U.S. Marines suffered their first casualties of a massive new military campaign Thursday as they engaged in sporadic gunbattles along 55 miles of Taliban-controlled heartland in southern Afghanistan. One Marine was killed and several others were injured or wounded on the first full day of the assault, the largest military operation in Afghanistan since the fall of Taliban government in 2001. Read More

The U.N. secretary-general said ahead of his trip Friday to Myanmar that he plans to lobby the military-ruled country's top leader directly for the release of pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi. Read More

As of Thursday, July 2, 2009, at least 642 members of the U.S. military had died in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Uzbekistan as a result of the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan in late 2001, according to the Defense Department. The department last updated its figures Thursday at 10 a.m. EDT. Read More

As of Thursday, July 2, 2009, at least 4,322 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. Read More

Air France Flight 447 slammed into the Atlantic Ocean, intact and belly first, at such a high speed that the 228 people aboard probably had no time to even inflate their life jackets, French investigators said Thursday in their first report into the June 1 accident. Read More

A top diplomat said Thursday he is heading to Honduras to demand the return of the president toppled at gunpoint _ a mission he said is likely to meet rejection, bringing diplomatic and economic punishment for the impoverished Central American nation. Read More

Two buses crashed head-on Thursday on a mountain road near Lake Titicaca in Peru, killing at least 23 people and injuring 50 more, police said. Read More

With concerns rising about a possible North Korean long-range missile test this weekend, two independent scientists say the regime may be using an old Soviet ballistic missile to boost a rocket capable of reaching the West Coast of the United States. Read More

AP Interview: Obama says Putin has 'lot of sway' in Russia, must understand Cold War is over Read More

U.S. Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Iraq on Thursday to visit U.S. soldiers, just two days after all American combat troops withdrew from Baghdad and all of Iraq's cities and towns. Read More

Liberia's truth and reconciliation commission recommended Thursday that ex-President Charles Taylor and seven other former warlords be prosecuted for crimes against humanity for their alleged roles in the West African country's civil war. Read More

Swine flu is running wild in the Southern Hemisphere and is spreading rapidly through Europe, with Britain projected to reach 100,000 daily cases by the end of August. The virus is even showing signs of rebounding in Mexico. Read More

A severely bruised young girl believed to be the only survivor of an Indian Ocean plane crash flew back Thursday to Paris, where she was embraced gently by her father, who tried to lift her spirits with a joke. Read More

Investigators have released new evidence that points to suicide in the death of Managua Mayor and boxing great Alexis Arguello. Read More

North Korea fired a barrage of short-range missiles off its east coast Thursday, a possible prelude to the launch of a long-range missile toward Hawaii over the July Fourth holiday. Read More

Italy is using the upcoming Group of Eight summit in quake-devastated central Italy to encourage participating countries to adopt monuments damaged in the temblor and pledge to help restore them. Read More

There is no place outside Iran that has closer links to Tehran's ruling establishment than Iraq's holy Shiite city of Najaf, where the silence during Iran's post-election crisis says much about the deep complexities of their cross-border bonds. Read More

Until last week, Alice Li's summer plans were simple: work part-time at a convenience store, study for graduate exams and go to the amusement park with friends. Read More

Africa's leaders were locked in a heated debate Thursday over a draft African Union summit decision that would give Sudan's president continent-wide impunity from prosecution for war crimes by the International Criminal Court. Read More

President Barack Obama says the United States is trying to "keep a door open" for North Korea to return to international nuclear disarmament talks, even as Washington pursues sanctions against the North. Read More