UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Haiti will ask the world on Wednesday for $4 billion to help it rebuild and modernize in the wake of the earthquake that destroyed the Caribbean nation's capital and killed up to 300,000 people.

AP - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton will co-chair a committee overseeing at least $3.8 billion in post-quake aid to Haiti, the ravaged country's prime minister said.

AP - Jason Richardson scored 27 points and Channing Frye hit a clutch 3-pointer with 41.6 seconds to go Tuesday night and the Phoenix Suns clinched a playoff berth by beating the Chicago Bulls 111-105 for their eighth straight win.

Reuters - Haiti will ask the world on Wednesday for $4 billion to help it rebuild and modernize in the wake of the earthquake that destroyed the Caribbean nation's capital and killed up to 300,000 people.

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (Reuters) - Two blasts, one set off by a suicide bomber, rocked Kizlyar in Russia's Dagestan region on Wednesday, killing at least 11 people just two days after twin bombs hit Moscow, officials told Reuters.

BEIJING/SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Yahoo email accounts of some journalists and other users whose work relates to China were compromised in an attack discovered this week, days after Google announced it would move its Chinese-language search services out of China due to censorship concerns.

AP - Two suicide bombers including one impersonating a police officer killed at least 12 people and injured 18 others in the southern Russian province of Dagestan on Wednesday, officials said. Nine police officers were among the dead.

AP - Police say a bomb concealed on a bicycle has killed 17 people in southern Afghanistan.

AP - Several members of a Christian militia that prosecutors claim plotted to kill police officers were scheduled to be in court Wednesday to determine if they will be allowed to go free on bond.

AP - Top Republicans are increasingly worried that GOP candidates this fall might be burned by a fire that's roaring through the conservative base: demand for the repeal of President Barack Obama's new health care law.

AP - Mine officials ignored safety rules and danger warnings in their haste to open a coal mine in northern China, leading to a flood that has trapped 153 workers since the weekend, a government safety body said Wednesday.

AP - Stormy conditions forced the military to suspend the search for 46 sailors missing since a mysterious blast blew apart their navy ship last week, officials said Wednesday, a day after a diver died during the rescue mission.

AP - Authorities in the nation's capital are investigating after a drive-by shooting killed three people and wounded six others.

AP - The women's Final Four will have a familiar look with three of last season's semifinalists returning, including defending national champion Connecticut.

Reuters - Two blasts, one set off by a suicide bomber, rocked Kizlyar in Russia's Dagestan region on Wednesday, killing at least 11 people just two days after twin bombs hit Moscow, officials told Reuters.

AFP - Twelve people were killed Wednesday in twin blasts in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region of Dagestan, one of which was caused by a suicide bomber, investigators said.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama is to announce on Wednesday a plan to permit exploration for oil and natural gas off the coast of Virginia as a way to create jobs and reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil.

MAKHACHKALA, Russia (Reuters) - Suspected suicide bombers killed at least 12 people in Russia's North Caucasus on Wednesday, two days after deadly attacks in Moscow that authorities linked to insurgents from the region.

OSLO (Reuters) - More than 110 nations including top greenhouse gas emitters led by China and the United States back the non-binding Copenhagen Accord for combating climate change, according to a first formal U.N. list on Wednesday.

AP - Two suicide bombers including one impersonating a police officer killed 12 people in southern Russia on Wednesday, two days after deadly suicide bombings blamed on the region's militants tore through the Moscow subway system.

AP - A bomb concealed on a bicycle killed at least eight people Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, as the Pentagon's top military officer said NATO forces hope to reverse the Taliban's momentum in the south with an upcoming offensive in Kandahar.

AP - Pakistan has asked Swiss legal authorities to reopen an old corruption case against President Asif Ali Zardari.

AP - Before the Las Vegas Strip ruled the gambling world, Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. helped make the Cal Neva Lodge one of Nevada's coolest casinos in the early 1960s.

Reuters - Suspected suicide bombers killed at least 12 people in Russia's North Caucasus on Wednesday, two days after deadly attacks in Moscow that authorities linked to insurgents from the region.

Reuters - More than 110 nations including top greenhouse gas emitters led by China and the United States back the non-binding Copenhagen Accord for combating climate change, according to a first formal U.N. list on Wednesday.

