AP - Israeli and Palestinian negotiators have agreed to start drafting elements of a proposed peace accord, the chief Palestinian negotiator said Friday.

AP - At least 2 million people in Zimbabwe face greater risk of starvation, homelessness and disease because the government ordered aid groups to halt operations there, according to the U.N.'s top humanitarian official.

AP - Water began flowing into a spillway Saturday from a swollen lake formed by a landslide in China's devastating earthquake, easing the immediate threat of a flood that had led to the evacuation of more than 250,000 people.

AFP - A strong magnitude-six earthquake struck east of the East Timorese capital of Dili, seismologists said Friday.

AFP - China braced Saturday for the breaching of a dangerously swollen lake in the quake-hit southwest, with water reaching a critical level and set to put an emergency drainage plan to the test.

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.