AP - Hundreds of mainland Chinese tourists — some in matching white or pink shirts — arrived in Taiwan on Friday on the first regular commercial flights in nearly six decades between the old foes.

AP - Ingrid Betancourt, freed from captivity and humiliation in the jungles of Colombia, returns home to a hero's welcome Friday in the gilded halls of France's presidential palace.

AP - U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon told his fellow South Koreans on Friday to trust and support the country's leaders following weeks of protests against U.S. beef imports that have rocked the government.

AP - Between surging oil prices, food inflation and a credit crunch that's depressed global growth, leaders from the Group of Eight economic powers face the gravest combination of economic woes in at least a decade when they gather next week.

AP - Hugo Chavez, once a key mediator in securing hostage releases from Colombian rebels, could do little more than phone congratulations to President Alvaro Uribe after this week's bold rescue.

AP - A ferry sank in a river in Myanmar's cyclone-battered Irrawaddy delta, killing nearly 40 people, state-media reported Friday.

AFP - Australia is one of the least religious nations in the western world, research showed Friday, as the country prepares to host Pope Benedict XVI and Catholic World Youth Day celebrations this month.

AP - The plan was nothing if not audacious: A turncoat persuades rebels to bring together their most prized hostages and march them 90 miles through Colombia's wilderness. A month later, disguised commandos primed with acting lessons land in a helicopter and trick the rebels into handing them over.