AP - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Myanmar to focus on saving lives, not on politics, after the military government on Wednesday shunned a U.S. proposal for naval ships to deliver aid to cyclone survivors.

AP - Israel and Syria on Wednesday said they were holding indirect peace talks through Turkish mediators — the first official confirmation of contacts between the longtime enemies.

AP - Lebanon's feuding factions reached a breakthrough deal Wednesday that ends the country's 18-month political stalemate, but also gives the militant Hezbollah group and its allies veto over any government decision.

AP - An animal rights activist threatened "direct action" to stop the killing of 400 kangaroos because of overpopulation in Australia's capital after two protesters unsuccessfully tried to disrupt the cull Tuesday.

AFP - Zimbabwe's ruling party on Tuesday dismissed as fantasy opposition claims that President Robert Mugabe's military intelligence was plotting to assassinate its leadership ahead of a run-off election.

AP - A day after surrendering to the army, a one-eyed, battle-hardened female rebel commander urged other guerrillas Monday to follow her example and abandon their decades-long struggle.

AFP - Analysts and investors turned gloomier in May about prospects for the German economy, the biggest in Europe, because of rising prices and rise of the euro, the ZEW institute's monthly indicator showed on Tuesday.

AP - Suspected Sunni insurgents ambushed a minibus carrying Iraqi police recruits near the Syrian border Monday, killing all 11 passengers, Iraqi officials said — the first deadly attack since Iraqi forces launched a major sweep against al-Qaida fighters in the region.

AP - Israeli aircraft launched at least two strikes on Palestinians Tuesday, killing a 13-year-old boy and an unidentified man in the Gaza Strip, Palestinian doctors said.

AP - Myanmar began three days of mourning for some 78,000 cyclone victims Tuesday, after its ruling junta appeared to relent to foreign pressure to allow more outside help for its storm survivors.

AP - China said it was struggling to find shelter for many of the 5 million people whose homes were destroyed in last week's earthquake, while the region remained jittery Tuesday over warnings of aftershocks.