AFP - A suicide bomber disguised as a police officer set off one of two blasts that killed 12 people Wednesday in Russia's volatile North Caucasus, just two days after attacks in Moscow left 39 dead.

OSLO (Reuters) - More than 110 countries have signed up to the Copenhagen Accord on fighting global warming but the United Nations said on Wednesday that their pledges for cutting greenhouse gas emissions were insufficient.

AP - The second record storm that socked the Northeast this month was reduced to drizzle as it was winding down Wednesday, but the worst of widespread flooding was yet to come, forecasters said.

AP - A fourth person has died after being hit when a gunman sprayed bullets from a moving vehicle into a crowd in the nation's capital, police said Wednesday.

AP - A bomb concealed on a bicycle killed 13 people Wednesday in southern Afghanistan, as the Pentagon's top military officer said NATO forces hope to reverse the Taliban's momentum in the south with an upcoming offensive in Kandahar.

Reuters - More than 110 countries have signed up to the Copenhagen Accord on fighting global warming but the United Nations said on Wednesday that their pledges for cutting greenhouse gas emissions were insufficient.

AFP - Suicide bombers killed 12 people Wednesday in double strikes targeting police in Russia's turbulent North Caucasus, shaking the country just two days after attacks in Moscow left 39 dead.

AFP - Iranian nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili was heading to China to discuss Tehran's atomic programme, a report said Wednesday, as world pressure grew for fresh sanctions against the Islamic republic.

AP - Flooding across the Northeast forced hundreds of residents from their homes by Wednesday, knocked out sewage plants, and snarled traffic on major East Coast routes as roads transformed into a soaked labyrinth of detours and closures.

AP - The U.S. Navy says one of its aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf region and one of four crew members is still missing.

AP - Factory orders rose in February, bolstered by strong demand for industrial machinery and commercial aircraft. It was the 10th increase in 11 months as manufacturing provides crucial support for the recovery.

AP - A Swiss prosecutor says he can't reopen a criminal case against Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari because he enjoys 'absolute immunity' as a head of state.

AP - When it comes to predicting earthquakes, toads — warts and all — may be an asset.

AP - Jesse James reportedly is seeking professional help to deal with 'personal issues' after a cheating scandal that has put his nearly five-year marriage to Sandra Bullock on the line.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama announced on Wednesday plans for a broad expansion of offshore oil and gas drilling in an effort to win Republican support for new proposals to fight climate change.

KABUL (Reuters) - Iran is having a growing, negative influence in its neighbor Afghanistan, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said on Wednesday, citing what he said was a shipment of Iranian arms to fighters.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia will cement energy and arms ties with Latin America when Prime Minister Vladimir Putin travels to Caracas this week to meet two of the United States' biggest foes, Venezuelan and Bolivian Presidents Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales.

HAVANA (Reuters) - U.S.-Cuban relations have fallen to their lowest point since Barack Obama became U.S. president and are in danger of getting worse unless the two countries take serious steps toward ending five decades of hostility, according to Cuba experts.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International donors met on Wednesday to pledge up to $4 billion to Haiti, the first step in a worldwide effort to rebuild the country after January's catastrophic earthquake.

AP - Reversing a ban on oil drilling off most U.S. shores, President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced an expansive new policy that could put oil and natural gas platforms in waters along the southern Atlantic coastline, the eastern Gulf of Mexico and part of Alaska.

AP - European bishops are urging clerical sex abuse victims to go to police and are promising more transparency and cooperation with civil authorities in abuse cases.

AP - Former first lady Barbara Bush has been released from a Houston hospital, where she underwent tests after being admitted last weekend.

AP - A U.S. Navy aircraft crashed in the Persian Gulf region on Wednesday and one of the four crew members is still missing, the military said in a statement.

AP - Swiss authorities say they will decide on extraditing Roman Polanski after a California court rules whether he can be sentenced in absentia in a 33-year-old sex case.

AFP - The United Nations and the United States were jointly hosting a major fund-raiser for Haiti here Wednesday seeking 3.8 billion dollars to help the Caribbean nation recover from a devastating earthquake.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama announced plans on Wednesday for an expansion of U.S. offshore oil and gas drilling in an effort to win Republican support for new proposals to fight climate change.

