AP - Walk into any store that sells or rents video games, and chances are you'll find only a few shelves, if any, for personal computer games amid the aisles dominated by console software.

AP - Commercial land prices in Tokyo rose last year for the first time in more than a decade, while nationwide land prices fell at a slower rate amid a rebound in the world's second-largest economy, the government said Thursday.

AP - Pakistan on Thursday protested the killing by Afghan soldiers of 14 people Pakistan claims were its citizens, the latest source of tension between the neighboring countries amid increasing violence along their rugged border.

AFP - US and British forces rescued three Western hostages held captive in Iraq for almost four months, amid an explosion of violence that left at least two dozen people dead.

AP - The first shipment of U.S. rice for direct sale to consumers arrived in South Korea Thursday amid farmer protests against foreign rice imports.

Reuters - The Dow soared to its highest close in nearly 5 years on Wednesday, boosted by gains in shares of industrial companies like Caterpillar Inc. amid hopes that corporate profit growth would stay strong even if the Federal Reserve keeps raising interest rates a bit longer than expected.

The EU is to open its annual summit on economic reform, amid claims that it is failing to achieve its goals.

The EU is to open its annual summit on economic reform, amid claims that it is failing to achieve its goals.

AFP - Senior US officials have urged Japan to halt development of a massive oil field with Iran amid concern that revenue from the project could fuel the Islamic state's nuclear drive, a report said.

Chancellor Gordon Brown is criticised for not saying enough about the NHS in his Budget amid hospital job cuts.

The Electoral Commission is due to finalise new guidelines on political loans amid the row over Labour's funding.

AP - Heavy winds ripped away much of the top nine floors of a fire-weakened Nigerian building early Wednesday, raining debris on mostly empty streets and leaving people on lower floors waving frantically for help.

AP - Democratic Gov. Rod Blagojevich easily won his primary despite being potentially vulnerable amid corruption allegations, and Republican state Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka earned a shot to defeat him in the fall.

AFP - Protesters hacked one census worker to death and sprayed five more with acid, officials said, as Nigeria's first national headcount in 15 years headed into a violent second day.

AFP - Tensions were at fever-pitch in France ahead of a new day of protests against Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's contested youth labour law, amid growing fears that violence could reignite in the city suburbs hit by last November's riots.

AP - These aren't the hide-in-the-hills leftists of yesteryear, ready to take up arms against the oppressor. A new wave of Latin American leaders — variously labeled leftist, populist, nationalist or socialist — is redefining politics in a region where U.S.-backed, right-wing dictatorships spent decades crushing their mostly leftist opponents and supporting corporate interests amid fears of inroads by the Soviet Union and its Cuban proxy.

AFP - Dell, the world's leader in personal computers, said it planned to create 200 new jobs and ramp up investment in China amid strong sales growth in the Asian country.

AFP - Tensions were at fever-pitch in France ahead of a new day of protests against Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin's contested youth labour law, amid growing fears that violence could reignite in the city suburbs hit by last November's riots.

AFP - Nigeria's first national headcount in 15 years headed into a second day amid clashes between police and separatists, attacks on counters and protests by disgruntled census workers.

AFP - British finance minister, Gordon Brown, was set to deliver his 10th, and possibly his last, annual budget amid increasing speculation he could replace Tony Blair as prime minister sooner than expected.