AP - A 7.2-magnitude earthquake ripped across mountains and rice fields in northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least three people as it sheared off hillsides, jolted buildings and shook nuclear power plants. At least seven people were missing.

AP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy energetically greeted President Bush on Saturday for private talks, the latest sign of the warming in U.S.-European relations that Bush has touted all week in his travels abroad.

Reuters - The U.S. general who recently handed over command of NATO troops in Afghanistan cast doubt on Friday on the ability of Pakistan's Frontier Corps paramilitary force to combat Islamist militants.

Reuters - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe said on Friday liberation war veterans would take up arms if he loses a June 27 presidential run-off vote.

AP - Israel announced plans Friday to build 1,300 more homes in east Jerusalem, further angering Palestinians who warned ongoing construction threatens efforts to work out a peace deal by the end of the year.

AP - A Dutch woman who was the oldest person in the world when she died at age 115 in 2005 appeared sharp right up to the end, joking that pickled herring was the secret to her longevity.

AP - It's a grim gauge of U.S. wars going in opposite directions: American and allied combat deaths in Afghanistan passed the toll in Iraq for the first time last month.

AP - President Bush said Friday that just as the United States helped Europe rebuild after World War II, the two powers must now stand with newborn democracies like Afghanistan and Iraq and reach out to people yearning for liberty, especially in the Middle East.

AP - Ireland's voters have rejected the European Union reform treaty, a blueprint for modernizing the 27-nation bloc that cannot become law without Irish approval, electoral officials said Friday.

AP - President Robert Mugabe said Friday that his supporters are ready to fight if the opposition wins an upcoming presidential runoff election, hardening the rhetoric of a campaign that already has seen widespread violence against government opponents.

AFP - Australia's acting prime minister met the Dalai Lama on Friday despite a warning from Beijing of its strong opposition to any support for the Tibetan spiritual leader.

AFP - China and Taiwan signed historic agreements on Friday that from next month will see thousands more people travel every day between the two rivals.