edge, Athens on Wednesday froze pensions, cut civil service salaries and slapped new taxes on everything from cigarettes and alcohol to fuel and precious gems.

AP - New York Rep. Charles Rangel temporarily stepped aside as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee Wednesday as he struggled with mounting ethics woes that left his political future uncertain at best.

AP - President Barack Obama urged Congress Wednesday to vote "up or down" on sweeping health care legislation in the next few weeks, endorsing a plan that denies Senate Republicans the right to kill the bill by stalling with a filibuster.

AFP - Thousands more troops were deployed Wednesday across quake-ravaged Chile as armed vigilantes patrolled neighborhoods to ward off looters and soldiers distributed emergency aid to desperate survivors.

AFP - Three powerful co-ordinated suicide attacks in the central Iraq city of Baquba killed at least 33 people and wounded 55 on Wednesday, just days before nationwide parliamentary elections.

Reuters - The president of the U.N. Security Council said on Tuesday it was ready to tackle proposals for new sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program, while U.S. diplomats worked to persuade China that action is needed.

Reuters - Chilean rescue crews fanned out with sniffer dogs on Wednesday around quake-ravaged cities and villages, some still hoping to find survivors and others to begin the daunting task of recovering the bodies buried under mountains of rubble.

Reuters - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he would explore adding more Republican ideas to his healthcare plan, even as congressional Democrats prepared for a final push to pass the overhaul without Republican backing.