Reuters - China readied for its next leap into space on Thursday, with the Shenzhou VII craft primed to blast off with three astronauts and plans for a first space walk that will underscore the country's technological ambitions.
Reuters - Israeli President Shimon Peres called Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a danger and a disgrace on Wednesday, rebuking the Iranian president for his vitriolic condemnation of Israel and Zionism at the United Nations.
Reuters - The World Health Organization and UNICEF said on Thursday China's contaminated milk powder scandal was "deplorable" as more countries in Asia and Europe banned imports of Chinese milk products.
Reuters - A wide-ranging Bush administration review of the war in Afghanistan could recommend changes to U.S. strategy in less than a month, officials said on Wednesday.
Reuters - North Korea has expelled U.N. monitors from its plutonium-making nuclear plant and plans to start reactivating it next week, rowing back from a 2007 deal to scrap its atomic bomb program, officials said on Wednesday.
Reuters - Republican White House hopeful John McCain threw the campaign into turmoil on Wednesday by calling for a delay in the first presidential debate to try to forge a Wall Street rescue plan -- a surprise move promptly rejected by Democrat Barack Obama.
Reuters - Congress looked close to reaching a deal to approve a $700 billion plan to bail out the U.S. financial system and President George W. Bush called an emergency meeting for Thursday to hammer out details.
Reuters - President George W. Bush warned on Wednesday that the United States was in the middle of a serious financial crisis that could push the economy into a long-term recession if the government did not act.
AP - With another brutal loss, the New York Mets kept tumbling toward another September collapse. Derrek Lee blooped a go-ahead double in the 10th inning off Luis Ayala, Aramis Ramirez followed with a two-run homer and the Chicago Cubs rallied from a four-run deficit to defeat the Mets 9-6 Wednesday night.
AP - NASA is delaying next month's shuttle launch to the Hubble Space Telescope because of problems stemming from Hurricane Ike and replacement parts for the observatory.
AP - Food recalls expanded in Europe and Asia Thursday as an industrial chemical linked to the deaths of four babies turned up in candies and other Chinese-made exports that were quickly pulled from store shelves.
AP - As the crowd marching through the streets of Myanmar's biggest city swelled to 100,000, the question wasn't what did they want, but when would the government crack down. -- read full article
AP - Zimbabwe's president is only four Cabinet posts away from carrying out a power-sharing agreement with the opposition, he said in an interview ahead of his Thursday address to the U.N. General Assembly.
AP - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is visiting Washington to rally support in Congress for a civilian nuclear cooperation agreement reached long ago with the Bush administration.
