BAGHDAD (AP) _ Iraq's presidential council on Wednesday rejected a draft provincial elections law and sent it back to parliament for reworking — a major blow to U.S. hopes that the vote can be held th » Full Story

BEIJING (AP) _ China will allow a modicum of dissent at the Olympics, setting up special protest zones far from the main sports venues, in a shift that supporters and detractors said Wednesday is mean » Full Story

GUATEMALA CITY (AP) _ Adoption officials said Wednesday that DNA tests indicate a Guatemalan baby reported stolen from her mother was being adopted by a U.S. couple, the first strong sign that the Cen » Full Story

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is pushing North Korea hard to accept terms to verify the dismantling of its nuclear weapons program after breaking a four-year hiatus in Cabinet-l » Full Story

TOKYO (AP) _ A powerful earthquake rattled parts of northern Japanese early Thursday, injuring nearly 100 people, triggering landslides and cutting power to thousands of people, officials said.

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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serb nationalists skirmished with riot police in the capital Tuesday, lashing out against the new Western-leaning government that captured war crimes suspect Radovan Karadzic. » Full Story

JERUSALEM (AP) — A Palestinian attacker turned a construction vehicle into a fearsome weapon in downtown Jerusalem just hours before Barack Obama’s visit Tuesday, ramming a bus, overturning a car and » Full Story

NEW DELHI (AP) — India’s government survived a bruising political battle to win a confidence vote Tuesday, reviving a landmark nuclear energy deal with the United States that is at the center of an em » Full Story

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba (AP) — A former driver for Osama bin Laden knew the target of the fourth hijacked plane on Sept. 11, a prosecutor said Tuesday as he sought to undercut defense argument » Full Story

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) — European Union foreign ministers agreed Tuesday to toughen sanctions against Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe to pressure him to share power with the opposition ahe » Full Story