AP - Asia-Pacific powers on Thursday announced an ambitious plan to pool their military and civilian resources for disaster responses in a region beset by cyclones, earthquakes and floods.

AP - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama landed in Berlin Thursday, kicking off the European leg of his overseas trip amid high expectations.

AFP - A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook northern Japan early Thursday, injuring more than a dozen people as the force shattered windows and set off fires, officials said.

AP - Iraq's presidential council rejected a draft law paving the way for U.S.-backed provincial elections, returning it to parliament for reworking, an official said Wednesday.

AP - Cycling's image is in tatters, and authorities inside and outside the sport are being tougher than ever on doping. Yet it hasn't stopped the drug cheaters at the Tour de France.

AP - Radovan Karadzic's secret life included a mistress, a bogus family he claimed he left behind in the U.S., and frequent visits to a Belgrade pub called "The Madhouse," acquaintances said Wednesday.

AP - Beijing will set up specially designated zones for protesters during next month's Olympics, a security official said Wednesday, in a sign China's authoritarian government may allow some demonstrations during the games.

AP - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama defended his proposal to negotiate with Iran Wednesday and said he would use "big sticks and big carrots" to persuade the country's leaders not to develop nuclear weapons.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice pushed North Korea on Wednesday to accept terms to verify the dismantling of its nuclear weapons program, as the two countries held cabinet-level talks for the first time in four years.

AP - As violence in Afghanistan escalates, the U.S. is responding by scrambling to get in more troops. But it's far from clear how the strategy will work in a vast, rugged land where hiding places are many and suspicion of foreign forces is deep.