AP - The Pashtun tribal leaders picked at the chocolate cake and fruit laid out for them at the conference table. Politely, they listened to speeches touting a new program to release detainees from Afghanistan's largest U.S.-run military prison if community leaders vouch for them.

AP - RAMALLAH, West Bank — At 35, Leila Ghanem is the first woman to become a Palestinian governor, the latest in a group of trailblazing women leaders who are slowly winning acceptance in this traditional society.

AP - The naming of Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim as the world's richest person — the first from a developing nation — underlines the loosening of America and Europe's stranglehold on the top spots in the billionaires' club.

AP - The Palestinians are threatening to pull out of U.S.-mediated peace talks with Israel before the negotiations even start.

AP - Fighting between Islamist insurgents and government forces continued for a second day in the Somali capital as medical officials say at least 23 people died in the clashes.

AP - U.S. troops tasked with eliminating North Korea's weapons of mass destruction are participating in military drills with South Korea, the top U.S. commander in the country said Thursday.