AP - Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week.

AP - Hugo Chavez, once a key mediator in securing hostage releases from Colombian rebels, could do little more than phone congratulations to President Alvaro Uribe after this week's bold rescue.

AP - Alexander Downer announced Thursday he is quitting Australian politics following a career as the country's longest-serving foreign minister and one of its highest-profile leaders of the past decade.

AFP - Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Suresh Raina hit sparkling half-centuries to inspire India to the final of the Asia Cup with a six-wicket over Sri Lanka in a Super League match here Thursday.

AP - A spokesman for the U.S. mission here on Thursday denied Cuba's charge that American diplomats were instigating opposition protests linked to American independence day.

AP - The deputy prime minister defended Turkey's ruling party in court Thursday against charges that it is steering the country toward Islamic rule.

AFP - European Union environment ministers cleared some ground Thursday as they debated how to achieve the vaunted dream of slashing the 27-nation bloc's carbon pollution by 2020.

AP - Not so long ago, the U.S. enjoyed something akin to a mythical status in Poland. Ronald Reagan was a hero, the dollar was king and Washington was a trusted guardian against Russia.

AP - A day after a Palestinian construction worker's deadly rampage in Jerusalem, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday called for reviving the practice of demolishing the homes of attackers' families, and his chief deputy proposed cutting some Arab neighborhoods off from the rest of the city.

AP - About 200 Zimbabwe opposition supporters sought refuge Thursday at the U.S. Embassy in Harare amid new reports of violence against dissenters.

AP - Former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt embraced her children for the first time in six years Thursday, saying the thought of them helped her stay alive until a daring rescue plucked her and 14 other hostages from the jungle.

AFP - Former foreign minister Alexander Downer, who juggled Australia's historic ties to the West with its Asian ambitions for more than a decade, announced his retirement from politics Thursday.