AP - Iraq and the U.S. have reached preliminary agreement to withdraw American forces from Iraqi cities by next June, six years into the increasingly unpopular war, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Thursday after meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

AP - An Australian environmental official says an abandoned baby whale that has been attempting to suckle boats in the waters off north Sydney will be euthanized.

AFP - Pakistan's coalition government appeared close to collapse Thursday after former premier Nawaz Sharif threatened to quit if judges sacked by ousted president Pervez Musharraf are not restored.

AP - President Robert Mugabe's government says he will open parliament next week despite the opposition's saying the step would undermine power-sharing talks.

AP - A group of nations that export nuclear material was meeting Thursday to discuss whether to grant India access to nuclear fuel and technology, a decision crucial to finalizing a landmark U.S.-India deal lifting a ban on such sales.

AP - One of the Pakistani government's main coalition partners threatened Thursday to quit unless judges fired by former President Pervez Musharraf are quickly reinstated — dashing hopes that Musharraf's departure would end the nation's turmoil.

AP - U.S.-led coalition troops battled a group of militants in eastern Afghanistan, killing over 30 insurgents, while three NATO soldiers were killed in a roadside blast elsewhere, officials said Thursday.

AP - Spain began three days of mourning Thursday for the 153 people who died when a jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff in the nation's worst air disaster in nearly 25 years.

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.