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• ANKARA, Turkey (AP) -- Turkish officials, scrambling to contain tensions, have delivered more conciliatory messages to thousands of protesters denouncing what they say is the government's increasingly authoritarian rule and its meddling in lifestyles.
• The efforts come ahead of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's return on Thursday from a four-day North African tour. All eyes will be on him to see if he also softens his line.
• Huseyin Celik, deputy leader of Erdogan's Islamic-rooted party, said the government is sympathetic to secular-minded Turks 'concerns and is prepared to take steps to "eliminate" their fears.
• He has also called on party supporters not to come out in force to greet Erdogan when he arrives.
• A human rights group says "several people" were hospitalized late Wednesday when police used tear gas to disperse protests in Ankara.
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• SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North and South Korea on Thursday agreed to hold talks on reopening a jointly run factory complex and possibly other issues, after months of deteriorating relations and a day before a U.S.-China summit in which the North is expected to be a key topic.
• The envisioned talks could help rebuild avenues of inter-Korean cooperation that were obliterated in recent years amid hardline stances by both countries, though the key issue isolating the North from the world community -- its nuclear program -- is not up for debate.
• The North's Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of Korea, in a statement carried by state media, said it is open to holding talks with Seoul on reopening the Kaesong complex just north of the Demilitarized Zone separating the countries.
• South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Kim Hyung-suk expressed hope that the talks could become an opportunity for the two Koreas to start building trust. He said Seoul will announce the time and agenda for the talks later, but didn't elaborate.

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