AP - Mediation by South American leaders is having a positive influence on Bolivia's political crisis between the central government and restive eastern provinces demanding greater autonomy, Bolivian President Evo Morales said Wednesday. -- read full article
Reuters - A popular Turkish transsexual singer who infuriated the country's powerful armed forces by questioning a military campaign against Kurdish separatists told a court on Wednesday she would rather die than be silent. Bulent Ersoy is on trial on charges of "turning the people against military service" in a case that has raised concerns about free speech in the European Union candidate, where criticising the armed forces is taboo. -- read full article
AP - Former trade unionist and freedom fighter Kgalema Motlanthe becomes South Africa's president Thursday in an atmosphere tense with fears of political and economic crisis precipitated by the rude ouster of his predecessor. -- read full article
AP - Food recalls expanded in Europe and Asia Thursday as an industrial chemical linked to the deaths of four babies turned up in candies and other Chinese-made exports that were quickly pulled from store shelves.
AP - As the crowd marching through the streets of Myanmar's biggest city swelled to 100,000, the question wasn't what did they want, but when would the government crack down. -- read full article
AP - Zimbabwe's president is only four Cabinet posts away from carrying out a power-sharing agreement with the opposition, he said in an interview ahead of his Thursday address to the U.N. General Assembly.
AP - Pakistan's new president said he was trying to convince his country to support the war against Islamic extremists, after a group that claimed responsibility for the Marriott Hotel bombing threatened more attacks.
AFP - Pakistan's army said Wednesday it was investigating the crash of a suspected unmanned US spy plane near the Afghan border amid claims by tribesmen they had shot it down.
Reuters - South Africa's ruling African National Congress is not splitting following the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki and almost a third of the cabinet, one of the outgoing ministers said on Wednesday. -- read full article
AP - Two of the Arab world's most prominent Muslim theologians have waded into a bitter exchange of barbs, engaging in a debate that is a small-scale rendition of the worsening animosity between the Sunni and Shiite branches of Islam. -- read full article
AP - Lawyers for a former Italian intelligence chief want to call Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a witness in the trial of 26 Americans charged in the alleged kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric. -- read full article
AP - A militant group that claimed to be behind the deadly Marriott Hotel bombing in Pakistan's capital threatened more attacks Wednesday, warning again that Pakistanis should stop cooperating with the United States.
AP - Iraq's parliament overwhelmingly approved a provincial elections law Wednesday, overcoming months of deadlock and giving a boost to U.S.-backed national reconciliation efforts.
