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NUKU'ALOFA, Tonga - A 6.8-magnitude earthquake struck off the Pacific island nation of Tonga, sending panicked residents into the streets at night, but there were no immediate reports of damage or injuries.

BARIYAPUR, Nepal - The ceremony began with prayers in a temple by tens of thousands of Hindus before dawn Tuesday. Then it shifted to a nearby corral, where in the cold morning mist, scores of butchers wielding curved swords began slaughtering buffalo calves by hacking off their heads.

LONDON - An inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war kicked off Tuesday with top government advisers testifying that some Bush administration officials were calling for Saddam Hussein's ouster as early as 2001 — long before sanctions were exhausted and two years before the U.S.-led invasion.

AMPATUAN, Philippines - Philippine authorities, under intense public pressure to make arrests in the country's worst election massacre, said Wednesday they are investigating a member of a powerful clan allied with the government along with four police commanders.

VIENNA - Six world powers have readied a resolution critical of Iran's nuclear program, diplomats said Tuesday, as Tehran suggested it was still ready to discuss a U.N.-backed plan meant to delay the Islamic Republic's ability to make a nuclear weapon.

SHINKAY, Afghanistan - A battered taxi sped up a dusty road toward a squad of Afghan soldiers searching for bombs planted in the dirt. Army gunmen who had fanned out for protection readied for a suicide attacker. The car screeched to a halt.

NUKU'ALOFA (AFP) - A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.8 hit off the Pacific island nation of Tonga on Wednesday, the US Geological Survey said.

KABUL, Afghanistan — The television set crackles with breaking news: Terrorists have smuggled a nuclear bomb into Kabul and are preparing to take out the Afghan capital.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A powerful earthquake of magnitude 6.8 struck northeast of the South Pacific island nation of Tonga on Tuesday, the United States Geological Survey said, but a destructive tsunami was not expected.

CARACAS, Venezuela - Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won support for his country's nuclear ambitions and expanded his reach in Latin America in a three-country goodwill tour that took him to close ally Venezuela for his final stop.

LONDON (AFP) - A long-awaited public inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war held its first hearing Tuesday, six and a half years after Tony Blair controversially led the country in backing the US-led conflict.

RAMALLAH, West Bank - At the top of the list of Palestinian prisoners likely to be freed in a possible swap for an Israeli soldier is a firebrand politician many Palestinians believe is a likely future president who can pull them out of their current political deadlock.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran could consider sending its low-enriched uranium abroad, the Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday, apparently softening its opposition to a U.N. plan aimed at keeping a check on its nuclear ambitions.

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia - For years just an obscure fight raging in remote desert mountains, Yemen's war with Shiite rebels has been dragged up to a new level, inflaming the rivalry between the Middle East's two powerhouses Saudi Arabia and Iran.

ANKARA (AFP) - Turkey and Israel Tuesday pledged commitment to improve ties as an Israeli minister held talks in Ankara, the first since the Jewish state's war in Gaza poisoned ties between the two regional allies.

China may figure more prominently in Washington's strategic calculations, but Indians believe their country will be closer to Washington in the long term

BUENOS AIRES (AFP) - US President Barack Obama is "doing nothing right now" to restart the stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas said in an interview published Tuesday.

LONDON - Britain's defense ministry says it will formally order a public inquiry this week into the alleged abuse and killing of Iraqi civilians by British soldiers.

ROME - The prostitute at the center of Premier Silvio Berlusconi's sex scandal claims in a new book that she slept with him on the understanding he would help her set up a countryside inn but she got "nothing" in return.

TEHRAN, Iran - An Iranian news agency reports that the judiciary has after just a day lifted its ban on a popular newspaper which ran a photo of a Baha'i temple.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - An Israeli prisoner exchange with Hamas has not yet been agreed and may not happen, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, after a senior cabinet colleague predicted a breakthrough within weeks.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan - Pakistani troops killed 18 militants in a fresh offensive Tuesday against insurgents blamed for a wave of recent bombings in the main northwestern city of Peshawar.

CAPE TOWN, South Africa - Visitors to South Africa's premier holiday destination who are worried about becoming victims of the country's high crime rate could find themselves instead robbed by a more furry kind of felon: baboons.

CAMP LEATHERNECK, Afghanistan — There was no rock star, just an actor who likes to play the bass guitar.

GEORGETOWN, Guyana - Police say a jaguar prowling the lush jungles of Guyana killed a gold and diamond miner as he fetched water from a creek.

ROME - A convicted Mafia boss who got out of jail by faking paralysis and anorexia has been arrested at a restaurant after more than two months on the run, police in Sicily said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON — In a preview of his speech next week announcing his plan to send more than 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan, President Barack Obama Tuesday vowed that he'll "finish the job" of stabilizing the country and destroying the al Qaida terror network.

LONDON (AFP) - The first full-scale inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war opened with testimony suggesting Washington was gearing up for possible conflict two years before Tony Blair led London to war.

NEW DELHI - An Indian government investigation released Tuesday into the 1992 demolition of a mosque by a raging mob reportedly accused top Hindu nationalist politicians of complicity in the attack that sparked nationwide ethnic riots, leaving 2,000 people dead.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - An Israeli minister said on Tuesday that an agreement with Hamas to swap a Gaza-held soldier for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners was "very close," despite earlier efforts to rein in speculation.