AP - China warned the death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000, while the government issued a public appeal Thursday for rescue equipment as it struggled to cope with the disaster.

AP - Tang Xiaomin had just left her fourth-floor apartment to buy groceries when the building started crumbling around her. An upstairs neighbor was thrown against the kitchen table and grabbed her purse before rushing out. Another resident, who was expecting a baby, was resting and became trapped.

AP - After 11-year-old Zhang Jiazhi crawled free of the rubble that remained of his middle school, his parents began a 20-hour ordeal to get medical care for their son, whose arms were crushed to a pulp.

AP - U.S. and Iraqi troops moved against al-Qaida on two separate fronts Thursday, with house-to-house searches in Mosul and an operation in the desert to stanch the flow of insurgents and weapons to that northern city.

AP - From shopkeepers handing out free rice porridge to medical students caring for the sick, ordinary people in Myanmar are stepping in to help cyclone victims as the military regime severely restricts international aid.

AFP - A biopic on Northern Irish prisoner Bobby Sands who died after 66 days on hunger strike, part of an epic battle of wills with British premier Margaret Thatcher, got its world premiere Thursday in Cannes.

AP - Iran's new offer for international talks touches on a broad range of topics, but fails to address U.N. Security Council calls for Tehran to give up uranium enrichment, according to a copy of the offer obtained Thursday by The Associated Press.

AP - Interpol said Thursday it found no evidence of tampering in computers seized from a slain leftist rebel, discrediting Venezuela's assertions that the files are bogus and giving Colombia the international backing it sought.

AP - Myanmar's junta warned Thursday it will punish anyone found hoarding or trading foreign aid meant for cyclone survivors, but relief groups said they had seen no evidence of people selling or stockpiling donated goods.

AFP - Australia is considering taking Iran's president to the International Court of Justice for inciting violence against Israel, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Wednesday.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter 15: Coming HomeIn this final chapter of "A World of Conflict," Kevin Sites returns home to the U.S., only to confirm what he suspected -- that in the year that he was gone little had changed.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter 14: Israel-Hezbollah WarThe war between Israel and Hezbollah shook the landscape in the Middle East.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter 13: Sri LankaKevin Sites covered Sri Lanka as violence erupted between the government and Tamil Tiger rebels, pushing a nation with so much to lose back to the brink of all-out war. In rebel-held territory Sites interviewed Tiger fighters about their tactics and reported on the many effects of war still seen in the region.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter 12: Nepal and KashmirKevin Sites covered Nepal during a time of sweeping political change that followed mass nationwide protests, forcing the autocratic King to cede power.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter 11: Child BrideIn Afghanistan, Kevin Sites met a 12-year-old girl named Gulsoma, whose incredible story of resilience resonated with millions of people worldwide. She was only six years old when she was sold to a neighbor family in Kandahar as a child bride.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter 10: AfghanistanReporting from Afghanistan in spring 2006, more than four years after the U.S.-led coalition ousted the Taliban, Kevin Sites found that war is not over in the country.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter Nine: ChechnyaIn Chechnya during the winter of 2005-2006, Kevin Sites reported on a region still reeling from lingering conflict between Russia and Islamic separatists. The conflict engulfed Chechnya in the 1990s, and even now, half of the population is yet to return. Those that have eke out a living amid the rubble.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter Eight: Iran

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter Seven: IsraelIn Israel, Kevin Sites interviewed Kinneret Boosany, a victim of a suicide bombing at a Tel Aviv cafe in 2002.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter Six: Lebanon and Gaza

