Death toll rises in Israeli strikes

Eleven women and children were among 17 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza on Wednesday, hiking the overall death toll to 38 in two days, rescue personnel said.

DPRK fires two more missiles into sea

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea launched two short-range ballistic missiles into the sea off its eastern coast on Wednesday morning, a Republic of Korea defense official said.

Crisis, casualties add to Afghan woes

Abdullah calls election fraudulent; fighting spreading to populated areas

Obama urges calm

US President Barack Obama has taken the unusual step of intervening in a foreign election, asking both candidates in Afghanistan's disputed presidential race to allow the process for investigating fraud claims to go forward and threatening a cutoff in US aid if "extra-constitutional measures" are taken.

'Terrorists' seize chemical weapons

Iraq said the Islamic State extremist group has taken control of a vast former chemical weapons facility northwest of Baghdad, where 2,500 chemical rockets filled with the deadly nerve agent sarin or their remnants were stored along with other chemical warfare agents.

Few Syrians find connection with 'Islamic State'

Only four percent of Syrians believe Islamic State insurgents, who have captured large swaths of Syria and Iraq, represent their interests, according to research conducted by a British polling group published on Wednesday.

IN BRIEF (Page 12)

Study paves way to predict Alzheimer's

Researcher sees early testing as apossible key to effective intervention

Study: Amazon rain forest grew after climate change

Switch to wetter conditions may have led to tree coverage 2,000 years ago

Malaysia still spinning after centuries

In one fluid motion, Amri Aziz flings his oversized spinning top into the air and with a whip-like crack of rope sends it whirling for the next two hours.

'Biofortified' food raises both hope and opposition

In 1992, a pair of scientists had a brainwave: How about inserting genes into rice that would boost its vitamin A content? Tens of millions of poor people who depend on rice as a staple could receive the vital nutrient, potentially averting hundreds of thousands of cases of blindness each year.

Oregon mental hospital to honor its 'forgotten souls'

They were dubbed the "forgotten souls" - the cremated remains of thousands of people who came through the doors of Oregon's state mental hospital and died there. Their ashes were abandoned inside 3,500 copper urns.