AP - Swaziland and its king are throwing a joint 40th birthday bash this weekend, but the mood is far from celebratory in this small southern African land of paupers and princes, mud huts and palaces.

AP - For the first time since Golda Meir more than three decades ago, a woman is within reach of becoming the prime minister of Israel, a nation dominated by macho military men and a religious establishment with strict views on the role of women.

AP - Parliament condemned an American-led attack in Pakistani territory on Thurday after the government summoned the U.S. ambassador to protest the unusually bold raid in a troubled border region.

AP - Floodwaters frustrated efforts by Argentine peacekeepers to distribute food at orphanages marooned by Tropical Storm Hanna on Thursday. They hunkered down in their base as desperate people begged for food and water outside the gates.

AFP - Lawyers for detained former Bangladeshi premier Khaleda Zia said Thursday they will soon start lobbying authorities to free her now that her influential son has been released from custody.

Reuters - Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe is ready to go ahead and form a cabinet if opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai does not sign a power-sharing deal on Thursday, state media reported.

AP - Tropical Storm Hanna knocked out power to the southern Bahamas on Wednesday and officials from Nassau to South Carolina warned residents to prepare for possible evacuations as it moves north and grows into a hurricane.

AP - Syrian President Bashar Assad has disclosed that his country has handed proposals for peace with Israel to Turkish mediators.

AP - Before workers began moving mothballed equipment back into place, North Korea informed U.S. personnel at its Yongbyon nuclear plant it would start reassembling its nuclear facilities, a South Korean official said Thursday.

AP - Thailand's Cabinet agreed Thursday to hold a referendum on a civic group's street campaign to oust the prime minister, which has paralyzed the government for the last 10 days and raised fears of violence and economic chaos.

AP - Vice President Dick Cheney has arrived in Georgia, in a show of support for the South Caucasus nation and its pro-Western president.

AP - Pakistan stands with the U.S. against international terrorism, the Muslim nation's presidential front-runner wrote in a column appearing Thursday amid furor over a U.S.-led cross-border attack in Pakistani territory.