AP - Iraqi and U.S. negotiators have finished work on a draft security agreement that would see all American troops leave Iraqi cities by June 30 and the rest of the country by the end of 2011, Iraqi officials said Wednesday.

AP - Norway's Defense Ministry says Russia has informed it that it plans to cut all military ties with NATO.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite.

AP - A Spanish airliner bound for the Canary Islands at the height of the vacation season crashed, burned and broke into pieces Wednesday while trying to take off from Madrid, killing 149 people on board, officials said.

AFP - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev promised to pull almost all troops from Georgia by the weekend, but there was no immediate sign of movement Wednesday.

AFP - President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday told French soldiers mourning 10 comrades killed by the Taliban that their work in Afghanistan was essential for the "freedom of the world" and must continue.

Reuters - New York City has agreed to pay a $2 million settlement to protesters arrested during a 2003 rally against the Iraq war who said their civil rights had been violated, lawyers for both sides said on Tuesday.

Reuters - The Kremlin said its forces would pull back from Georgia's heartland by Friday to positions set out under a French-brokered peace plan, amid mounting Western criticism about the slowness of the troop withdrawal.

Reuters - Deadlock between Pakistan's coalition partners over the restoration of deposed judges has raised questions about the survival of the government that forced President Pervez Musharraf's resignation.

Reuters - A joint venture created by LandCap Partners is buying $40 million of troubled land and construction loans from Wachovia Corp The Wall Street Journal said.

Reuters - The U.S. government has been using its border checkpoints to collect information on citizens that will be stored for 15 years, raising concern among privacy advocates, the Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

Reuters - Russia's Larisa Ilchenko took gold on Wednesday by just over a second in the grueling 10km women's openwater swim, a new Olympic event that lived up to its reputation for toughness.

Reuters - An earthquake hit southwest China on Wednesday, knocking down houses and forcing around 1,200 people to evacuate from near the site of a devastating quake which killed at least 70,000 people in May, state media said.

Reuters - Sly hints and outright guesses fostered speculation in the U.S. vice presidential sweepstakes on Tuesday as Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain neared their choices of a No. 2.

AP - Umpires want baseball to take another look at instant replay. Umps said their governing board voted Tuesday to boycott a conference call with management intended to discuss implementing replay and are angry that their concerns aren't being addressed.