AFP - MOSCOW (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday called US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton amid a dispute over Israeli settlements in east Jerusalem, her spokesman said.

AFP - JERUSALEM (AFP) - A Middle East diplomatic flurry was given a sense of urgency after a rocket fired from Gaza killed a farmworker in Israel Thursday while the EU foreign policy chief visited the Palestinian enclave.

AFP - WASHINGTON (AFP) - India on Thursday urged the United States to take the lead in resuming global free trade talks after the EU trade chief lashed out at "protectionism" by President Barack Obama's administration.

The Canadian Press - WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama has postponed his trip to Asia until June so he can stay in Washington for a possible Sunday vote on his health care overhaul.

The Canadian Press - DOHA, Qatar - Fishing nations won a victory over environmentalists Thursday when a U.S.-backed proposal to ban export of the Atlantic bluefin tuna was overwhelmingly rejected at a U.N. wildlife meeting.

Reuters - SANTO DOMINGO (Reuters) - International donors are aiming to provide $3.8 billion over 18 months to help Haiti rebuild after its January 12 earthquake, according to officials and experts preparing a high-level donors conference.

AFP - LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Actress Sandra Bullock abruptly canceled Thursday a planned visit to London for the UK premiere of the film "The Blind Side" for which she won an Oscar, amid speculation about her marriage.

Reuters - SANTIAGO (Reuters) - Chileans' knowledge of earthquakes, combined with the abnormally long time it took for the February 27 quake to reach its crescendo, saved thousands of lives, a leading geophysicist said on Thursday.

AFP - CHICAGO (AFP) - A Chicago man pleaded guilty Thursday to using his Western appearance as a cover while scoping out sites for the deadly 2008 Mumbai siege and plotting to kill a Danish cartoonist.

AFP - MANCHESTER (AFP) - A five-year-old British boy whose 12-day kidnap ordeal in Pakistan sparked an international police operation to recover a ransom payment in Europe arrived home Thursday.

AFP - LOME (AFP) - Togo's Constitutional Court confirmed Thursday that President Faure Gnassingbe had won re-election in March 4 polls but the opposition again rejected the result and called on people to stand against it.

The Canadian Press - CHICAGO - A Chicago man who pleaded guilty to helping plan an attack on a Danish newspaper says a coconspirator wanted newspaper employees beheaded to make a statement.

AFP - PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania (AFP) - A blonde American who dubbed herself "JihadJane" pleaded not guilty Thursday to recruiting Islamist militants in the latest home-grown terrorism case.

Reuters - GAZA (Reuters) - Palestinian militants launched a first deadly rocket attack on Israel in over a year, killing a Thai worker on Thursday in a strike that challenged Gaza's Hamas rulers and prompted Israel to threaten a powerful response.

AFP - ABUJA (AFP) - Nigeria on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Tripoli after Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's "irresponsible" suggestion that the country be partitioned between Muslims and Christians.

Reuters - MOSCOW (Reuters) - Visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday criticized Russia's plans to start up a nuclear power station in Iran, describing them as premature given uncertainty about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.

The Canadian Press - DOHA, Qatar - Sudan's government and a collection of Darfur rebel groups signed a cease-fire Thursday - the second such deal in less than a month with a key rebel faction - opening the way for political negotiations ahead of a full peace agreement.

The Canadian Press - MOSCOW - U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and her Russian counterpart clashed openly Thursday over the planned startup this summer of Iran's first, Russian-built nuclear power plant, highlighting a split in views over how to steer Iran away from nuclear weapons.

AFP - NIAMEY (AFP) - Niger police freed Thursday the previous government's spokesman who was arrested this week reportedly after demanding the release of the president deposed in a February coup, an aide said.

AFP - WASHINGTON (AFP) - The World Bank on Thursday said it was providing India with 1.05 billion dollars in credit to improve education, the development lender's largest investment in education to date.

The Canadian Press - BANGKOK, Thailand - Thailand's prime minister said Thursday the government was ready to hold talks with protesters, who want him to call new elections, but only if they stop throwing blood, blocking government offices and remain peaceful.

The Canadian Press - A rocket fired by Gaza militants smashed into a greenhouse in an Israeli border village Thursday, killing a Thai worker in the first such death since Israel's massive offensive against Hamas-ruled Gaza more than a year ago.

AFP - BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and rival Iyad Allawi were locked in a close election race, running neck-and-neck for seats in parliament with nearly 90 percent of ballots counted on Thursday.

The Canadian Press - VOLGODONSK, Russia - Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Thursday that Iran's new Russian-built nuclear power plant will begin operating this summer, even as the United States called for Russia to delay the startup.

Reuters - BANGKOK (Reuters) - Army-ruled Myanmar deported a Burmese-American activist on Thursday after sentencing him last month to three years in prison for forgery and immigration offenses.

The Canadian Press - WARSAW, Poland - A Polish court convicted three men Thursday of the theft of the notorious "Arbeit Macht Frei" (Work Sets You Free) sign from the Auschwitz memorial site in December.

AFP - TRIPOLI (AFP) - Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son Hannibal on Thursday dismissed a Swiss regional government's compensation offer to ease a two-year diplomatic row over his arrest, in an interview with AFP.

AFP - YANGON (AFP) - Military-ruled Myanmar on Thursday released a US rights activist jailed for fraud and forgery in a rare show of leniency from the junta ahead of elections this year.

AFP - ABU DHABI (AFP) - A meeting of "Friends of Yemen," a forum of aid donors to the poorest country in the Arabian peninsula, is to meet in Abu Dhabi on March 29-30, the Emirati state news agency WAM said on Thursday.

The Canadian Press - WASHINGTON - Democratic leaders are unveiling what is expected to be their final health care bill Thursday, setting the stage for a Sunday vote on a plan that would affect most Americans and has become the defining issue in Barack Obama's presidency.

AFP - KHARTOUM (AFP) - A Franco-British staffer of the international Red Cross kidnapped in Darfur last October was freed on Thursday, the last captive aid worker in the war-torn Sudanese region to be released.

AFP - MOSCOW (AFP) - The United States and Russia Thursday clashed over Iran's first nuclear plant which Russia is helping build after strongman Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the station would come online this summer.

AFP - LAGOS (AFP) - Nigeria's Acting President Goodluck Jonathan put the finishing touches Thursday to a new cabinet tasked with tackling a mounting set of crises, including a new bout of sectarian slaughter.

AFP - YAOUNDE (AFP) - Seven Chinese hostages who were freed by an armed gang in Cameroon's southwest Bakassi region arrived "traumatised" Thursday in Yaounde, the capital, Chinese source said.