AP - Myanmar's military junta has detained a popular comedian who had just returned from an aid trip to the cyclone-ravaged delta, a region where a human rights group said Thursday that the regime is forcing survivors to do menial labor for food.

AFP - International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Thursday pleaded with the UN Security Council to demand Khartoum arrest two Darfur war crimes suspects.

AP - Palestinian mortar fire killed a man at a factory in southern Israel on Thursday, prompting an Israeli reprisal airstrike that apparently missed its target and killed a 6-year-old girl in the Gaza Strip.

AFP - Kevin Pietersen's 115 rescued England from a top-order collapse on the first day of the third and final Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge here Thursday.

AP - The United Arab Emirates said Thursday it would name an ambassador to Baghdad in the coming days, making it the first Arab country to restore a full diplomatic mission to Iraq since Saddam Hussein's ouster.

AP - Turkey's top court ruled Thursday that Islamic head scarves violate secularism and cannot be allowed at universities, deepening a divide between the country's Islamic-oriented government and secular institutions.

AP - Arsema Dawit is the latest name on a somber list.

AP - U.S. and British diplomats were attacked Thursday as they tried to investigate political violence in Zimbabwe and a U.S. Embassy staffer was beaten, an embassy spokesman said.

AP - Khalid Sheikh Mohammed said he would welcome becoming a "marytr" after a judge warned Thursday that he faces the death penalty for his confessed role as mastermind of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

AFP - A convicted Australian drug lord and accused murderer escaped to Greece aboard a luxury yacht in a million-dollar operation before being caught and extradited, police said on Thursday.

AP - Zimbabwe's opposition presidential candidate has resumed campaigning after spending nine hours in police detention in the country's second main city.

AP - Israel's prime minister prepared to end a U.S. visit dominated by discussions on the dangers of a nuclear Iran to face his own domestic threats — a burgeoning police investigation and a public eager to see him go.