AP - A joint gathering of major developed and developing nations on Wednesday agreed that climate change was "one of the great global challenges of our time" and pledged to back a United Nations effort to conclude new climate pact by 2009. The major economies said they supported longterm and midterm goals for greenhouse-gas reductions, but endorsed no targets.
AP - Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards test-fired nine long- and medium-range missiles Wednesday in war games officials say are in response to U.S. and Israeli threats, state television reported. -- read full article
AP - Australia's top Roman Catholic cleric has denied trying to cover up a sexual abuse case involving clergy, attempting Tuesday to fight off an embarrassing scandal just days before Pope Benedict XVI arrives for a visit.
AP - Afghanistan blamed a foreign intelligence agency Tuesday for the bombing of the Indian Embassy, making a clear reference to Pakistan as U.S. generals step up calls for the neighboring nation to crack down on extremists.
AFP - The US ambassador to the UN said Tuesday that he was confident a sanctions resolution targeting Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and his cronies would be passed by the Security Council this week.
AP - Ecuadorean officials seized two private television stations in early morning raids Tuesday, and they indicated the government will run them at least temporarily. -- read full article
AP - Israeli troops stormed the shopping mall in this West Bank city Tuesday and ordered it to close, saying the popular facility is linked to the militant Islamic Hamas.
AP - Angry parents whose children were crushed to death in schools that collapsed in China's mighty earthquake are no longer being allowed to march, wave banners and vent their rage in public. -- read full article
AP - World leaders on Tuesday endorsed halving world emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, edging forward in the battle against global warming but stopping short of tough, nearer-term targets.
AP - Iraq's national security adviser said Tuesday his country will not accept any security deal with the United States unless it contains specific dates for the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.
AFP - The leader of the Catholic church in Australia Tuesday denied trying to cover up allegations of sex abuse against a priest, just days before Pope Benedict XVI is due to visit for World Youth Day.
AP - A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 struck off the coast of the southern Japanese island of Okinawa on Tuesday, Japan's Meteorological Agency said. -- read full article
