AP - Refugees and aid workers in eastern Chad told U.N. Security Council members Friday that their biggest worries are insecurity and banditry, which have been on the rise in the area for months.

AP - Israel sent aircraft, tanks and ground troops to pummel the Gaza Strip on Friday, killing one Palestinian and injuring 17, a day after Palestinian militants killed an Israeli civilian in a mortar attack.

AP - Greek authorities say subway construction work in the northern city of Thessaloniki has unearthed an ancient grave with a wealth of golden jewelry.

AP - Soldiers were ordered to deepen a diversion channel to speed the draining of an unstable earthquake-formed lake that was threatening to burst, state television said Friday.

AP - Two suspected Shiite militia leaders surrendered Friday during raids by U.S. forces, while tens of thousands of Shiite faithful streamed out of mosques to join protests against a security agreement with the United States.

AP - Myanmar's ruling generals on Friday accused foreign media of tarnishing the country's image by reporting that cyclone victims have not received any assistance.

AP - The opposition said Friday that its rallies had been banned indefinitely three weeks before the presidential runoff, while the U.S. ambassador accused President Robert Mugabe's regime of using food as a weapon to stay in power.

AFP - Australia's competition regulator launched an inquiry Friday into mining giant BHP Billiton's hostile takeover of rival Rio Tinto.

AFP - At least 21 people were killed and 47 others wounded Friday in the latest in a string of suspected Tamil Tiger attacks against civilians in the Sri Lankan capital, officials said.

AP - Zimbabwe's government ordered aid groups to halt operations in a move that could hamper food deliveries in the impoverished nation where millions depend on outside help.

AP - The jungle-shrouded Inca citadel of Machu Picchu may have been rediscovered — and looted — decades before the Yale scholar credited with the find first got there, a researcher said Thursday.

AP - Two suspected Shiite militia leaders surrendered Friday during American raids on their homes south of Baghdad, the U.S. military said.

AFP - England's swimming pools will have free admission by 2012 in an effort to get more people involved in sports before the Olympic Games, the government will announce Friday.