AP - U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates raised the possibility Wednesday that some of the U.S. forces involved in the Afghanistan surge could leave the country before President Barack Obama's announced July 2011 date to begin withdrawal.

AP - The Taliban claimed responsibility Wednesday for a suicide bombing inside a U.S.-Afghan base in eastern Afghanistan that killed two NATO service members.

AP - Suspected militants armed with grenades attacked the offices of an international aid group helping earthquake survivors in northwestern Pakistan on Wednesday, killing six employees and wounding several others, police and the organization said.

AP - Myanmar's military rulers have barred pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi from running in upcoming elections and may force her own political party to expel her under a new election law unveiled Wednesday.

AP - Indonesian counterterror authorities won international praise on Wednesday for killing a top-ranked Southeast Asian militant wanted for planning the deadly 2002 Bali bombings.

AP - Israel's new plan to build 1,600 apartments for Jews in Palestinian-claimed east Jerusalem overshadowed Vice President Joe Biden's visit to the West Bank on Wednesday.

AP - Authorities say a U.S.-born hitman is fighting the brother of a deceased drug lord for control of the Beltran-Leyva cartel, marking what may be the first time an American has risen to the very top ranks of Mexican gangs.

AFP - New Caledonia on Wednesday enlisted Australia's help to protect its massive coral reef, the world's second biggest after the Great Barrier Reef.

McClatchy Newspapers - JERUSALEM — Hours after the arrival Tuesday of Vice President Joe Biden to help launch indirect Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, Israel announced the construction of 1,600 homes in a settlement block in mostly Arab East Jerusalem, an open rebuff that led Biden to issue a sharply worded condemnation.