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MOGADISHU, Somalia - A male suicide bomber dressed as a woman attacked a university graduation ceremony Thursday in a small part of the capital still under government control, killing up to 19 people, including three Cabinet ministers and three journalists.

MOSCOW - In an electric four-hour solo performance on live television, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said he will think about whether to reclaim the presidency — one of the strongest signals yet that he may run again for Russia's top office in 2012.

MANILA, Philippines - At least five women among 57 people massacred in an attack on an election convoy in the southern Philippines last week may have been raped, police said Thursday.

Not many people know that four non-nuke states in Europe host nuclear bombs and have air forces ready to drop them. It's time to rid Europe of this anachronism

PERUGIA, Italy - Lawyers for American student Amanda Knox had their last chance Thursday to convince a jury she is innocent of the murder of her British roommate.

BRUSSELS - U.S. special envoy Richard C. Holbrooke acknowledged Thursday that the war in Afghanistan in unpopular, given "the legacy of Iraq and Vietnam," but he predicted that NATO allies will soon contribute more forces to join the 30,000 additional U.S. troops being deployed there.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - Honduras' Congress ended hopes of reversing a coup that has isolated one of the poorest countries in the Americas, voting against reinstating ousted President Manuel Zelaya despite intense international pressure to do so.

DAMASCUS, Syria - A blast at a gas station in a Damascus suburb killed three people Thursday, gutting the back of an empty bus and blowing out nearby windows, officials said.

KHAR, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces killed 15 militants in separate clashes in northwestern Pakistan, officials said Thursday. A captured commander who led troops to a militant hide-out also was killed in the fighting.

CAIRO - A 26-year-old doctor who exposed the torture of jailed protesters in Iran died of poisoning from a delivery salad laced with an overdose of blood pressure medication, prosecutors say. The findings fueled opposition fears that he was killed because of what he knew.

KABUL - President Barack Obama is holding an uncertain hand in his high-stakes gamble in the fight against Islamic extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan. Weak partners in both countries, doubts about the speed of building up Afghan security forces and allies reluctant to commit themselves wholeheartedly to the battle all raise questions about the strategy.

JERUSALEM - Defiant West Bank settler leaders rejected a personal plea from the prime minister Thursday to respect a government-ordered construction freeze in their communities, vowing to keep confronting security forces sent to enforce the edict.

VIENNA - In a defiant speech, Iran's president declared Wednesday that his country will enrich uranium to a much higher level — a fresh rejection of an international plan to curb Tehran's nuclear program.

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Washington's NATO allies will face pressure to commit more troops and money to supplement President Barack Obama's troop increase in Afghanistan at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers starting on Thursday.

MEXICO CITY - Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Wednesday that cartels are seeking to control territory by sinking drug money into political campaigns and buying off officials before they are even elected.

MANILA (Reuters) - Two typhoons which struck the Philippines' main island of Luzon in recent months will probably dampen growth in the near term, stretch state finances and push 480,000 people into poverty, a post-disaster report showed on Wednesday.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed at least 19 people including three Somali government ministers on Thursday at a graduation ceremony in a Mogadishu hotel, witnesses and officials said.

The Chinese have not been happy that the Magic Kingdom appropriated their folkloric heroine for global gain. Now they've come up with their own movie

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea's military was on guard as public anger grew over the communist country's shock currency revaluation, reports said Thursday.

KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghans and Pakistanis Wednesday greeted President Barack Obama's plan to send 30,000-35,000 additional troops to Afghanistan with limited enthusiasm, skepticism that the U.S. has enough staying power to defeat the Taliban-led insurgency and even suspicion that the rapid surge will be followed by a speedy exit.

SEOUL (AFP) - South Korea Wednesday questioned North Korea's calls for a peace treaty with the United States, declaring its real aim is to buy time to make more nuclear weapons.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Police discovered a bomb in a car near a railway station in northern Russia on Thursday, days after a train bombing killed 26 people, local news agencies reported.

ASUNCION, Paraguay - Paraguay named an undocumented U.S. immigrant to run its consulate in New York, discovering his illegal status only when the man returned home to get his diplomatic papers and was denied a U.S. visa.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A proposal before the European Union to endorse the division of Jerusalem would risk closing off half the city to non-Muslims, according to a think tank close to the Israeli government.

LONDON (AFP) - Actress Maggie Jones, best known as Coronation Street's razor-tongued Blanche Hunt, has died at the age of 75.

KABUL (AFP) - An insurgent ambush killed a US soldier in Afghanistan, the military said Wednesday, bringing to 300 the number of American troops killed in the country so far this year.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, in power for over 10 years, ruled out a departure from politics on Thursday, telling a questioner: "Don't hold your breath."

VANCOUVER/OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian National Railway said on Wednesday it had reached an agreement with striking locomotive engineers to end their walkout, as the government prepared to step in with back-to-work legislation.

GENERAL SANTOS, Philippines (AFP) - The Philippine army on Thursday sent hundreds of extra troops to contain a powerful Muslim clan whose members have been indicted for the political massacre of 57 people.

ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Pakistani newspapers expressed alarm Thursday at US President Barack Obama's new Afghan war strategy, concerned that a draw-down date would embolden the Taliban and threaten regional security.