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari faced more political turmoil on Wednesday as a lawyer for the anti-corruption agency said it had asked Switzerland to reopen old graft cases against him, signaling a Supreme Court challenge to his immunity as head of state.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Army secretary said on Wednesday he would not discharge gay personnel who admitted their sexual orientation to him, despite the 'don't ask, don't tell' stance that remains official military policy.

LONDON (Reuters) - Six world powers, including China, agreed on Wednesday to start drawing up new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in the next few days, a source with knowledge of the talks said.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's parliament rejected a presidential decree on Wednesday that would bar foreigners from a U.N.-backed electoral watchdog and would allow the president to select all of its panel members, a lawmaker said on Wednesday.

AP - Flooding on a scale rarely seen in New England forced hundreds of residents from their homes and businesses Wednesday, overwhelmed sewage systems and isolated communities as it washed out bridges and rippled across thoroughfares from Maine to Connecticut.

AP - Two suicide bombers killed 12 people, including nine police officers in southern Russia on Wednesday, the same day a Chechen militant leader claimed responsibility for deadly subway bombings in Moscow that shocked the nation two days before.

AP - An upcoming Fox News Channel special hosted by Sarah Palin is titled 'Real American Stories.'

AP - Houston first baseman Lance Berkman has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a nagging left knee injury.

Reuters - President Barack Obama announced plans on Wednesday for an expansion of U.S. offshore oil and gas drilling in an effort to win Republican support for new proposals to fight climate change.

Reuters - International donors met on Wednesday to pledge some $4 billion to Haiti, launching a worldwide effort to rebuild the country after January's shattering earthquake.

Reuters - Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari faced more political turmoil on Wednesday as a lawyer for the anti-corruption agency said it had asked Switzerland to reopen old graft cases against him, signaling a Supreme Court challenge to his immunity as head of state.

Reuters - The Army secretary said on Wednesday he would not discharge gay personnel who admitted their sexual orientation to him, despite the 'don't ask, don't tell' stance that remains official military policy.

Reuters - Six world powers, including China, agreed on Wednesday to start drawing up new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in the next few days, a source with knowledge of the talks said.

Reuters - Iran is having a growing, negative influence in its neighbor Afghanistan, U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen said on Wednesday, citing what he said was a shipment of Iranian arms to fighters.

Reuters - Russia will cement energy and arms ties with Latin America when Prime Minister Vladimir Putin travels to Caracas this week to meet two of the United States' biggest foes, Venezuelan and Bolivian Presidents Hugo Chavez and Evo Morales.

AFP - Suicide bombers killed 12 people Wednesday in double strikes targeting police in Russia's turbulent North Caucasus, just two days after attacks in Moscow claimed by a Islamist group left 39 dead.

AFP - Donors neared their goal Wednesday of raising 3.8 billion dollars at a major UN fundraiser for quake-ravaged Haiti, with nearly two-thirds of the pledges coming from the European Union and the United States.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - International donors met on Wednesday to pledge some $4 billion to Haiti, launching a worldwide effort to rebuild the country after January's shattering earthquake.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Latinos are the biggest minority in the United States but they could jeopardize a chance to flex their newfound political muscle as millions of them dodge a nationwide census.

AP - A Chechen militant claimed responsibility Wednesday for this week's deadly subway bombings in Moscow, as two new suicide bomb attacks targeting police officers in southern Russia left 12 people dead.

AP - Flooding on a scale rarely seen in New England forced hundreds of people from their homes and businesses Wednesday, overwhelmed sewage systems and isolated communities as it washed out bridges and rippled across thoroughfares from Maine to Connecticut.

AP - A federal prosecutor says an undercover agent infiltrated a Christian militia group that authorities say plotted to incite violent revolt, and that the agent built explosives under the direction of the group's suspected ringleader.

AP - South Carolina authorities said a fishing crook never had a chance to land the big one. Police told The Times and Democrat of Orangeburg a robber tried to steal money bags from a bank's night deposit drop box using fishing line and hooks.

Reuters - Latinos are the biggest minority in the United States but they could jeopardize a chance to flex their newfound political muscle as millions of them dodge a nationwide census.

Reuters - Chinese officials have sought to contain public outrage after workers at a hospital dumped 21 dead fetuses and infants' bodies near a river bank.

