DAMASCUS, Syria – A Hamas official has confirmed that the Damascus-based leader of the militant Palestinian group has promised to deliver to captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit a letter from his father.

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Dmitry Medvedev accused the West on Saturday of acting provocatively in and around the Black Sea, where the United States is using warships to deliver humanitarian aid to Georgia.

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters) – An earthquake measuring 5.6 hit Afghanistan’s Hindu Kush region on Saturday, but caused no casualties, a provincial official said.