AP - An ambitious new Google Inc. service lets anyone upload most anything to a publicly searchable database, potentially laying the groundwork for a foray by the Internet juggernaut into classified advertising.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged China to move further to allow political and religious freedoms, and he held up Taiwan as a model for Asia of a free and democratic society.

Reuters - Three U.S. soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb that hit their patrol northwest of Baghdad on Tuesday, the military said.

Reuters - A suicide car-bomber rammed into a U.S. military convoy in the southern city of Kandahar on Wednesday, killing at least two Afghans, witnesses and foreign sources there said.

AFP - US President George W. Bush, citing Taiwan's move "from repression to democracy," urged China to grant its people broader religious and political freedoms and embrace deeper economic reforms.

AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says North Korea has not followed through on promises to drop its nuclear weapons program and needs to bring "a different attitude" to the next round of international talks.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged China to move further to allow political and religious freedoms, and he held up Taiwan as a model for Asia of a free and democratic society.

Reuters - A suicide car-bomber struck a U.S. military convoy in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Wednesday, killing three Afghan civilians, witnesses and a local official said.

AFP - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that North Korea must "get serious" in talks on dismantling its nuclear weapons program.

AFP - A French government bill extending until February a state of emergency is to be presented to the upper house Senate, a day after deputies approved the measure despite the country's gradual return to normalcy after nearly three weeks of suburban unrest.

AFP - Preliminary tests show a boy in central China contracted bird flu, health authorities said, in what would be the first confirmed human infection of the virus in the world's most populous country.

AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's security forces are questioning the Jordanian relatives of an Iraqi woman who took part in last week's triple suicide bombings that killed 54 people in Amman hotels, security sources said on Wednesday.

KARACHI (Reuters) - Pakistan has arrested a man blamed for a car-bomb attack that killed three people and wounded 15 in Karachi, the president said on Wednesday, as police suspicions turned to militants in Baluchistan province.

PUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday North Korea had not yet shown it was serious about the dismantlement and verification of its nuclear weapons program.

BEIJING (Reuters) - A senior Chinese official has been quoted as saying bird flu antibodies were detected in a 9-year-old boy in Hunan province, strongly suggesting he could become China's first human bird flu infection.

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The U.N. war crimes tribunal on Wednesday acquitted Sefer Halilovic, the highest-ranking Bosnian Muslim yet to stand trial in The Hague, of war crimes.

AP - Tornadoes barreled across the Midwest and portions of the Southeast, knocking out electricity and damaging buildings in several states. The storms killed at least one person.

AP - Piquing China just days before meetings with its leaders, President Bush on Wednesday held up the self-governing island of Taiwan that Beijing claims as its own as a model of freedom "at all levels" that the communist giant should emulate.

AFP - A French government bill extending until February a state of emergency is to be presented to the upper house Senate, a day after deputies approved the measure despite the country's gradual return to normalcy after nearly three weeks of suburban unrest.

AFP - Tight security and anti-war protesters will greet US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld when he arrives in Australia Thursday for talks on increasing military cooperation.

KYOTO, Japan (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday urged China to move further to allow political and religious freedoms, and he held up Taiwan as a model for Asia of a free and democratic society.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -- China's Ministry of Health on Wednesday confirmed three human cases of bird flu, including two cases in the central Hunan province and one in eastern Anhui, said the official Xinhua news agency, monitored in Singapore.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide car-bomber attacked a military convoy including U.S. troops in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Wednesday, killing three Afghan civilians, witnesses and a senior official said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A White House document shows oil executives met with Vice President Dick Cheney's 2001 energy task force which critics say secretly formed energy policy favorable to the industry, The Washington Post reported on Wednesday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain said on Wednesday it had agreed to extradite a computer expert wanted by the United States to face terrorism charges, but the man's family vowed to take the case to court to have the decision overthrown.

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Sunni Arab politicians demanded an international investigation on Wednesday into allegations that Shi'ite militias linked to Iraq's Interior Ministry tortured and abused prisoners in a secret Baghdad bunker.

AP - Chinese health officials Wednesday confirmed the country's first three human cases of bird flu. Two cases were confirmed in the central province of Hunan and one in the eastern province of Anhui, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.

AP - Consumer prices are expected to show a slight increase when the Labor Department releases the figures for October this morning. Yesterday's numbers showed producer prices climbing by 0.7 percent in October, while retail sales were better than expected.

AP - A summit focusing on narrowing the digital divide between the rich and poor residents and countries opened Wednesday with an agreement of sorts on who will maintain ultimate oversight of the Internet and the flow of information, commerce and dissent.

AP - A former employee who attempted to burglarize Speedway Restaurant apparently didn't know any good hiding places.

AFP - Asia-Pacific nations said that cutting farm subsidies was the key to salvaging next month's global trade talks, setting up a showdown with Europe over its state support for farmers.

