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An tense border dispute between Thailand and Cambodia erupted into a gunbattle that killed two soldiers today, but officials from both sides downplayed the violence and called for resolving the conflict through talks, not bullets.

WASHINGTON -- Leaders of the Group of Eight major industrial countries said Wednesday they will meet "in the near future" to map strategies to deal with the global financial crisis.

BAGHDAD, Oct. 15 -- The U.S. military on Wednesday announced the death of a man it described as the No. 2 leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq.

A South Korean court today convicted a North Korean woman defector charged with extracting state secrets from military officers in return for sexual favours and sentenced her to five years in jail, a court official said.

American troops acting on a tip killed the No. 2 leader of al Qaeda in Iraq -- a Moroccan known for his ability to recruit and motivate foreign fighters -- in a raid in the northern city of Mosul, the U.S. military said today.

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia -- A gunfight broke out Wednesday between Thai and Cambodian troops at a disputed border zone near a landmark 11th-century temple, killing two Cambodian soldiers and escalating a conflict that has raised fears of war.

The first high-level talks between Russia and Georgia since their war broke down today.

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan and NATO-led forces killed 18 insurgents overnight as dozens of Taliban prepared to attack the capital of the southern province of Helmand for the second time in three days, police said on Wednesday.

BANGKOK, Oct. 15 -- A court in Vietnam on Wednesday sentenced a journalist to two years in prison after he exposed a scandal involving Transportation Ministry officials siphoning off aid money, in part to bet on European soccer matches.

Hurricane Omar is gaining strength as it moves northeast, a day after drenching islands in the southeastern Caribbean.

KARACHI, Pakistan -- An aviation official says an Etihad Airlines passenger jet has made an unscheduled landing at a Pakistani airport after a note warning of a bomb on board was found in the toilet.

SINGAPORE -- Oil prices fell below $78 a barrel Wednesday in Asia on concern a massive bank bailout by the U.S. and Europe won't keep the global economy from slipping into a severe slowdown that would erode crude demand.

Three teenagers and the relative of a police officer are among those to die in violence officials blame on feuding drug traffickers.

Overnight violence left eight people dead in this Mexican border city, officials said Tuesday.

The party overcomes comparisons to Bush, but fails to win a majority. Liberals' green stance doesn't win over voters.

Canadians stuck with their ruling party in parliamentary elections Tuesday, as Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper overcame opposition attempts to tether him to "Bush-style policies" that would allow the financial crisis in the United States to spread to Canada.

A few fringe groups seek to sow chaos, convinced it will hasten the arrival of the Mahdi, the Shiites' 12th imam who they believe will bring peace.

Falling into a depression after her husband was killed last year, Iman immersed herself in religious studies and became fixated on a Shiite Muslim saint.

About 11 million of 33 million HIV-positive people have TB, a Nobel laureate warns, and if financially troubled nations renege on aid pledges, it would deprive the poor of treatment.

Fearing that the global economic crisis could cause nations to renege on commitments to fight tuberculosis, new Nobel laureate and HIV co-discoverer Francoise Barre-Sinoussi warned that a drop in TB funding could wipe out gains made against AIDS because so many people suffer from both diseases.

Southeast Asia: Thailand, Cambodia trade threats / El Salvador: U.S. pledges funds for gang control / South Korea: Mata Hari of the North is sentenced / Britain: One less test for schoolchildren

Thailand, Cambodia trade threats

Leaders in Beijing were expected to enact a bold program allowing farmers to eventually buy, sell or lease their fields. But the issue wasn't even mentioned in the meeting's closing statement.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Third Plenary Session of the 17th Central Committee, where China's Communist Party leaders were expected to finally enact a bold land reform program allowing farmers eventually to buy, sell or lease their fields.

Long a corridor for narcotics headed for the U.S., Mexico is now contending with its own addiction problem, as U.S. border controls push traffickers to look elsewhere.

When the dope thugs beat him with a pistol, Rodrigo Sonck decided enough was enough.

Assad's order could pave the way for normalizing the two Mideast neighbors' long-tangled relations.

The president of Syria ordered his government Tuesday to establish formal diplomatic relations with Lebanon, a move that could pave the way for normalizing decades of tangled ties between the two countries.