Lebanese militants fired at least three rockets into Israel early Thursday, threatening to open a new front for the Jewish state as it pushed forward with a bloody offensive in the Gaza Strip that has killed nearly 700 people. Read More

The U.S. Navy says one of its commanders will lead a new international force to battle pirates off the coast of Somalia. Read More

Two aid workers kidnapped from Ethiopia by Somali gunmen more than three months ago have been released in good health, their organization said. Read More

A 65-year-old democracy activist who tried to set up an opposition party in China has been sentenced to six years in jail, a human rights group said Thursday. Read More

Malaysia will lift a ban on the Malay edition of a Catholic newspaper if it agrees to stop using the word "Allah," an official said Thursday, but the editor of the paper rejected the precondition. Read More

Police say a masked gunman has shot to death the principal and a teacher at a school in the Budapest neighborhood of Csepel. Read More

Police are investigating the theft of a car from a London street, and a newspaper is reporting the vehicle was a BMW owned by Princess Beatrice. Read More

Six Iraqi soldiers were killed Thursday when an Iraqi army patrol was ambushed by two roadside bombs as they were responding to a mortar attack at a police station north of Baghdad, Iraqi police said. Read More

A gay rights group says nine men in Senegal have been convicted of homosexual acts and sentenced to lengthy jail sentences. Read More

Israeli representatives arrived in Cairo Thursday for Egyptian-brokered talks on a cease-fire proposal after the U.N. Security Council failed to agree on action to end the escalating crisis in Gaza. Read More

Israel says it will halt military action for 3 hours, allow Gaza residents to resupply Read More

Sri Lankan forces sweeping down from the north captured an important Tamil Tiger base on the Jaffna peninsula on Thursday, further boxing in the retreating rebel group, the military said. Read More

President Hugo Chavez will keep donating heating oil for poor American families in a costly decision that suggests the Venezuelan leader wants to keep to his pledges _ and buttress his image _ in spite of falling oil prices. Read More

Lebanon's prime minister has condemned rocket attacks on Israel from his country as well as the Jewish state's retaliation. Read More

Pakistan fired its national security adviser amid tensions following the Mumbai attacks, a possible sign of divisions in the weak civilian government over how to react to Indian and international demands it crack down on the alleged masterminds. Read More

Seven members of Zimbabwe's main opposition party were the first of dozens of jailed dissidents to be formally charged Wednesday, and they pleaded not guilty in a bombing plot. Read More

Troops won't have to dry their underwear on tank carriers thanks to a New York rabbi who raised more than $100,000 in two days to buy care packages for soldiers involved in Israel's offensive against Gaza militants. Read More

While one part of the Palestinian territories faces the fiercest Israeli onslaught in years, there is little to remind people in the other part of the war except for news reports, requests for blood donations and flags flying at half-staff. Read More

The United States has released another $99 million as part of an aid package to support Mexico's police and soldiers in their fight against drug cartels. Read More

NATO says that a bomb attack has killed one of its soldiers in southern Afghanistan. Read More