MILESTONE: Filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act, the lawsuit is believed to be the first of its kind against an Internet company
A Chinese political prisoner and his wife sued Yahoo in federal court yesterday, accusing the company of abetting the commission of torture by helping Chinese authorities identify political dissidents who were later beaten and imprisoned.

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Japan is looking to the moon to regain some face.

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The formal opening of economic aid talks between North and South Korea was delayed yesterday because of a procedural problem, as the South planned to urge the North to carry out its nuclear disarmament obligations.

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IRAN'S CLAIM: A letter from an agency official took note of Tehran's claim to have put 1,312 centrifuges into operation, while many questions remain about the purpose of the feed
Iran has started feeding small amounts of uranium gas into centrifuges that can enrich it to weapons-grade level and is already running more than 1,300 of the machines, an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) document said.

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YOUNG ASSAILANTS: Suspects detained at the scene of Wednesday's murders reportedly lived in the same hostel run by an Islamic foundation
Turkish police have detained 10 people in connection with the killing of three people, including a German, at a Bible publishing house in the mainly Muslim country, authorities said yesterday.

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TIME'S UP: While Washington could give Khartoum weeks to let UN peacekeepers into Darfur, plans being considered include more sanctions and air interdiction
US President George W. Bush gave Sudan on Wednesday one "last chance" to let UN peacekeepers into Darfur, as Washington and London threatened new UN sanctions to force Khartoum's hand.

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Sixty-two people were killed in Darfur in a new spree of tribal fighting that struck this violence-plagued region in western Sudan, the African Union (AU) said on Wednesday.

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Security forces killed at least 25 suspected Islamic militants in battles sparked by a deadly attack on a police station in northern Nigeria, an army spokesman said.

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DEADLOCK: While the US president said he would not sign any bill that included a timetable for troop withdrawal, lawmakers said they would send him one anyway
US President George W. Bush sparred across the table with Democratic congressional leaders opposed to the Iraq war in a prelude to a veto showdown over a conflict that has claimed the lives of more than 3,200 US troops and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

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REACTIONS: Potential Republican presidential candidates hailed the ruling as a victory, while Hillary Clinton said it puts women's health at risk
The US Supreme Court backtracked on abortion rights for the first time in more than a generation on Wednesday, upholding a federal law banning a controversial late-term abortion procedure.

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Masked gunmen stormed a hospital in the border city of Tijuana and engaged police in a shootout that claimed three lives before authorities retook the facility.

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Even before it was opened, the oversized letter sent from Cho Seung-hui to NBC News attracted attention. The postal worker who brought it to NBC's Manhattan headquarters on Wednesday pointed out the return address of Blacksburg, Virginia.

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US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced a make-or-break appearance yesterday on Capitol Hill amid calls for his resignation over the bungled firings of eight US attorneys and efforts by Democrats to show that the dismissals were driven by party politics.

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Four young women from Newark, New Jersey, were convicted of gang assault on Wednesday in the beating and stabbing of an independent filmmaker in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, last summer.

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■ CHINA
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