AFP - The scandal over child sex abuse by Catholic priests flared again Wednesday as Pope Benedict XVI prepared to take centre stage at the world's biggest Christian festival in Sydney.

Reuters - Malaysian opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim has been arrested for sodomy, his lawyer said on Wednesday, setting the stage for a political showdown that could further rattle the country's financial markets.

AFP - The government late on Tuesday circulated a statement in the UN Security Council that would slam as "an unacceptable act" last week's ambush killing of seven international peacekeepers in Sudan's Darfur region.

AP - Tropical Storm Bertha headed back out over open ocean and away from the U.S. mainland Tuesday after it battered Bermuda, knocking out electricity to thousands on the Atlantic tourist island.

AFP - The German auto parts group Continental rejected on Wednesday an offer by family-owned rival Schaeffler Group for Continental shares valuing the firm at 11.3 billion euros (18 billion dollars).

AP - Burying his face in his hands, a 16-year-old captured in Afghanistan sobs and calls out "Oh Mommy!" in a hidden-camera video released Tuesday that provides the first look at interrogations inside the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay.

AP - A New York fundraiser and a Las Vegas gambling czar have become major headaches for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, raising new questions about the relationship between Jewish Americans and the Jewish state.

AP - U.S. and Afghan troops have abandoned a remote outpost in eastern Afghanistan where militants killed nine American soldiers this week, officials said Wednesday.

AP - Lebanese guerrillas on Wednesday handed over two black coffins believed to contain the bodies of Israeli soldiers whose capture started a war, as a prisoner exchange with Israel got under way.

AFP - Indonesia on Tuesday expressed regret for violence in East Timor in 1999 after accepting a report blaming it for crimes against humanity, but rejected calls for an international tribunal.

AP - Sens. Joseph Biden and Richard Lugar said Tuesday they will push bipartisan legislation this year that would triple humanitarian spending in Pakistan but threaten to cut military aid unless Islamabad does more to fight terrorists.

Reuters - Zimbabwe's Christian community on Tuesday rejected President Robert Mugabe's re-election last month as marred by violence and intimidation and said it would support a government of national unity.

AP - Tropical Storm Bertha headed back out over open ocean and away from the U.S. mainland Tuesday after it battered Bermuda, knocking out electricity to thousands on the Atlantic tourist island.