TEL AVIV, Israel - Three Israeli men have been sentenced to 13 years in prison for driving a suicide bomber and his handler part of the way to a Netanya shopping mall. The bombing in 2005 killed five people and injured 30. Judge Oded Mudrik said two of the defendants, Kfir Levy and Sif Azam, suspected the man they carried across the Green Line was a terrorist, but were willing to quell their suspicions for ... [full story]

NEW YORK - The U.N. official monitoring Iraqi reconstruction is urging other countries to provide aid for economic development. Ibrahim Gambari, a U.N. undersecretary-general, told the Washington Times in an interview this week that he is optimistic about the May 3 conference to be held in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el Sheik. He said that the results would be disastrous if international donors fail to respond. "It could undermine the vision of (Prime Minister ... [full story]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan - Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf said Thursday any coalition to fight terrorism must be based on trust among its members or else it will be meaningless. Musharraf defended his country's record on the war against terrorism and rejected criticism that Pakistan is not doing enough in that regard, Voice of America reported. "There must be trust," he said. "If there is no trust, no commitment, then I think the coalition is meaningless." The ... [full story]

NEW DELHI - India Thursday succeeded on its second try in test firing its nuclear-capable Agni-III ballistic missile, reportedly capable of reaching China. The missile, named after the Hindu god of fire and developed by India's Defense Research and Development Organization, has a range of over 1,865 miles and can reach targets such as Beijing and Shanghai, the Hindustan Times reported. However, a scientist told the newspaper Agni-III's range falls short of qualifying it as ... [full story]

JAKARTA - Indonesia's national police said the country is the world's biggest producer of ecstasy, a synthetic, mind-altering drug with hallucinogenic properties. The Antara news agency reported Thursday the findings were based on data collected by the national police's criminal investigation department. "Apart from being a lucrative market for various kinds of narcotics, Indonesia is also the world`s biggest ecstasy producer," Dedi Permana with the department said. The report gave no other details or statistics. ... [full story]

KABUL, Afghanistan - Two North Atlantic Treaty Organization soldiers in Afghanistan reportedly were killed in separate roadside bombings Thursday. The BBC quoted a NATO statement that the incidents occurred in the eastern parts of country. The victims were traveling when they were hit by roadside bombs. Neither the identities of the victims nor their nationalities have been disclosed. The BBC report said earlier this week, eight Canadian soldiers were killed in two incidents in the ... [full story]

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan - Taiwan doctors successfully re-attached a zoo veterinarian's forearm, bitten off by a Nile crocodile that gave up its catch only after being shot twice. Doctors at the Kaohsiung Medical University in Taiwan's second largest city worked six hours Wednesday to complete the procedure on Chang Po-yu, who remains under observation, reports the China Post. The crocodile turned suddenly and chewed off Chang's forearm at Kaohsiung's Shou Shan Zoo as he tried to ... [full story]

MISSISSAUGA, Ontario - A school bus crash in Mississauga, Canada, that injured 14 children -- one critically -- has brought new attention to the safety of the vehicles. One adult and two students remained hospitalized for undisclosed injuries after Wednesday's crash and a third child, John Pham, was on life support, the Toronto Star reported Thursday. The boy showed no vital signs at the scene of the crash, but was resuscitated by hospital staff. He ... [full story]

ANKARA - The chief of the Turkish Army said Thursday that his country's military needs to cross into Iraq to crack down on Turkish Kurds there. "If you ask me whether a cross-border operation is needed, yes it is needed. It would be useful," Chief of the General Staff General Yasar Buyukanit said at a news conference, Alalam TV reported. "But there is a second dimension to that. It requires a political decision," he said, ... [full story]

WASHINGTON - A U.S. nuclear deal with India may be in danger of collapsing after India made a series of demands that contradict the Bush administration's goals for the pact. President Bush told Congress last year before a bill was passed to authorize the deal that the agreement would prevent a nuclear arms race between India and Pakistan and halt the spread of nuclear weapons. However, India is now demanding as part of the deal ... [full story]

TRONDHEIM - A new thread used for stitching at a Norwegian hospital apparently failed, leading the abdomen of a woman who gave birth via Caesarian section to tear open. Shortly after having stitches removed from her stomach at St. Olav's hospital in the city of Trondheim Sunday, Tone Lise Johannessen found her abdominal lining had torn open, Aftenposten reported. "When I got up, I felt my entire stomach tear. I got help from hospital staff ... [full story]

JERUSALEM - Knesset member Danny Yatom has said he opposed plans to assassinate Hamas militants as head of Israel's Mossad. The Israeli Labor Party member said he was not behind the 1997 botched assassination attempt of Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal, YNetNews reported. The ex-Mossad chief not only distanced himself from one of the agency's most embarrassing moments, but said similar actions taken against Hamas targets were linked to former Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Yatom, ... [full story]

HAVANA - Cuban leader Fidel Castro condemned a recent court decision allowing a former Cuban militant jailed in Texas to post bond. Luis Posada Carriles -- accused of committing terrorist attacks in Cuba and Venezuela -- was allowed to post bond earlier this week, Granma newspaper reported Wednesday. Posada, who escaped from prison in Venezuela in 1985, is charged in Venezuela with masterminding the bombing of a Cuban jetliner in 1976, killing 73 people. He ... [full story]