Reuters - A decision by Turkey's top court to annul a government reform which lifted a ban on Muslim headscarves at universities is a blow to freedom of religion and other fundamental rights, Human Rights Watch said on Saturday.

AP - The United Nations Security Council received assurances from Chad and Sudan that they will try to reconcile following last month's rebel attack on Sudan's capital that Khartoum blamed on Chad, France's ambassador to the U.N. said Friday.

AP - Cuba has authorized sex-change operations and will offer them free for qualifying citizens, an official said Friday. The move is the latest in a series of changes implemented by President Raul Castro since he succeeded his elder brother, Fidel, in February. Raul Castro's daughter, Mariela, heads Cuba's National Center for Sex Education, which strongly backs the new policy.

Reuters - French President Nicolas Sarkozy urged Lebanese leaders on Saturday to seal reconciliation through dialogue and commitment to an agreement that has pulled the country back from the brink of civil war.

AP - All he needs is love — and someone to keep an eye on his glasses.

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.