Reuters - A union representing Dutch nurses will launch a national campaign on Friday against demands for sexual services by patients who claim it should be part of their standard care.
AP - BP is expanding its dominant oil and gas operations in the Gulf Mexico and dropping anchor off Brazil with a $7 billion deal to buy exploration rights from Devon Energy.
AP - A conference bringing together more than 60 nations Thursday added $1 billion to the fight against deforestation and boosted the morale of those hoping to save the world's forests — a key defense against global warming.
AFP - Pakistani authorities on Thursday said unidentified gunmen killed five people including the head of a hardline religious organisation in two separate shooting incidents in Karachi.
Reuters - Turkey recalled its ambassador to Sweden on Thursday and canceled an upcoming summit between the countries after the Swedish parliament branded the World War One killing of Armenians by Ottoman forces genocide.
Time.com - The Vatican faces a growing scandal as allegations have emerged that priestssexually and physically abused students in a choir run by the pope'sbrother, Georg Ratzinger
AP - Two glowing brides in white gowns made history Thursday as they wed under Latin America's first law that explicitly approves gay marriage.
AFP - The Moroccan government warned Thursday it would take a tough line against proselytisers two days after 20 foreign Christian missionaries were expelled.
AP - The decision by a Rome high school to install condom vending machines has set off a storm in Italy, with the Catholic Church charging the move will encourage young people to have sex and Rome's mayor saying it sends the wrong message.
AFP - A monument to the 179 Britons who died in the Iraq war and its aftermath was re-dedicated Thursday at the National Memorial Arboretum, having been brought back from Basra.
Investigations into charges of sexual and physical abuse of children by German Catholic priests are getting under way, and involve a choir run by Pope Benedict's brother. Did the pontiff know about the allegations when he was a bishop in his home country? "We do not know," a German Catholic church spokesman said.
AFP - Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak's health is "satisfactory" after surgery in Germany to remove a gall bladder, the head of the medical team at Heidelberg University Hospital said on Thursday.
Israel is America's closest friend, US Vice President Joe Biden said in an emotional speech at Tel Aviv University today. But he also said sometimes it takes a friend to deliver the hardest truth – that the status quo is untenable.
McClatchy Newspapers - BAGHDAD — Partial results released Thursday show the bloc led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki ahead in a tight race in Iraq's parliamentary elections, as his two biggest rivals alleged fraud and demanded more transparency in the ballot-counting process.
AP - A police official says U.S. troops opened fire on a car in western Baghdad killing an Iraqi journalist and her husband.
Reuters - Investing in a high-speed Internet network would open up a new global trade route for Britain, boosting economic recovery and creating thousands of jobs, the opposition Conservative party said on Thursday.
AFP - China's human rights record worsened last year as authorities increased harassment of activists and repression in the Xinjiang region, the US State Department said Thursday.
AFP - China's human rights record worsened last year as authorities increased harassment of activists and repression in the Xinjiang region, the US State Department said Thursday.
AP - President Barack Obama is applauding Colombian President Alvaro Uribe for accepting a court decision that prevents him from running for a third term.
AP - The latest show at Paris' Quai Branly museum comes with a warning for visitors: "This exhibition of Moche ceramics shows sexual acts of an explicit nature."
AFP - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki thanked Japan's Crown Prince Naruhito Thursday for his country's support in programmes to combat climate change, the government said.
AFP - Zimbabwe's government has allocated 100 million dollars to refurbish the country's dilapidated infrastructure, part of the funds granted by the IMF last year, the finance minister said Thursday.
AP - The Israeli military says two soldiers have been indicted on criminal charges for their actions during last year's military offensive in Gaza.
AP - The DNA tests that revealed how the famed boy-king Tutankhamun most likely died solved another of ancient Egypt's enduring mysteries — the fate of controversial Pharaoh Akhenaten's mummy. The discovery could help fill out the picture of a fascinating era more than 3,300 years ago when Akhenaten embarked on history's first attempt at monotheism.
A 7.2-magnitude Chile earthquake rattled the swearing-in ceremony of President Sebastian Piсera, the country's first conservative president in more than 50 years.
AP - A British Airways computer expert was charged Thursday with plotting suicide bombings — including one he allegedly planned to carry out himself.
AP - In a victory for the concept album, Britain's High Court on Thursday ordered record company EMI Group Ltd. to stop selling downloads of Pink Floyd tracks individually rather than as part of the band's original records.
A UK proposal for mandatory microchipping of dogs has renewed charges of an overactive nanny state. But postal workers and people whose neighbors have aggressive ' dogs like the idea.
AP - The European Parliament voted Thursday to condemn Cuba for the "avoidable and cruel" death of a dissident hunger striker, earning a stinging response from Havana, which said it did not appreciate the lecture and would not respond to international pressure.
AP - Chile's new president urges coastal residents to move to higher ground; congress evacuated.