AFP - Bank Lloyds TSB is in talks to buy bank HBOS, whose share price has collapsed in value this week, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

AP - Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday expressed "personal regret" for recent U.S. airstrikes that killed Afghan civilians, and pledged more accurate targeting in future.

AP - The U.S. military chief met with Pakistani officials Wednesday amid a flap between the two allies over recent American attacks on militant targets in tribal areas near the Afghan border.

AP - Thai lawmakers on Wednesday turned to the brother-in-law of deposed leader Thaksin Shinawatra to be the new prime minister, setting up a showdown with protesters determined to tear down his political legacy.

AP - Rivals for the leadership of Israel's ruling party faced off Wednesday in a race which will put one of them a step closer to leadership of the country.

AP - A car bomb targeting the U.S. Embassy hit the front gate of the compound in Yemen's capital on Wednesday, causing unspecified casualties, a U.S. spokesman said.

AP - A powerful undersea earthquake rocked East Timor's capital on Tuesday, sending terrified residents fleeing from homes and buildings, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage.

Reuters - U.S. defence chiefs visited Afghanistan and Pakistan on Tuesday amid growing fears that American-led forces are failing to crush a rising Taliban insurgency, and anger in Pakistan over U.S. cross-border raids.

AFP - Sudan and Chad are to restore diplomatic relations, mediators said Tuesday, five months after Khartoum accused Ndjamena of backing rebels in its Darfur region.

AP - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sat down together Tuesday night, possibly their last meeting before the Israeli leader leaves office, making a final push to forge a peace agreement by the end of the year.

AP - Trafalgar Square routinely serves as a stage for mimes, jugglers and other acts, but the tourist attraction drew an exceptionally curious crowd Tuesday when the shortest man who can walk met the woman with the longest legs.

AP - Both front-runners for the leadership of Israel's ruling party vow to take a hard line against Iran, threatening possible military force if sanctions do not halt what Israel believes is a covert nuclear weapons program.

AP - A power-sharing deal has not stopped the flow of Zimbabweans streaming into South Africa to escape the hunger and poverty wrought by runaway inflation in their homeland.

AP - Gen. David Petraeus, whose strategy for countering the Iraq insurgency is credited by many with rescuing the country from all-out civil war, stepped aside Tuesday as Gen. Ray Odierno took over as the top American commander of the conflict.