Women, children killed in stampede

The stampede occurred as thousands of women were leaving the Sunni Muslim Faizan-e-Medina center in the port city of Karachi after listening to sermons.

Witnesses said the fatal crush happened inside the center's compound, when a woman bent down to pick up a girl who had fallen, causing others behind her to trip.

Bush wants more NATO in Darfur

The Bush administration wants to send up to several hundred NATO advisers to help bolster African peacekeeping troops in their efforts to shield villagers in Sudan's Darfur region from fighting between government-backed Arab militias and rebel groups, administration officials said.

The move would include some U.S. troops and mark a significant expansion of U.S. and allied involvement in the conflict. NATO's role has been limited to airlifting African Union forces to the region and providing a few military specialists to help the peacekeeping contingent.

The proposal falls well short of more aggressive measures that some have advocated, such as sending ground combat troops or providing air patrols to protect peacekeepers and prevent the bombing of villages.

Security Cabinet urges severing ties

The Israeli security Cabinet on Sunday recommended severing all ties with the Palestinian Authority, a step that would bar negotiations with President Mahmoud Abbas after the recent installation of a Palestinian government led by the militant group Hamas, officials said.

The full Israeli Cabinet is expected to adopt the recommendations next weekend, formalizing moves made to cut contacts with the new Hamas-led administration, which took office last month.

Canadian police investigating the deaths of eight men found stuffed inside abandoned vehicles in a wooded field descended on a farmhouse a few miles down the road Sunday.

Police refused to discuss what was happening beyond the roadblock they had set up around the farmhouse, about three miles from where the bodies were found inside four vehicles deserted in a farmer's field Saturday morning.

A former member of the Bandidos motorcycle organization said he had talked to current members in the area who recognized the vehicles from the media coverage.

Compiled from The Associated Press, The Washington Post and the Chicago Tribune