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter Five: IraqA year after the Nov. 2004 Battle of Fallujah, Kevin Sites returned to Iraq to gauge progress on a different fight in the turbulent city: rebuilding and improving security.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter Four: UgandaWinston Churchill once dubbed Uganda the "Pearl of Africa." But this pearl has had its blemishes in the 43 years since its independence, as Kevin Sites discovered in northern Uganda.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Chapter Three - Democratic Republic of the CongoKevin Sites visits a nation that was once considered the battleground of Africa's "First World War." Along the way he interviews former child soldiers as well as the victims of the Congo's brutal rape epidemic, where civilian women have become the target of the many armies and militias operating in the eastern part of the nation.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - "A World of Conflict" is the documentary about the "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" project, in which veteran war correspondent Kevin Sites reported from every major global conflict in one year, in an effort to understand the costs of a world perpetually at war.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - "A World of Conflict" is the documentary about the "Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone" project, in which veteran war correspondent Kevin Sites reported from every major global conflict in one year, in an effort to understand the costs of a world perpetually at war.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Global conflicts continue to rage around the world; though we can't cover all of them at the same time, we're committed to keeping you informed by bringing you timely updates from sources we trust, including journalistic colleagues and freelancers.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Global conflicts continue to rage around the world; though we can't cover all of them at the same time, we're committed to keeping you informed by bringing you timely updates from sources we trust, including journalistic colleagues and freelancers.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - When the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003, Marine Captain Josh Rushing was sent into the action, but not actual combat. He was posted at the U.S. media center in Doha, Qatar, to take on the world's press corps. Strangely, as a relatively junior officer, he was made point person for arguably the Middle East's most influential Arab news channel: Al Jazeera.

Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - In June, the Hot Zone reported the details of a recent massacre reportedly committed by Rwandan Hutu militia in eastern Congo in which 18 civilians, including six children, were killed.

AP - A Jewish-American billionaire questioned by police as part of a corruption investigation into Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Thursday he has never given money to the Israeli leader and called suggestions of any wrongdoing "insulting."

AP - Hezbollah has proven it can force Lebanon's U.S.-backed government to cave in on key issues. But the Shiite militant group's power is not absolute — the government is still in place and Hezbollah has lost support among the people by turning its guns on them.

AFP - The employers of a Palestinian cameraman who was killed by Israeli tank fire while filming in the Gaza Strip a month ago called for answers over his death from Israel's military Thursday.

Reuters - Arab League mediators announced a deal on Thursday to end Lebanon's worst internal fighting since the civil war, after the U.S.-supported government backed down in its conflict with Hezbollah.

AFP - Israel warned on Thursday that its forces were prepared to launch a major military assault on Gaza after a rocket attack wounded at least 14 people while US President George W. Bush was in Israel.

AP - President Bush gently urged Mideast leaders to "make the hard choices necessary for peace," leaving it to embattled Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to stand before a divided parliament Thursday and forcefully declare that this war-weary nation is ready for a historic agreement with Palestinians.

AFP - Palestinians protested across the occupied territories on Thursday on the 60th anniversary of the "catastrophe" of the birth of Israel and the exodus of hundreds of thousands of refugees.

AFP - US President George W. Bush warned on Thursday that allowing Iran to obtain a atomic bomb would be "an unforgivable betrayal" as he made his second visit to Israel in five months.

AP - On a sun-baked tour Thursday of an ancient Israeli fortress overlooking the Dead Sea, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert took a sip of water from a silver cup, then handed it to President Bush.

Reuters - President George W. Bush told Israelis on Thursday they were a "chosen people" who can forever count on American support against enemies like Hamas and Iran.

AP - The Hezbollah-led opposition and U.S.-backed government agreed Thursday to hold political talks that will lead to the election of Lebanon's army chief as president, an Arab mediator said.

AFP - Militants loyal to Lebanon's Hezbollah-led opposition on Thursday began removing roadblocks on the highway leading to Beirut's international airport, paving the way for commercial flights to resume, an AFP correspondent said.

AFP - Visiting US President George W. Bush vowed on Thursday to support Israel in battling "terror" groups as the nation marks its 60th anniversary still struggling to find peace with Arab neighbours.

AP - Palestinians marked the 60th anniversary of their uprooting with rallies, sirens and black balloons Thursday — an annual ritual made even darker this year by crippling internal divisions and diminishing independence hopes.

AFP - Squabbling Lebanese factions agreed on an Arab League-mediated deal on Thursday to begin talks on defusing a long-running feud that drove the deeply divided country to the brink of a new civil war.

Reuters - A month after journalist Fadel Shana was killed by an Israeli tank crew in the Gaza Strip, Reuters renewed its demand on Thursday for a prompt explanation from the Israeli army of why it fired on its cameraman.

AFP - Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit said in remarks published on Thursday that peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians before the end of the year is unlikely.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush offered a peace prophecy for the Middle East on Thursday in which the enemies of the United States faced a future of defeat.

