AP - An ultra-Orthodox Jewish party run by an octogenarian rabbi who has said Hurricane Katrina was divine punishment emerged Thursday as the kingmaker in forming the next Israeli government.

AP - Thousands of parents anxious over tainted baby milk powder rushed their infants to hospitals for health checks on Thursday as the government said that a fourth child had died in the scandal that has engulfed one-fifth of the nation's formula makers.

AP - A U.S. soldier pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder and was sentenced to seven months in prison Thursday in the deaths of four Iraqis, saying he stood guard from a machine-gun turret while the bound men were shot.

AP - At least 25 militants with suspected links to al-Qaida have been arrested in connection with the deadly attack on the U.S. Embassy in the Yemeni capital, a senior security official said Thursday.

AFP - The west's relations with Russia are at a turning point after its intervention in Georgia and a pact to sell Australian uranium to Moscow is in the balance, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Thursday.

AP - Japan's central bank agreed with the U.S. Federal Reserve Thursday to work together to swap dollars and yen as the Bank of Japan pumped more cash into financial markets amid worries about the collapse of Lehman Brothers.

Reuters - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has described his power-sharing deal with the opposition as a humiliation but intends to remain "in the driving seat," state media quoted him as saying on Thursday.

AP - Paraguay's new President Fernando Lugo visited Brazil Wednesday with one goal: launching talks to earn his poor country more money from a dam on the nations' shared border, the largest hydroelectric project in the world.

AFP - London shares edged higher Thursday after Lloyds TSB agreed a takeover deal for rival HBOS, and as investors grappled with a major central bank plan to boost liquidity.

AP - When facing allegations of U.S. airstrikes killing or injuring civilians in Afghanistan, it is better to apologize first and investigate later, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says.

AP - Malaysia's opposition leader demanded Thursday an emergency Parliament session for a no confidence vote in the government, insisting he has secured enough defections from the ruling coalition to topple it.

AP - Seven American soldiers were killed in southern Iraq early Thursday when their helicopter crashed as it was flying into the country from Kuwait, the U.S. military said.

AP - Israel's foreign minister declared victory Thursday in a tight race to replace Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as the head of the governing party, getting a chance to be the country's first female leader in 34 years.