Palestinian election officials on Thursday recommended calling off January's presidential vote, a step that could result in embattled President Mahmoud Abbas staying in office indefinitely. Read More

A female Palestinian student who says she was handcuffed, blindfolded and hauled off to the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army in the middle of the night late last month asked Israel's supreme court Thursday to let her return to her studies in the West Bank. Read More

Iran's recently revealed uranium enrichment hall is a highly fortified underground space that appears too small to house a civilian nuclear program, but large enough to serve for military activities, diplomats told The Associated Press on Thursday. Read More

Denmark's premier sent invitations Thursday asking 191 world leaders to attend next month's U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen, saying their presence was "pivotal" to its success. Read More

The Australian government on Thursday approved the extradition of an alleged Nazi collaborator accused by Hungary of a World War II killing. Read More

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday vowed support for the Philippine fight against al-Qaida-linked militants and highlighted the U.S. military's role in helping the country recover from deadly typhoons. Read More

North Korea threatened to punish South Korea following their brief-but-bloody naval firefight, though analysts said Thursday that chances of retaliation appeared slim ahead of planned talks between the U.S. and Pyongyang. Read More

Pretrial hearings in the case of a Serb accused of beating a fellow student into a coma in the United States will begin in December, a Serbian court said Thursday. Read More

Italy's top security official said Thursday that authorities have smashed an international terror cell with the arrest in Italy and elsewhere in Europe of 17 Algerians who were raising money to finance terrorism. Read More

French President Nicolas Sarkozy says there is no place for full face and body veils such as the burqa, or for the debasement of women, in France. Read More

A cargo ship has delivered a Russian research module to the International Space Station. Read More

Tens of thousands of well-wishers gathered outside Japan's moat-ringed Imperial Palace _ many shouting "Banzai," a traditional wish for long life _ to mark Thursday's 20th anniversary of Emperor Akihito's coronation to the world's oldest throne. Read More

Thousands of mourners lit candles, sang hymns and prayed in East Timor on Thursday, honoring the victims of a massacre of pro-independence demonstrators by Indonesian troops 18 years ago. Read More

MOSCOW (AP) _ A cargo ship has delivered a Russian research module to the International Space Station. Russia's space agency says the spacecraft carrying the Poisk (PAW'-eesk) module docked with the orbital station Thursday after a two-day trip from Earth. Read More

A spokesman for a Tennessee father arrested in Japan when he snatched his children from his ex-wife says authorities are dropping the case. Read More

A former French interior minister says former President Jacques Chirac and other senior figures were aware of secret arms trafficking to Angola in the 1990s. Read More

A veteran Slovenian mountaineer has become stranded in the Himalayas during a solo climb, and bad weather is hampering rescue efforts, a colleague said Thursday. Read More

A Jewish-American extremist charged Thursday with shooting to death two Palestinians and trying to kill others with explosive devices and poison said he had no regrets and was sure God approved of his actions. Read More

Two Swiss businessmen arrested in Libya amid a spat with Switzerland involving leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, are to go on trial on accusations of tax evasion and violating residency laws, a Foreign Ministry official said Thursday. Read More

An Iranian opposition leader said Thursday that the country is making sweeping changes to its security apparatus in an effort to consolidate the power of the elite Revolutionary Guard. Read More