World/Nation

• Iraq's al-Maliki losing support of parliament

BAGHDAD - Prominent Shiite leaders pushed Thursday for the removal of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as parliament prepared to start work next week on putting together a new government, under intense U.S. pressure to rapidly form a united front against an unrelenting Sunni insurgent onslaught.

Increasingly, the Shiite al-Maliki's former allies believe he cannot lead an inclusive government that can draw minority Sunnis away from support for the fighters who have swept over a large swath of Iraq as they head toward the capital, Baghdad. In a further sign of Iraq's unraveling along sectarian lines, a bombing on Thursday killed 12 people in a Shiite neighborhood of Baghdad that houses a revered shrine, and police found the bullet-riddled bodies of eight Sunnis south of the capital.

Most crucially, though, backing for al-Maliki is weakening with his most important ally, neighboring Iran.

• Thousands flee Ukraine for safety in Russia

IZVARYNE, Ukraine - As a shaky cease-fire in the east entered its final hours Thursday, thousands of Ukrainians in cars stuffed with belongings lined up at the border to cross into Russia, some vowing never to return.

Many said they were most frightened for their children and desperate to take them to safety.

Also on Thursday, four of eight observers from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe who were held hostage in eastern Ukraine were released, the organization said in a news release.

A commander at the rebel-controlled border post outside the city of Luhansk said 5,000 people had left by evening, joining a stream that he said has continued unabated during the weeklong truce that has failed to end the gunfire and shelling.

Russia says tens of thousands of Ukrainians have come in the 2-1/2 months since Ukraine's government began fighting separatists in the east, a heavily industrial region with a large population of ethnic Russians, many of whom feel strong ties to Moscow.

• Supreme Court strikes protest-free zones

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court unanimously struck down the 35-foot protest-free zone outside abortion clinics in Massachusetts Thursday, declaring it an unconstitutional restraint on the free-speech rights of protesters.

Authorities have less intrusive ways to deal with potential confrontations or other problems that can arise outside clinics, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote. Roberts noted that most of the problems reported by police and the clinics in Massachusetts occurred outside a single Planned Parenthood facility in Boston, and only on Saturdays when the largest crowds typically gather.

"For a problem shown to arise only once a week in one city at one clinic, creating 35-foot buffer zones at every clinic across the Commonwealth is hardly a narrowly tailored solution," Roberts said. He wrote the majority opinion after asking no questions - exceedingly rare for him - at the argument in January.

Roberts noted that no other state has a similar law and that he is aware of only five cities that have created fixed buffer zones around abortion clinics: Burlington, Vt.; Pittsburgh; Portland, Maine, and San Francisco and Santa Barbara in California.

• Leaders mark 100th anniversary of World War I

BRUSSELS - At a site where their countrymen once slaughtered each other with machine guns, artillery and poison gas, the leaders of Britain, France, Germany and other European nations commemorated the 100th anniversary of World War I and vowed Thursday to preserve peace on the continent.

About half a million people died in the arduous battles in the flat, often muddy killing grounds in and around the small Belgian city of Ypres in western Flanders between 1914-18, one of the sites that reflected the savagery of what became known as "The Great War."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said holding a summit of the 28-nation European Union in the city that had to be rebuilt from scratch after World War I sends a powerful signal.

"I believe this shows us again in which good times we live today, because the European Union exists and because we have learned from history," Merkel said.

• Sodexo reverses course after health plan cuts

WASHINGTON - A giant food service company unexpectedly reversed course Thursday after bumping thousands of college cafeteria workers from its health plan earlier this year and pointing a finger at President Barack Obama's overhaul.

Sodexo's experience could serve as a cautionary tale for other employers trying to pin benefit reductions on "Obamacare." The company's cutbacks fueled a union organizing drive and campus protests.

Julie Peterson, Sodexo's vice president for benefits, said the company will make changes for next year to restore eligibility for many of those affected.

"We think that overall this is going to result in about the same number of employees being eligible as in the past," Peterson said. The latest shift grew out of a regular review of company policy, she added.

"We've realized we can change the way we are determining eligibility and still remain competitive in the market," Peterson explained.