International

AP - The powerful earthquake that smashed buildings, cracked roads and twisted rail lines around the New Zealand city of Christchurch also ripped a new fault line in the Earth's surface, a geologist said Sunday.

AP - Investigators expressed confidence Sunday that they will learn why an airplane carrying skydivers crashed in flames near a popular tourist spot in New Zealand's Southern Alps, killing four Europeans and five New Zealanders.

Reuters - At least five people were killed and 35 wounded on Sunday when a suicide bomber attacked troops at a firing range in Russia's southern region of Dagestan, sources in official security agencies said.

AFP - Noi Jaitang's voice is laced with bitter helplessness as he faces the reality that his rural Thai village could once again be engulfed with fumes he blames for a litany of family illnesses.

AP - Abdoulaye Ba, 10, looked right, then left, before timidly approaching the taxi and holding out his hand.

AP - As the U.S. draws down in Iraq, two Associated Press Television News cameramen, one Sunni and one Shiite, talk about what it has been like to live through and record the war. The accounts are translated and edited.

AP - NATO commanders were overly optimistic when they predicted quick success taking the key Taliban-held town of Marjah last winter, the outgoing deputy commander said.

AP - Nervous Afghans pulled more deposits out of the nation's largest bank despite assurances from government leaders that their money was safe.

AP - Abdul Rehman and his family live under a tree next to a pile of rubble on a newly created island where his house used to be.

AP - Police in El Salvador have found two buried oil drums stuffed with millions of dollars in cash possibly linked to the illegal drug trade, authorities said Saturday.

AP - Former rugby players from Uruguay who survived more than two months of isolation in the snow-covered Andes met on Saturday with some of the relatives of 33 trapped miners and urged them to stay strong.

AP - Nervous Afghans pulled more deposits out of the nation's largest bank on Saturday, despite assurances from government leaders that their money was safe.

Time.com - Though Beijing's Forbidden City has been open to the public for decades, parts of it remained off-limits. This month a new exhibition of artifacts from behind the gates heads to U.S.

Time.com - No one really thinks much will come out of the direct talks with the Palestinians but, when the issue is Bibi, up come visions of Gorbachev -- and Nixon in China

AP - In a further step toward reconciling with insurgents, President Hamid Karzai said Saturday he will soon name the members of a council tasked with pursuing peace talks with rebels willing to break with al-Qaida and recognize the government in Kabul.

AFP - South Africa launched a challenge for African Nations Cup redemption by outplaying minnows Niger 2-0 Saturday in the north-east city of Nelspruit.

AFP - The British newspaper whose allegations of a betting scam have rocked the world of cricket said Saturday that a fourth Pakistan player was being probed over the claims, but declined to name him.

Time.com - After a notable absence, the Secretary of State has been a very visible presence at the current negotiations. Will it pay off?

AP - Israel's military said Saturday that surveillance footage from drones shows that the explosions that rocked a village in southern Lebanon this week occurred at a residential building used by Hezbollah as a weapons depot.

AP - Thousands of people marched in Paris and around France on Saturday to protest expulsions of Gypsies and other new security measures adopted by President Nicolas Sarkozy's government.