Israel to vote on truce plan proposed by Egypt
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- Israel said it was approaching the "endgame" of its three-week offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers and scheduled a Security Cabinet vote Saturday on a truce proposed by Egypt. Under the cease-fire plan, fighting would stop immediately for 10 days, but Israeli forces would initially remain in Gaza and the border crossings into the territory would remain closed until security arrangements are made to ensure Hamas militants do not rearm....

Gaza war doctor grieves 3 daughters
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) -- The Palestinian doctor provided Israeli TV viewers with regular updates on Gaza fighting's human toll. But Friday's report was different - with sobs he told how his three daughters and a niece were killed by an Israeli shell....

Iraqi guards said to throw party for shoe-thrower
BAGHDAD (AP) -- The Iraqi journalist jailed since throwing his shoes at President George W. Bush got a visit from his brother Friday and a birthday party from his guards as he turned 30....

Trial opens for US suspect in Italy slaying
PERUGIA, Italy (AP) -- A judge ruled Friday that the trial of an American student accused of killing her British roommate would remain open to the media despite concerns about the indignity of releasing sensitive details of an alleged sexual attack....

Obama's half brother performs in China
SHENZHEN, China (AP) -- The news release didn't say who Mark Ndesandjo was. Nor did the posters and e-mails promoting the concert Friday in this southern Chinese boomtown where he played piano to raise money for orphans....

Protesters clash with police in Lithuania
VILNIUS, Lithuania (AP) -- Violent political protests sweeping parts of Eastern Europe have spread to Lithuania, where police fired rubber bullets and tear gas at a rock-throwing mob attacking Parliament....

Qatar suspends ties with Israel
DOHA, Qatar (AP) -- Qatar and Mauritania suspended contacts with Israel to protest the Gaza bloodshed at an Arab summit Friday that deepened the divisions between pro-U.S. Arab nations and their rivals in the Middle East....

British writer John Mortimer dead at 85
LONDON (AP) -- British lawyer and writer John Mortimer, creator of the curmudgeonly criminal lawyer Rumpole of the Bailey, died Friday. He was 85....

Haiti's storm emergency fades, but hunger remains
GONAIVES, Haiti (AP) -- More than 150,000 people are surviving on donated food in the flood-battered city of Gonaives and the United Nations says more aid is urgently needed to stave off famine in parts of Haiti four months after ravaging storms....

Iraqi candidate for provincial vote assassinated
BAGHDAD (AP) -- A Shiite candidate for provincial elections was assassinated Friday while campaigning south of Baghdad, underscoring fears that political rivalries will lead to a spike in violence ahead of Iraq's Jan. 31 vote....