AP - Piquing China just days before meetings with its leaders, U.S. President George W. Bush on Wednesday held up the self-governing island of Taiwan that Beijing claims as its own as a model of freedom "at all levels" that the communist giant should emulate.

AP - Inflation pressures bombarding consumers moderated significantly last month as energy prices retreated after hitting record highs in September.

AP - Iraq's main Sunni Arab political party on Wednesday demanded an international investigation into allegations that security forces illegally detained and tortured suspected insurgents at secret jails in Baghdad.

The Christian Science Monitor - Mixed emotions are written on Iraqi faces, as Sgt. Mindo Estrella leads a dusty foot patrol of US Marines in Fallujah. Smiles and furtive waves - even handshakes and shouts of 'Good! Good!' - blend with angry, sullen stares.

Reuters - China confirmed on Wednesday its first human cases of bird flu, adding to fears of a global pandemic in which millions of people could die.

Reuters - Washington Post journalist Bob Woodward testified this week in an investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's identity and said a senior Bush administration official told him of the woman a month before she was publicly identified.

Reuters - Sunni Arab politicians demanded an international investigation on Wednesday into allegations that Shi'ite militias linked to Iraq's Interior Ministry tortured and abused prisoners in a secret Baghdad bunker.

AP - Inflation pressures bombarding consumers moderated significantly last month as energy prices retreated after hitting record highs in September.

AP - The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday approved the nomination of Ben Bernanke to be the next chairman of the Federal Reserve, a position seen by many as the second-most influential job in the country.

Reuters - Bird flu has killed at least one person in China, officials said on Wednesday, confirming the spread of the deadly virus into people in another large Asian country where it might prove hard to contain.

Reuters - The Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday approved the nomination of Ben Bernanke to be chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, sending it to the full Senate for a final confirming vote.

Reuters - Sunni Arab politicians demanded an international investigation on Wednesday into allegations that Shi'ite militias linked to Iraq's Interior Ministry tortured and abused prisoners in a secret Baghdad bunker.

AFP - China has announced its first three human cases of bird flu, raising fears about a potential global pandemic that health authorities fear could kill millions of people worldwide.

AFP - US President George W. Bush has arrived in South Korea ahead of a summit of Asia Pacific leaders after making a bold call for China to launch democratic reforms.

AFP - French authorities have begun deportation procedures for foreigners blamed for some of the rioting that has rocked the country, as the upper house Senate met to push through a three-month extension to a state of emergency.

AFP - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has called for the Internet and information technology to be used to help build a better life for people in some of the world's poorest countries.

AP - Nearly three dozen tornadoes ripped through the Midwest, part of a huge line of thunderstorms that destroyed homes and killed at least two people.

AP - Iraq's main Sunni Arab political party on Wednesday demanded an international investigation into allegations that security forces illegally detained and tortured suspected insurgents at secret jails in Baghdad.

AP - Michael Jackson has stirred a small controversy in the United Arab Emirates by entering the ladies room in a shopping mall.

AP - A sigh isn't just a sigh in the courtroom of Nassau County Family Court Judge Richard Lawrence. There, a sigh could lead to a few nights in jail. But on Tuesday the state Commission on Judicial Conduct ruled Lawrence should be admonished for ordering a man locked up for contempt without first warning him he could be sent to jail or allowing him to say anything in his defense.

AP - Donovan McNabb will miss Philadelphia's game against the New York Giants on Sunday with a groin injury.

Reuters - The Pentagon on Wednesday acknowledged using incendiary white-phosphorus munitions in a 2004 counterinsurgency offensive in the Iraqi city of Falluja, but defended their use as legal.

Reuters - U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid urged his Republican counterpart on Wednesday to withdraw a threat to change Senate rules to assure a confirmation vote on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito.

AFP - China announced its first human cases of bird flu, saying the H5N1 virus had killed one woman, likely claimed the life of another girl and infected one boy who has since recovered.

AFP - Five people were killed and 60 wounded in a suicide car bomb attack at a busy intersection in the main city of revolt-hit Indian Kashmir, police said.

AP - The Senate on Wednesday approved far-reaching pension legislation meant to ensure that companies with traditional pension plans live up to the promises they make to their workers.

AP - Nearly three dozen tornadoes ripped through the Midwest, part of a huge line of thunderstorms that destroyed homes and killed at least two people.

AP - Fresh questions are percolating about the health effects of coffee, this time the decaffeinated variety.

AP - The skies are a lot friendlier for at least one passenger who got bumped off an overbooked flight.

AP - Broadcasting pioneer Ralph Edwards, who spotlighted stars and ordinary people as host of the popular 1950s show "This Is Your Life," died Wednesday of heart failure. He was 92.

