Gun attacks in southern Pakistan city kill 34, while military pounds insurgents in northwest

KARACHI, Pakistan — A slew of gun attacks in Pakistan’s biggest city killed at least 34 people, officials said Thursday, further rattling a country already tense over a military offensive against Taliban militants in a district near the capital.

For Your Eyes Only: China’s spy museum only allows Chinese citizens to visit

BEIJING — A new Chinese spy museum exhibits guns disguised as lipstick, hollowed-out coins used to conceal documents and maps hidden as a deck of cards.

3 more track athletes nabbed in doping scandal shows track still faces perception problem

With a gold medalist in one of its top events busted for doping at the Beijing Games, the troubled sport of track and field is once again at the center of an Olympic drug scandal.

Obama, Biden, give warm welcome to Specter at White House, says he will be asset to party

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama on Wednesday hailed Arlen Specter’s conversion to the Democratic Party, while Specter vowed that he’ll be an asset as Obama tries to get his ambitious agenda through Congress.

Ammunition explodes at Tanzania dump site, 3 killed 150 injured

ARUSHA, Tanzania — Huge explosions rocked an ammunition dump at an army camp in Tanzania’s commercial capital Wednesday, killing three people and injuring more than 150, officials said.

Swine flu death toll stabilizes while NY school outbreak shows epidemic can keep spreading

MEXICO CITY — The toll from the swine flu epidemic appears to be stabilizing in Mexico, the health secretary said late Tuesday, with only seven more suspected deaths. But health officials said they “fully expect” to see U.S. deaths as the virus keeps spreading around the world.

Pakistani aircraft pound Taliban positions close to capital amid US pressure to fight

ISLAMABAD — Pakistani jets and attack helicopters struck Taliban positions in mountains close to the capital as part of a widening offensive against militants spreading out from the lawless region along the border with Afghanistan, the military said.

Schering-Plough CEO Fred Hassan’s compensation falls 34 percent in 2008

NEW YORK — Schering-Plough Corp. Chief Executive Fred Hassan’s compensation slipped 34 percent in 2008, mainly due to a decline in stock-based awards as the company’s share price fell, according to an Associated Press analysis of data filed with regulators Monday.

US has prepared to avert the worst if a flu pandemic explodes, now or later

WASHINGTON — Two million dead. Hospitals overwhelmed. Schools closed. Swaths of empty seats at baseball stadiums and houses of worship. An economic recovery snuffed out.

Taliban declare peace pact with Pakistan ‘worthless’ as army operation kills 20 militants

ISLAMABAD — Taliban militants declared their peace deal with the Pakistani government “worthless” on Monday after authorities deployed helicopters and artillery against hide-outs of Islamist guerrillas seeking to extend their grip along the Afghan border.

World Bank says financial crisis could turn into calamity for many poor countries

WASHINGTON — The global financial crisis could become “a human and development calamity” for many poor countries, the World Bank said, urging donor nations to speed delivery of money they have pledged and consider giving more.

Earth, Wind & Fire, Etta James and Dave Matthews Band close out first weekend of Jazz Fest

NEW ORLEANS — Cajun singer Wayne Toups and his Zydecajun band picked their accordions and guitars while thousands enthusiastically stomped, clapped, swayed and danced — some doing the Cajun two-step at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival on Sunday.

60 deaths in Mexico, probably from strange new flu, raise fears of global epidemic

MEXICO CITY — Mexico shut down schools, museums, libraries and state-run theaters across it overcrowded capital Friday in hopes of containing a swine flu outbreak that authorities say killed at least 20 people — and perhaps dozens more. World health authorities worried openly that the strange new virus could become a global epidemic.

Pakistan militants burn tanker trucks taking fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD — Dozens of militants armed with guns and gasoline bombs attacked a truck terminal in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday and burned five tanker trucks carrying fuel to NATO troops in Afghanistan, police said.