AP - Gunmen on Wednesday killed an Iraqi TV journalist, the second to be slain in Iraq in as many days, highlighting the dangers media workers continue to face in the country seven years after the U.S.-led invasion.

AP - Trying to smooth over recently rocky relations before a visit to Washington, Chinese President Hu Jintao told American officials on Wednesday that he wants to see healthy and stable ties between the two countries.

AP - John Demjanjuk attends most sessions of his trial in a hospital bed set up in the courtroom, wearing dark sunglasses and a hat pulled down over his face.

AP - Afghan election officials said Wednesday that scores of additional polling stations will have to remain closed during the Sept. 18 parliamentary vote because of the deteriorating security situation in the country.

AP - A servant of the politically powerful clan accused in last year's massacre of 57 people told a Philippine court Wednesday that the family members plotted the killings of rivals and journalists over dinner six days before the ambush.

AP - Shares in BP PLC have extended gains after the release of an internal report on the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that deflects much of the blame onto contractor Transocean.

AP - Five years ago, Lebanese thronged the streets of Beirut to protest Syrian control over their country in a movement that quickly ended decades of military domination.

AP - Tens of thousands of people have abandoned their homes across southern Mexico to escape flooding from weeks of torrential rains, and forecasts are predicting even more rainfall.

AFP - Suspected members of an Islamist sect have attacked a prison in northern Nigeria and fought a fierce gun battle with authorities, with one guard saying nearly all inmates escaped.

AFP - Police in Indian Kashmir on Wednesday arrested a leading separatist who has been spearheading months of protests in the disputed Muslim-majority region.

AP - Tensions emerged Wednesday between Australia's deputy prime minister and a kingmaker independent lawmaker over plans to make mining companies pay more taxes, underscoring the fragility of the country's new minority government.