AP - A family court judge in New Zealand has had enough with parents giving their children bizarre names here, and did something about it.

AP - Japanese and Mongolian scientists have successfully recovered the complete skeleton of a 70-million-year-old young dinosaur, a nature museum announced Thursday.

Reuters - When Don Corleone's daughter got married in the film "The Godfather," the guests kissed his hand and he dispensed favors because no Sicilian Mafia boss could refuse a request on his daughter's wedding day.

AFP - The International Olympic Committee has confirmed a ban on Iraq from competing in the Beijing Games in a major blow to seven Iraqi athletes who had hoped to travel to China, an IOC letter said.

AP - A key committee has approved construction of the first new Jewish settlement in the West Bank in a decade, an Israeli official said Thursday. The news infuriated Palestinians, who said the decision could cripple peace efforts.

AP - After the sting of scandal, Max Mosley can feel the balm of victory. A British judge ruled Thursday that a tabloid newspaper breached the motorsport chief's privacy with a story claiming that a sadomasochistic orgy he took part in had a Nazi theme. The News of the World faces a legal bill of almost 1 million pounds ($2 million) after the judge ordered it to pay damages and Mosley's legal costs, as well as it2s own.

AP - Radovan Karadzic was preparing his false identity during the autocratic rule of his mentor, an official said Thursday, promising to track down the people who helped the Bosnian Serb warlord stay on the run from genocide charges.

AP - A high-altitude rescue helicopter safely plucked two stranded Italian climbers from one of the world's highest mountains on Thursday, officials said.

Time.com - Amid record levels of anti-American sentiment, the Democrat will likely get the warmest reception in Berlin since Kennedy

Reuters - U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey said on Wednesday he had rejected a request from lawmakers that an outside special counsel investigate the case of a Canadian taken off a plane in New York and sent to Syria, where he says he was tortured.

AFP - World motorsport chief Max Mosley won his privacy case at London's High Court Thursday against a British newspaper which alleged he took part in a Nazi-themed sadomasochistic orgy with prostitutes.

Reuters - Shanghai police have broken up an international terrorist group that had planned to attack an Olympic football preliminary match in the city, state news agency Xinhua said on Thursday.

Reuters - A strong earthquake jolted northern Japan early on Thursday, injuring more than 100 people, trapping hundreds in halted trains and affecting production at some high-tech factories.

AP - Both Israelis and Palestinians came away from Barack Obama's visit to the Holy Land with the feeling he would do more for Mideast peace than President Bush has. But neither side seemed fully convinced that Obama would have their interests at heart.

AP - A Dutch man, his son and two daughters fell to their deaths Thursday while climbing near Mont Blanc, Europe's highest peak, Italian rescuers said.

AFP - Roman emperor Hadrian may be best known for the wall in Britain which bears his name and his love of culture -- but a London exhibition which opened Thursday shows another, ruthless side to him.