AFP - An Islamist group from Russia's restive Caucasus region has claimed responsibility for this week's deadly twin suicide bombings in Moscow, while two more attacks on Wednesday left 12 dead.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama unveiled plans on Wednesday for a limited expansion of U.S. offshore oil and gas drilling in an effort to win Republican support for new proposals to fight climate change.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Republican National Committee has been spending big to win key elections and regain momentum under chairman Michael Steele -- maybe too big, according to political analysts and federal records.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Six world powers, including China, agreed on Wednesday to start drawing up new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in the next few days, diplomatic sources with knowledge of the talks said.

BOSTON (Reuters) - A U.S. law protecting whistle-blowers at publicly traded companies also covers mutual fund firms, a federal judge ruled in a case involving two former Fidelity Investments employees.

AP - Shaking up years of energy policy and his own environmental backers, President Barack Obama threw open a huge swath of East Coast waters and other protected areas in Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico to drilling Wednesday, widening the politically explosive hunt for more homegrown oil and gas.

AP - A Chechen militant claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks on the Moscow subway in an Internet message posted Wednesday, hours after two more suicide bombers struck southern Russia in brazen defiance of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

AP - The head of a Roman Catholic order that specialized in the treatment of pedophile priests visited with the then-pope nearly 50 years ago and followed up with a letter recommending the removal of pedophile priests from ministry, according to a copy of the letter released Wednesday.

AP - Rural traditions of abandoning dead infants because they're considered bad luck may have played a role in the case of 21 babies' bodies found along a river in eastern China, apparently dumped by hospital mortuary workers.

Reuters - President Barack Obama unveiled plans on Wednesday for a limited expansion of U.S. offshore oil and gas drilling in an effort to win Republican support for new proposals to fight climate change.

Reuters - The Republican National Committee has been spending big to win key elections and regain momentum under chairman Michael Steele -- maybe too big, according to political analysts and federal records.

Reuters - Six world powers, including China, agreed on Wednesday to start drawing up new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in the next few days, diplomatic sources with knowledge of the talks said.

AFP - President Barack Obama on Wednesday announced a plan to expand oil drilling off US coasts, drawing protests from green groups but charges by Republicans it did not go far enough.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili heads to China on Thursday for talks with the government that could hold the key to whether Tehran faces a fresh round of United Nations sanctions.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Eight members of an extremist militia group accused of conspiring to kill law enforcement officers as part of a wider war on the U.S. government pleaded not guilty in federal court on Wednesday.

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Conservative Catholic university students rushed to Pope Benedict's defense on Wednesday, attacking journalists who have written about the sexual abuse of children by priests as 'sowers of mistrust.'

AP - Pope Benedict XVI sees the priestly sex scandal as a 'test for him and the church,' his spokesman said Wednesday, as bishops around Europe used Holy Week's solemn call for penitence to announce new pledges of transparency in dealing with the abuse of children.

AP - Seniors aren't celebrating President Barack Obama's health care overhaul.

Reuters - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili heads to China on Thursday for talks with the government that could hold the key to whether Tehran faces a fresh round of United Nations sanctions.

Reuters - The Republican National Committee has been spending big to win key elections and regain momentum under chairman Michael Steele -- maybe too big, according to political analysts and federal records.

Reuters - Eight members of an extremist militia group accused of conspiring to kill law enforcement officers as part of a wider war on the U.S. government pleaded not guilty in federal court on Wednesday.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Six world powers, including China, agreed on Wednesday to start drawing up new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in the next few days, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said.

AP - Denard Span's mother settled into her box seat, surrounded by 20 family members and friends, to watch her son lead off for the Minnesota Twins.

Reuters - Six world powers, including China, agreed on Wednesday to start drawing up new sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program in the next few days, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said.

AP - What boycott? Close to 9 in 10 Hispanics say they intend to participate in the 2010 census, with immigrants more likely to say the government count is good for their community and that personal information will be kept confidential, according to a new poll.

AP - Small taxes on soda do little to reduce soft drink consumption or prevent childhood obesity, but larger levies probably would, according to new research.

AFP - President Barack Obama announced a plan to expand oil drilling off US coasts, drawing protests from green groups but charges by Republicans it did not go far enough.