Afghanistan
GHAZNI — Afghan President Hamid Karzai visited this volatile town southwest of the capital on Thursday, riding on horseback through thousands of well-wishers and telling his countrymen the time had come to seize the future and "stand on our own feet."
Australia
CANBERRA — New intelligence indicates the al-Qaida terror network plotted strikes in Australia well before the Sept. 11 attacks in the United States, Prime Minister John Howard said Thursday. Howard told Parliament that al-Qaida operatives scouted targets in Australia in 2000 or 2001.
Britain
LONDON — The archbishop of Canterbury expressed "sadness" Thursday over a Canadian diocese's decision to permit blessing ceremonies for homosexual couples. On Wednesday night, the Rev. Margaret Marquardt blessed the union of Michael Kalmuk and Kelly Montfort at St. Margaret's Cedar Cottage Church in Vancouver, British Columbia, in the first such ceremony under authorization from the diocese of New Westminster.
India
NEW DELHI — India test-fired a medium-range surface-to-air missile Thursday as part of an effort to develop weapons systems the government has said are necessary to improve the country's defenses against neighboring Pakistan and China. The test of the Akash missile was successful, the Press Trust of India news agency said.
Iran
TEHRAN — In a reversal, Iran left open the possibility Thursday it may have top al-Qaida operatives in custody, including the terror network security chief suspected by U.S. officials of planning attacks in Saudi Arabia.
Iraq
BAGHDAD — U.S. troops raided the Palestinian Authority's mission in Baghdad and arrested 11 people after ransacking the building, a Palestinian official said Thursday. A top U.S. general said eight people were arrested. The detained men included charge d'affairs Majah Abdul Rahman, who was running the mission in the ambassador's absence, mission official Mohamed Abdul Wahab said.
Nigeria
ABUJA — Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo took the oath of office for a second term Thursday — pledging to heal the wounds of an election that was marred by fraud but was still considered a milestone for democracy in Africa's most populous nation.
Pakistan
MULTAN — An Islamic militant accused of helping to plan the kidnapping and killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl was arrested at a bus station in central Pakistan on Thursday, police said. The suspect, Qari Abdul Hai, who allegedly had close ties with the Taliban, is the chief of a banned militant group condemned by the United States as a terrorist organization, police said.
Peru
LIMA — A Peruvian court sentenced fallen spy chief Vladimiro Montesinos to eight years in prison on embezzlement charges Thursday for giving a mayoral candidate $25,000 in public funds for a 1998 campaign. Late Wednesday, Congress approved a charge of treason against exiled former President Alberto Fujimori, accusing him of authorizing the purchase of obsolete fighter planes in 1996, a year after Peru fought a border war with Ecuador.
Philippines
MANILA — Tropical Storm Linfa moved northeast of the Philippines toward Japan on Thursday after leaving at least 25 people dead and more than 8,000 displaced following five days of heavy rains and flooding, officials said.
Serbia-Montenegro
BELGRADE — Serbia's only hope for economic reform and political stability is to replace the ruling coalition, which is rife with bickering and scandal, a leading opposition figure and former president of Yugoslavia said. Vojislav Kostunica, who played a key role in toppling President Slobodan Milosevic in 2000, said new elections would put a stop to government infighting and help bring stability to Serbia's shaky politics.
Venezuela
CARACAS — Venezuela's government and opposition signed an agreement Thursday that requires them not to seek changes to election laws as they prepare for a referendum on the rule of President Hugo Chavez. The agreement ended six months of negotiations sponsored by the Organization of American States between rivals engaged in a power struggle.