AP - Barack Obama accused President Bush of "a false political attack" Thursday after Bush warned in Israel against appeasing terrorists — early salvos in a general election campaign that's already blazing even as Obama tries to sew up his party's nomination.

AP - Republican John McCain declared for the first time Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won by 2013, although he rejected suggestions that his talk of a timetable put him on the same side as Democrats clamoring for full-scale troop withdrawals.

AP - Hillary Rodham Clinton scolded John McCain Thursday for his opposition to the farm bill, attempting to maintain the sense that she is already competing against the certain Republican presidential nominee even as her chances for winning the Democratic nomination dim.

AP - Barack Obama collected the support of four of John Edwards' Democratic National Convention delegates on Thursday, then gained the backing of four superdelegates and a large labor union as he marched steadily toward the party's presidential nomination.

AP - Oregon is fertile ground for Barack Obama, the self-described "change" candidate. The state that has led the way in everything from bike trails to assisted suicide is also the first to vote entirely by mail.

AP - Edwards endorsement provides Obama more delegates, labor support ... Bush warns against appeasing terrorists; Obama claims 'false political attack' on him ... Clinton says McCain's opposition to farm bill a slap at rural America ... United Steelworkers union endorses Obama ... McCain outlines vision that achieves Iraq victory, curbed spending and bipartisanship

AP - The Federal Communications Commission agreed unanimously Wednesday to try again to create a nationwide emergency communications network after an earlier plan failed to attract sufficient support from private investors.

AP - In a monumental victory for the gay rights movement, the California Supreme Court overturned a voter-approved ban on gay marriage Thursday in a ruling that would allow same-sex couples in the nation's biggest state to tie the knot.

Reuters - The United Nations is investigating allegations that its peacekeepers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo committed sexual abuses, which aid workers said involved paying children for sex.

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday defeated legislation that would have funded the war in Iraq for another year, in a surprise move that the Senate could overturn.

AFP - The US House of Representatives Thursday rejected 163 billion dollars in emergency spending for Iraq and Afghanistan, in a largely symbolic twist in a fierce political battle over war funding.

AP - Edwards endorsement provides Obama more delegates, labor support ... Bush warns against appeasing terrorists; Obama claims 'false political attack' on him ... Clinton says McCain's opposition to farm bill a slap at rural America ... United Steelworkers union endorses Obama ... McCain outlines vision that achieves Iraq victory, curbed spending and bipartisanship

AP - U.S. and Iraqi troops moved against al-Qaida on two separate fronts Thursday, with house-to-house searches in Mosul and an operation in the desert to stanch the flow of insurgents and weapons to that northern city.

Reuters - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won by 2013, leaving a functioning democracy there and allowing most U.S. troops to come home.

Reuters - Gunmen opened fire on a car carrying three Iranian embassy staff in Baghdad on Thursday, wounding them and their Iraqi driver, a spokesman for the Iranian embassy said.

AP - Republican John McCain declared for the first time Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won by 2013, although he rejected suggestions that his talk of a timetable put him on the same side as Democrats clamoring for full-scale troop withdrawals.

Reuters - The U.S. House of Representatives defied President George W. Bush by passing legislation on Thursday that would set the end of 2009 as the goal for withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq.

AFP - Iraqi security forces carried out mass arrests in the main northern city of Mosul on Thursday as a major crackdown against Al-Qaeda entered its second day, officials said.

AFP - Defying a White House veto threat, the US House of Representatives Thursday took up a 163 billion dollar emergency budget for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which includes troop pullback timelines.

AFP - Republican candidate John McCain laid out for the first time Thursday a timeline to end the Iraq war, arguing he would get most US troops home by 2013 if elected president.

Reuters - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki vowed on Thursday to impose law and order in northern Iraq and said an offensive against al Qaeda militants would end the "dark days" of shootings and bomb attacks.

Reuters - Republican presidential candidate John McCain said on Thursday he believes the Iraq war can be won within four years, leaving a functioning democracy there and allowing most U.S. troops to come home.

Reuters - Clashes between Shi'ite militiamen and security forces in Baghdad's Sadr City slum killed seven people and wounded 19 overnight, Iraqi police and hospitals said on Thursday.