• Piracy watchdog hails Indian attack on pirate ship (AP)

AP - An anti-piracy watchdog group on Thursday welcomed an Indian warship's destruction of a suspected pirate vessel in waters off Somalia, where hijackings have become increasingly violent and the hijackers increasingly bold.

  • Gazans cook on wood fires because of power cuts (AP)

AP - While an Israeli cutoff in fuel shipments has closed down a dozen of his competitors, baker Khalil Awad stays in business thanks to a little creativity and dirty black oil drained from car engines. The cutoff in fuel shipments to the Gaza Strip's sole power plant started a week ago in response to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants.

  • Police to end restrictions on ex-Gitmo detainee (AP)

AP - Australian police said Thursday they will stop restricting the movements and communications of a former Guantanamo Bay detainee after he broke his long media silence to ask them to let him "get on with" his life.

  • Hungry in Zimbabwe: `If you rest, you starve' (AP)

AP - Katy Phiri, who is in her 70s, picks up single corn kernels spilled from trucks that ferry the harvest to market. She says she hasn't eaten for three days.

  • Pirate riches turning Somali villages into boomtowns (AP)

AP - Somalia's increasingly brazen pirates are building sprawling stone houses, cruising in luxury cars, marrying beautiful women — even hiring caterers to prepare Western-style food for their hostages.

  • London stock market drops 2.25 percent at start of trading (AFP)

AFP - London's stock market slid 2.25 percent to under 4,000 points soon after the start of trading on Thursday, following sharp losses in Asia and overnight on Wall Street caused by deep recession worries.

  • Iraq FM: US-Iraqi security pact can still pass (AP)

AP - Iraq's foreign minister says the parliament can still approve a security pact with the United States despite scuffles among lawmakers in Baghdad.

  • Costa Rica arrests 6 for medicine shipments to US (AP)

AP - A Costa Rican official says two Americans and four others have been arrested for allegedly sending restricted pharmaceutical drugs to the United States.

  • ICC prosecutor seeks warrants in third Darfur probe (AFP)

AFP - The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court asked judges Thursday to issue arrest warrants for rebel commanders blamed for killing African 12 peacekeepers and wounding eight in Sudan's Darfur region in September.

  • China shares fall but property, metals limit loss (AP)

AP - Chinese shares joined the global sell-off Thursday but gains in property developers and gold miners provided a floor for the market, partly offsetting losses in banks and insurers.

  • Clampdown on excessive speeders

Drivers who are caught breaking the speed limit by a significant margin on two occasions could be banned from the roads.

  • John Sergeant pulls out of Strictly

The former political correspondent John Sergeant has pulled out of Strictly Come Dancing.

  • Red tape 'hampering victims'

Victims of violent crime are being hampered from claiming compensation by excessive bureaucracy and complex forms, MPs have said.

  • Space station marks 10th birthday

Space agencies are marking 10 years since the first stage of the International Space Station was put into orbit. In 1998 it was hailed as a sign of hope for humanity and an orbiting scientific city in the sky. Pallab Ghosh examines how successful the ISS has been.

  • UK returns stolen icon to Greece

A 14th-Century Byzantine icon stolen from a Greek monastery 30 years ago has been returned to Athens from Britain.

  • Member of Royal household and serving policeman named on BNP list

A serving member of the Royal household is among the people named as members of the British National Party on a list leaked on the internet.

  • Ofsted: vulnerable children 'let down' by councils

Vulnerable children are being neglected as councils fail to act on the "worst cases of abuse" according to Ofsted.

  • Shannon Matthews' mother 'broke down and confessed' in policewoman's car

Karen Matthews broke down in tears as she confessed in a policewoman's car a court has heard.

  • Shannon Matthews: Mother 'reported her missing to move in with new man'

Shannon Matthews's mother reported her daughter missing when a plan to leave her partner for her coaccused went wrong a court heard.

  • Baby P: Doctor who missed broken back speaks out

The only person sacked over the case said she had been "deeply affected" by her involvement in the events leading up to his death.