AP - Strong thunderstorms toppled trees, knocked out power and damaged homes Friday in Mississippi and Alabama, while flooding in Kentucky forced evacuations and left a 2-year-old girl dead.

AFP - Zimbabwe has declared a cholera outbreak which has claimed 565 lives a national emergency and appealed for international aid to tackle the epidemic, the state-run Herald daily said Thursday.

AFP - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived in Pakistan on Thursday on a hastily arranged visit aimed at defusing tensions with India after the Mumbai militant attacks.

Reuters - General Motors Corp and Chrysler LLC are considering accepting a pre-arranged bankruptcy as the last-resort price of getting a multi billion dollar government bailout, Bloomberg reported, citing a person familiar with internal discussions.

AP - Fidelity Investments is joining the rush to satisfy investors' growing appetite for news about financial market turmoil.

AP - India suspects that two senior leaders of a banned Pakistani militant group masterminded last week's three-day terrorist attacks that killed 171 people in Mumbai, an Indian intelligence official said Thursday.