AFP - England claimed the one-day series against South Africa 4-0 after only three overs of the fifth and final match were possible due to heavy rain here Wednesday.

AP - Far-reaching Tropical Storm Hanna drenched flood-plagued Haiti on Wednesday, adding to the miseries of a country that has lost 110 lives to mudslides and flooding since mid-August.

AP - Spotting a family stranded on the roof of a partly submerged house, two Indian navy commandos swept in over the muddy floodwaters in a black rubber dinghy to save them Wednesday — only to be shooed away.

AP - U.S. troops on boats in the Tigris river mistakenly killed six Iraqis Wednesday in an exchange of fire between the two sides north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.

AP - South Korea said Wednesday that North Korea has started restoring its nuclear facilities after the communist country suspended operations last month to disable them.

AP - Helicopters ferried U.S.-led troops to a border village in a raid that left at least 15 people dead on Wednesday, including civilians, officials said.

AP - A U.S. Navy flagship loaded with aid steamed through the Dardanelles on Wednesday en route to Georgia, as the Bush administration prepared to roll out a $1 billion economic aid package for the former Soviet republic.

AFP - Flood-hit northern India is in dire need of international aid on the level of that seen after the 2004 Asian tsunami, a state official said Wednesday.

AFP - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has left South Africa after inking a raft of energy agreements with Pretoria, a senior government spokesman said Wednesday.

AFP - Former Prime Minister Tony Blair's sister-in-law says she is trapped in the Gaza Strip as Israel refuses to let her leave the Palestinian territory she entered aboard a protest boat.

AP - Official campaigning doesn't begin for another week, but potential successors to Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda began rallying their forces Wednesday ahead of a vote to formally name his replacement.