AP - Communist rebels armed with rifles, hand grenades and petrol bombs attacked a police post in the jungles of eastern India on Thursday, killing at least 49 officers, police said.

AFP - Top Al-Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to plotting the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the US at a closed-door military hearing, according to an edited transcript released by the Pentagon Wednesday.

Reuters - The decision to build a U.S. anti-missile shield in eastern Europe cannot be a bilateral one, especially when the decision will have consequences for other European states, a senior German official said on Thursday.

Reuters - Major powers reached broad agreement on Wednesday on a package of U.N. sanctions against Iran for its nuclear programs but a vote in the Security Council is not expected until next week.

AP - Forget March Madness. Phoenix and Dallas played a game that belonged in late May. Steve Nash played like an MVP down the stretch and Amare Stoudemire had 41 points and 10 rebounds, carrying the Suns to a 129-127 double-overtime victory over the Mavericks on Wednesday night in a tense, thrilling game between the NBA's top teams.

AFP - The diplomatic drive to end North Korea's nuclear weapons programme gained pace Thursday after Washington moved to clear a major stumbling block and the UN's chief atomic inspector visited Pyongyang.

AFP - Top Al-Qaeda operative Khalid Sheikh Mohammed has confessed to plotting the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States at a closed-door US military hearing, according to a transcript released Wednesday.

Reuters - Ambassadors from six major powers reached a tentative deal on imposing sanctions on Iran that they hope to introduce to the 15-nation U.N. Security Council on Thursday, providing their governments agree.

AFP - The chief US envoy to North Korean nuclear talks said Thursday he believed Pyongyang would accept Washington's plan to end a long-running sanctions stand-off, clearing the way for disarmament progress.

AP - When the second overtime began in a game that already had plenty of thrills, Amare Stoudemire was ready to settle things. So he went to the basket. Hard. Between points and fouls that got Dallas Mavericks starters disqualified, Stoudemire's strong start got the Phoenix Suns going toward a 129-127 victory Wednesday night in a tense, thrilling game between the league's two best teams.

AP - Angelina Jolie left an orphanage in southern Vietnam on Thursday with a 3-year-old boy that Vietnamese officials have said she planned to adopt.

Reuters - The end of a U.S. probe into North Korean banking activities clears the way for progress in scrapping Pyongyang's nuclear weapons, the United States said on Thursday as envoys gathered in Beijing for new negotiations.

AP - A proposed new package of sanctions against Iran for enriching uranium appeared headed to the U.N. Security Council after ambassadors for six world powers resolved remaining differences.

Reuters - A struggle for power among sectarian groups and criminals is now the main feature of the Iraq war, the Pentagon said in a report released on Wednesday.

AP - Hugo Chavez has called President Bush a devil, a donkey and a drunkard. But on Wednesday the Venezuelan leader said his comments were "nothing personal."

AP - Brandon Rogers, who forgot the words to his song on Tuesday's "American Idol," had a feeling he wouldn't last. He got confirmation Wednesday. Rogers, a former backup singer from Los Angeles, became the first of the final dozen to be voted off the top-rated Fox network sing-off.

AP - House Democrats confidently predicted they can pass a bill to end the Iraq war before September 2008, even as their counterparts in the Senate struggle just to get their war debate off the ground.