Reuters - Five U.S. marines and 16 insurgents were killed in a firefight in western Iraq on Wednesday, the U.S. military said in a statement.

AFP - Iran started a new round of converting uranium ore into the feedstock gas for making enriched uranium, a move likely to complicate diplomacy over Iran's disputed nuclear program, diplomats said.

AFP - Five US marines were killed in western Iraq, bringing the two-day American death toll to nine, as the government faced calls for an international inquiry into torture allegations at a clandestine Baghdad prison.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The CIA has concluded that Cuban President Fidel Castro suffers from Parkinson's disease and could have difficulty coping with the duties of office as his condition worsens, an official said on Wednesday.

PUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush is likely to emphasize the need for unity in persuading North Korea to dismantle its nuclear weapons program when he meets South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun on Thursday.

DETROIT (Reuters) - As General Motors Corp. prepares to turn its ailing business around by cutting jobs, plants and payrolls, the pressure on its chief executive is mounting amid concerns that nothing short of a change at the top will help the world's largest automaker.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A recent letter attributed by the United States to top al Qaeda official Ayman al-Zawahri is a fresh sign the militant network is facing financial troubles, a senior U.S. Treasury official said on Wednesday.

AP - Counseling resolve and patience, President Bush is looking for a show of unity among Asian leaders to press North Korea to abandon its nuclear weapons program.

AP - A top Interior Ministry official said Wednesday the 173 malnourished prisoners found by U.S. forces included all Iraqi sects, playing down allegations of a campaign by Shiite-led security forces to suppress Sunni Arabs ahead of next month's election.

AP - Even after Richard Nixon's secret war in Cambodia became known, the president persisted in deception. 'Publicly, we say one thing,' he told aides. 'Actually, we do another.'

AP - People magazine has named its annual 'sexiest man alive' and, thankfully, Jennifer Aniston didn't scoop this one up too. Matthew McConaughey dons the cover of People's 'sexiest' issue, on newsstands Friday.

AP - Stocks closed an erratic session mixed Wednesday as General Motors Corp. hit an 18-year low, dragging down the Dow Jones industrial average. Rising oil prices also dulled investor enthusiasm.

AP - NFL owners voted Wednesday to tentatively award Kansas City a Super Bowl, largely as a tribute to owner Lamar Hunt, who gave the game its name.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In the sharpest White House attack yet on critics of the Iraq war, Vice President Dick Cheney said on Wednesday accusations that the Bush administration manipulated intelligence to justify the war were a 'dishonest and reprehensible' political ploy.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House and Senate panels on Wednesday approved bills to extend federal guarantees to cover losses from terrorist attacks, pushing forward legislation that property owners and insurers call essential to the economy.

PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - Rising sea levels caused by global warming could shrink New Jersey by up to 3 percent in the next 100 years, U.S. scientists warned on Wednesday.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida (Reuters) - NASA wants private enterprise to get involved in its plans to send manned spaceflights to the moon and beyond, the agency's head said on Wednesday.

AP - Bob Woodward's version of when and where he learned the identity of a CIA operative contradicts a special prosecutor's contention that Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide was the first to make the disclosure to reporters.

AP - Delta Air Lines Inc. asked a U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge Wednesday to void its contract with Delta's pilots' union so the beleaguered airline can impose deep wage and benefit cuts and avoid further financial erosion.

AFP - US President George W. Bush was to meet with South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun in talks Washington hoped would reinforce unity of purpose in ending the North Korean nuclear crisis.

AFP - Concern widened in a clutch of countries in Europe and north Africa over the use of their airports by US intelligence officials to transfer suspected Islamic extremists.

AP - Congress is sending a message to the NFL, NBA, NHL and their players: Now that baseball strengthened its steroids policy, we're turning our attention to you.

Reuters - Indonesia has had two more deaths from the H5N1 strain of bird flu confirmed by a laboratory in Hong Kong, bringing the total to seven in the country, the Health Ministry said on Thursday.

AP - In a show of unity, President Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun declared Thursday that a nuclear-armed North Korea "will not be tolerated" and agreed the problem should be resolved through peaceful diplomacy.

AP - DuPont Co. hid studies showing the risks of a Teflon-related chemical used to line candy wrappers, pizza boxes, microwave popcorn bags and hundreds of other food containers, according to internal company documents and a former employee.

AP - Three newspapers owned by Tribune Co., including the company's two flagship papers in Chicago and Los Angeles, said Wednesday they will cut jobs amid declining circulation and revenue.

Reuters - U.S. President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun agreed on Thursday talks should be held to replace the 1950-53 Korea War truce with a peace treaty and that a nuclear North Korea will not be tolerated.

AFP - US President George W. Bush and South Korean President Roh Moo-Hyun have set aside their differences on North Korea and agreed that a nuclear-armed Pyongyang was unacceptable.