ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf, under political pressure at home, left Thursday on a six-day visit to Chinafor bilateral talks on trade and defense.Those traveling with Musharraf included Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and Defense Minister Chowdhry Ahmed Mukhtar, the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.Pakistan's Dawn newspaper reported Musharraf's trip will include a visit to the northwestern Xinjiang region bordering Pakistan, where there have been protests from ethnic Muslims against Chinese rule ... [full story]

KATHMANDU, Nepal -- Nepalese voted Thursday to pick a constituent assembly that will decide whether to end King Gyanendra's monarchy and make the Himalayan nation a republic.An international team led by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter was on hand to observe the election in the landlocked country and last Hindu kingdom. About 17.6 million people are eligible to vote.There has been widespread violence with at least 20 people killed in the run up to the ... [full story]

TOKYO -- Japanese authorities Thursday hanged four death row inmates in Tokyo and Osaka.The executions brought to 10 the number of inmates put to death in the past four months, Kyodo news service reported.Those hanged Thursday were Kaoru Akinaga, 61, Masahito Sakamoto, 41, Masaharu Nakamura, 61, and Katsuyoshi Nakamoto, 64, the report said.Japan resumed the death penalty in 1993 after a 40-month pause. Thursday's executions left 104 inmates still on Japan's death row.Human rights groups ... [full story]

MOSUL, Iraq -- Two car bombs targeting checkpoints in Mosul, Iraq, exploded, killing three people and injuring as many as 30 others, U.S. military officials said.In Baghdad, meanwhile, police said they plan to lift vehicle bans in Sadr City and Shula, two neighborhoods were fighting has intensified recently, CNN reported.In the Mosul bombings, officials told CNN a police truck was destroyed and two buildings were set on fire because of the bombings aimed at police ... [full story]

LONDON -- British Prime Minister Gordon Brown reportedly will not attend the Beijing Olympic Games' opening ceremonies but will be present during the finale.The closing ceremonies will include the passing of the Olympic baton to London, site for the 2012 Summer Olympics, the BBC reported.The Olympics minister Tessa Jowell will represent Britain at the opening in Beijing in August.The prime minister had been under pressure in his country to boycott the Olympics because of China's ... [full story]

QUITO, Ecuador -- Several of Ecuador's top military leaders have stepped down following the resignation of the country's defense minister, senior government officials say.The leaders of Ecuador's army, air force, navy and the president's chief of staff resigned after President Rafael Correa said U.S. intelligence had been actively manipulating its Ecuadorian equivalent, El Comercio reported Thursday. The resignations of the military heads and Defense Minister Wellington Sandoval came amid a diplomatic row between Ecuador and ... [full story]

BEND, Ore. – A five-year-old boy died Tuesday evening from injuries sustained in a tragic accident while playing at a rock quarry in the Tumalo area north of Bend, deputies reported. Gabriel “Gabe” Brisbine of Sisters, Oregon, 5, and his 10-year-old brother were playing near the rock quarry at 65316 NW 93rd Street about 6:10 p.m., April 8, when the accident occurred. The boys’ parents, Lori Osborn and Sean Brisbine, were conducting business as the ... [full story]

SALEM, Ore. – Beginning April 15, residential and small-farm customers of Portland General Electric (PGE) will see their rates decrease by over 6%, a savings of $5.80 per month for an average customer using 900 kWh monthly, the Public Utility Commission announced Tuesday. The reduction was made possible due to the restoration of Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) interim benefits. “We will continue to make a case for Oregon to equitably share the benefits of the low-cost ... [full story]

Jose Guadalupe Amezcua is sentenced for laundering money he believed to be drug-sales proceeds EUGENE, Ore. – Jose Guadalupe Amezcua, 45, of Springfield, Oregon, was sentenced to six-months in a community corrections center Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken for money laundering.  Amezcua also must perform 500 hours of community service as part of a five-year term of probation.  Amezcua pleaded guilty to the charges in September 2007, and admitted that he served as ... [full story]

Across Oregon, 3,000 residents in 35 counties are receiving applications this week that will enable them to learn whether they are eligible for the Oregon Health Plan's Standard benefit package. The Oregon Department of Human Services mailed the applications Monday to people whose names a computer randomly selected from a reservation list on which 91,000-plus Oregon residents signed up during January and February. DHS expects to enroll 10,000 low-income adults during the next several months. ... [full story]