AP - Russian forces blocked the only land entrance to Georgia's main oil port city on Thursday, a day before Russia promised to complete a troop pullout from its ex-Soviet neighbor.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice flew into Baghdad on Thursday for discussions with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and other top Iraqi officials, hoping to iron out remaining differences in a U.S.-Iraq security deal that envisions the withdrawal of American troops.

AP - Missiles destroyed a suspected militant hide-out near the Afghan border Wednesday where foreign insurgents were known to frequent, killing at least five people, Pakistani officials said.

AFP - Twelve Algerian employees of the Canadian engineering firm SNC-Lavalin were killed and 15 others were wounded in a car bombing Wednesday in Algeria, the company announced.

AP - U.S. and Iraqi negotiators have finished a draft agreement that would see American troops removed from Iraqi cities by June 30, an Iraqi official said Wednesday. But the draft has not been approved by the Cabinet and some members have expressed opposition.

AFP - Prime Minister Gordon Brown is to raise human rights issues with Chinese leaders when he attends the Olympic Games in Beijing, he said in a letter released Wednesday.

AP - Two elderly Chinese women who applied during the Olympic Games to protest the loss of their homes have been ordered to spend a year in a labor camp, a relative said Wednesday, as more foreign activists were detained.

AP - Russian forces on Wednesday built a sentry post just 30 miles from the Georgian capital, appearing to dig in to positions deep inside Georgia despite pledges to pull back to areas mandated by a cease-fire signed by both countries.

AP - Ousted from Pakistan's presidency, Pervez Musharraf has been unwinding with friends and admirers and on the tennis court. He's building a roomy farmhouse on the edge of the capital.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her Polish counterpart signed a deal Wednesday to build a U.S. missile defense base in Poland, an agreement that prompted an infuriated Russia to warn of a possible attack against the former Soviet satellite.

AP - A Spanish airliner bound for the Canary Islands at the height of the vacation season crashed, burned and broke into pieces Wednesday while trying to take off from Madrid, killing 149 people on board, officials said.

AFP - China has detained six American pro-Tibet activists, including an artist who planned to project a giant laser beam onto a Beijing building at the Olympics, a group said Wednesday.