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FROM TODAY'S BOSTON GLOBE

Quake ravages western China (Reuters)

Quake ravages western China

A powerful earthquake struck western China yesterday, toppling thousands of homes, factories, and offices, trapping students in schools, and killing at least 10,000 people, the country's worst natural disaster in three decades. Rescuers (above) carried an injured man from the debris of a collapsed building at a school in Juyuan, China, yesterday. (By Jake Hooker and Jim Yardley, Boston Globe)
RELATED COVERAGE

US plane arrives to aid cyclone victims

The head of the US Pacific Command flew into Burma yesterday aboard the first US military aid flight, to press for a full-scale international relief operation for victims of Cyclone Nargis. Facing mounting international pressure to open their country's borders, Burmese officials promised to consider the request. (By Amy Kazmin and Colum Lynch, Boston Globe)

Lebanon reaches out to its Western allies

Shaken by a Hezbollah military offensive in recent days, Lebanon's pro-Western parties have launched an intensive campaign to lobby allies in Washington, Europe, and the Arab world to intervene diplomatically or even militarily on their behalf, officials here said. (By Borzou Daragahi, Boston Globe)
Daily Briefing

Charges against detainee dropped

The Pentagon has dropped charges against a Saudi at Guantanamo who was alleged to have been the so-called "20th hijacker" in the Sept. 11 attacks, his US military defense lawyer said yesterday. (Boston Globe)

Gaza militants' rocket kills Israeli woman

A rocket fired by Palestinian militants killed a 75-year-old Israeli woman yesterday, just as an Egyptian mediator was winding up truce talks in Israel - underlining both the urgency and complexity of working out a cease-fire between Israel and Gaza's Hamas rulers. (By Mark Lavie, Boston Globe)

Judge rift cripples Pakistan coalition

One of the two main parties in Pakistan's ruling coalition declared yesterday that it would quit the government in a dispute over when and how to reinstate judges fired by President Pervez Musharraf late last year. (By Mubashir Zaidi and Laura King, Boston Globe)

Shi'ite factions, officials sign truce

Representatives of Iraq's main Shi'ite Muslim factions signed a deal yesterday clearing the way for Iraqi soldiers to operate throughout Sadr City, a vast Baghdad slum that is largely under the control of militiamen loyal to firebrand cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. (By Alexandra Zavis, Boston Globe)

Putin names power-bolstering Cabinet

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin wasted no time in naming his new Cabinet yesterday, bringing in loyalists from the Kremlin in what was seen as an effort to shift the center of power to his new place of work. (By Mansur Mirovalev, Boston Globe)

LATEST WORLD NEWS FROM AP AND REUTERS

ASIA

Police say 30 dead as 5 bomb blasts rock western Indian city

Police say at least 30 people were killed and 100 others wounded in five bomb blasts that ripped through crowded areas of a city in western India. (AP, 12:19 p.m.)
EUROPE

Drought-hit Barcelona ships in water

Spain's worst drought in decades forced the city of Barcelona to begin shipping in drinking water Tuesday in an unprecedented effort to avoid water restrictions before the start of vacation season. (AP, 12:16 p.m.)
MIDDLE EAST

Saudi Arabia criticizes Iran's Hezbollah support

Saudi Arabia accused Iran of backing what it called a coup by Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon -- the clearest sign yet of rising regional tensions over the conflict. (AP, 11:48 a.m.)
MIDDLE EAST

Police raid trade ministry in Olmert probe

Police raided the Ministry of Industry and Trade Tuesday, seizing documents in a widening corruption probe of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. (AP, 10:54 a.m.)
ASIA

Report: Death toll in China quake nears 12,000

Rescue workers are digging through flattened homes and schools in a desperate search for victims of China's worst earthquake in three decades. Authorities say nearly 12,000 people were killed and more than 18,000 are missing. (AP, 8:08 a.m.)