AFP - Manchester City avoided a tragedy of Hamlet proportions against Denmark's Midtjylland on Thursday after a last-gasp penalty shoot-out gave the English side a UEFA Cup lifeline.

AP - More than 200 oil-slicked penguins have washed up dead on the beaches of a popular Brazilian resort, and officials say they are searching for a cause.

AP - Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday rejected the idea that Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon might be forced to stay there permanently, saying they should have the right to return home.

AFP - Darfur rebels claimed to have shot down a Sudanese military spy plane in a wild mountainous area of the war-torn region on Thursday.

AP - Tourists and oil workers fled Thursday as Gustav swamped eastern Jamaica on a path to hit the Cayman Islands with winds near hurricane force. Louisiana called a state of emergency and put the National Guard on standby, hoping to avoid the chaos of Hurricane Katrina three years ago.

AP - China and several Central Asian nations rebuffed Russia's hopes of international support for its actions in Georgia, issuing a statement Thursday denouncing the use of force and calling for the respect of every country's territorial integrity.

AP - A surge of violence continued unabated in Pakistan's tribal border region Thursday, with a car bomb blasting a bus filled with Pakistani police and government workers off a bridge and killing eight people aboard.

AFP - The pound hit yet another two-year low against the dollar Thursday, in what is fast becoming a daily occurrence for the battered currency.

AFP - The Dalai Lama was taken to hospital in India on Thursday after complaining of stomach pain, his office said.

AFP - Malaysia on Thursday defended blocking access to a prominent political website that has attacked top leaders, saying it had ignored warnings against publishing "slanderous" articles.

AP - U.S. forces arrested a top Shiite official in Iraq's government as he stepped off a plane in Baghdad, a political ally said Thursday, and a U.S. military intelligence official linked the man to a June bombing that killed four Americans and six Iraqis.

AFP - South Africa captain Graeme Smith will miss Friday's third one-day international against England as he struggles to recover from a tennis elbow injury.

AP - Thousands of demonstrators — some armed with golf clubs, batons and bamboo sticks — defied a court order to end their occupation of the prime minister's office compound on Thursday, vowing to remain until the country's leaders resign.

Reuters - The Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader, was admitted to a hospital in India with "abdominal discomfort" but there was no cause for concern, doctors said on Thursday.

AP - A four-day battle that began with an ambush on a joint U.S-Afghan patrol in southern Afghanistan has killed more than 100 militants, the coalition said Thursday.

AFP - Shaun Wright-Phillips rejoined Manchester City on Thursday as the Chelsea winger completed his move to Eastlands for an undisclosed fee.