AP - The Iraqi government has banned candidates in upcoming provincial elections from using pictures of people not running for office in their campaign materials.

AP - A Palestinian laborer driving a construction vehicle rammed into packed buses, tossed cars into the air and rolled over pedestrians in a deadly rampage Wednesday that killed three people and wounded dozens in Jerusalem.

AP - Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday rebuffed a senior U.S. official for saying that Pakistan should focus on food prices and militancy rather than the fate of President Pervez Musharraf.

AP - Anti-terror police arrested 10 suspected Muslim militants and seized a large cache of high-powered bombs, foiling a major attack targeting Westerners in the Indonesian capital, police and media reports said Thursday.

AP - For Ingrid Betancourt's children, her release Wednesday after being held hostage for six years in the Colombian jungle filled an immeasurable void they had lived with as they grew into adulthood.

AP - Colombian spies tricked leftist rebels into handing over kidnapped presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt and three U.S. military contractors Wednesday in a daring helicopter rescue so successful that not a single shot was fired.

AFP - Younus Khan hit a magnificent century as Pakistan achieved a much needed eight-wicket win against India in the Asia Cup Super League match at the National Stadium here on Wednesday.

AP - The U.S. pressed fellow U.N. Security Council members Wednesday to impose sanctions to push for change in Zimbabwe, where leaders cannot agree whether to even talk about how to resolve their crisis amid fears of worsening political violence.

AP - Hezbollah's leader on Wednesday confirmed for the first time that his group will hand over two captured Israeli soldiers and information on a missing Israeli airman in exchange for five Lebanese prisoners in Israel.

AP - French designer Jean Paul Gaultier conjured neon birds of paradise heading to a high-class rave in his feathered-and-caged haute couture collection in Paris on Wednesday.