AP - North Korea's Kim Jong Il had brain surgery after a stroke last month and could have partial paralysis on one side, media reports said Thursday, after the South Korean government said the communist leader remained in control of his country.

AP - Over the past 20 years, Japan has had 13 prime ministers. In a pattern rarely seen outside the communist world, individual leaders have come and gone, but the ruling party has remained the same.

AP - Pakistan's prime minister on Thursday backed a harsh rebuke of the U.S. by the Muslim nation's military chief, a sign of a strain in relations seven years after the Sept. 11 attacks forged the two countries' anti-terror alliance.

AP - Militants killed two U.S. soldiers eastern Afghanistan on the anniversary of 9/11, making 2008 the deadliest year yet for American forces in the country that sheltered al-Qaida while it plotted the terror attacks on New York and Washington.

AP - Malaysia's police and armed forces warned people Thursday not to make public remarks that could sour race relations, in a bid to scotch tensions following a Malay politician's diatribe against the ethnic Chinese minority.

AFP - The United States, Mexico and Costa Rica remained unbeaten in the semi-final phase of regional World Cup qualifying Wednesday, continuing their march toward South Africa 2010.

AP - A Druse politician in Lebanon who recently helped reconcile rival factions within his minority community was killed when a bomb tore through his car, police said.

AP - A small blip on a computer screen sent champagne corks popping among physicists in Switzerland. Near Chicago, researchers at a "pajama party" who watched via satellite let out an early morning cheer.

AP - North Korea's Kim Jong Il had brain surgery after a stroke last month and could have partial paralysis, media reported Thursday, after the South Korean government said he remained in control of his country.

AP - A confidant of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert says the Israeli leader will step down "immediately" after his party chooses a successor this month.

AP - The day after Hurricane Gustav roared through western Cuba, families were salvaging belongings from their flattened homes when state-television cameras turned up.

AP - Pakistan's military chief has criticized U.S. cross-border raids from Afghanistan, saying his country's sovereignty will be defended and warning that the assaults could stoke militancy.