Fiery on court and disarmingly honest off it, Anastasia Myskina admitted Wednesday that her nerves had cost her a semifinal spot in the Australian Open.

A judge cleared British Prime Minister Tony Blair's government Wednesday of any direct involvement in the suicide of a British expert on Iraqi weapons.

At least eight Palestinians were killed Wednesday during some of the fiercest fighting in Gaza in months, complicating efforts by visiting U.S. envoys to revive peace talks.

A car bomb exploded Wednesday in front of a hotel frequented by Westerners, killing at least four people, witnesses and coalition officials said.

John Kerry overpowered Howard Dean to win New Hampshire's U.S. presidential primary, scoring a second-straight campaign victory to establish himself as the front-runner in the Democratic race that will decide who will challenge George W. Bush for the presidency.

The hijackers of Sept. 11, 2001, blasted Mace or pepper spray at flight crew members and passengers to keep them away from the cockpits and wielded knives in their orchestrated takeovers of the aircraft, according to a report issued Tuesday by the commission investigating the attacks.

A NASA rover got its closest-ever look at bedrock on the surface of Mars and discovered layering that scientists were eager for the spacecraft to examine for any long-ago signs of water.

Swiss Funds for Arms BERN, Switzerland (AP) -- The Swiss government on Wednesday said it had signed a deal with Russia to give financial backing for the destruction of chemical weapons. The agreement -- signed in Moscow by Anne Bauty, acting head of the Swiss Embassy, and Viktor Kholstov, general director of the Russian Agency for Munitions -- commits Switzerland to spending up to 15 million francs ($12.1 million) over the next five years, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said. Russia in 1997 committed itself to destroying its stockpile of 40,000 tons within 10 years. However, its work has been delayed because of a lack of funds. Swiss lawmakers last year agreed to give 17 million francs toward the worldwide destruction of chemical weapons, specifying that the bulk of the money should go to Russia.

Madlena Rozenblyum's recent workshop on how Russian immigrants can cope with the stress of immigration was born of personal experience.

Edward Goldman and Inessa Lemashova -- Soviet Jews who came to America with hopes for a better life -- devoted themselves to their only child, going so far as to help him flee the country with a bag of cash after he allegedly killed his mistress.