The flow of relief aid has begun to pick up in the central Philippines, but thousands are still desperate for food and shelter five days after being displaced by Typhoon Haiyan.

In a sign of the growing desperation, eight people were killed Wednesday when a government warehouse holding stockpiles of rice collapsed after being stormed by a large group of survivors.

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U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will caution lawmakers Wednesday against imposing new sanctions against Iran while international negotiations over its nuclear program continue.
 
Kerry is scheduled to brief the Senate banking committee. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said he will express that enacting new sanctions at this time would be a mistake.

A high-ranking Russian delegation arrives in Egypt Wednesday, a visit suggesting a possible shift in alliances as tensions between Egypt and the United States grow.

Elizabeth Arrott has more.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's and Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu's mission in Cairo is to boost economic, political and security ties.
 
The visit comes as relations between Egypt and its long time ally, the United States, appear at a crossroads, with Washington cutting aid after the military ouster of President Mohamed Morsi.

Fresh ties with Moscow comes as many Egyptians, in a wave of neo-nationalism, are chafing at being perceived as Washington's errant junior partner.

But the U.S. rift can be deceptive. Washington has maintained cooperation in key areas, such as counterterrorism, and security in the Sinai Peninsula.

Elizabeth Arrott,CAIRO.

Under mounting international pressure, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has halted plans to build 20,000 new settler homes in the occupied West Bank.

The Netanyahu directive late Tuesday froze plans for housing construction in a particularly sensitive area outside Jerusalem known as E1.  The reversal came just hours after Palestinian leaders threatened to walk out of Middle East peace talks brokered by the United States if the construction plan moved forward.

Iraqi officials say bombs targeting security forces and Shi'ite pilgrims have killed at least 18 people.

The deadliest attack Wednesday happened near the northern city of Tikrit where a suicide bomber blew up a vehicle at a police checkpoint. The blast killed at least 10 people, including two policemen.

In Baqouba, north of the capital, Baghdad, three coordinated blasts struck a group of Shi'ites observing the annual mourning period known as Ashura, killing at least eight people and wounding 10 others.

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime reported that opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has risen to a record high, possibly spurred on by farmers seeking to insure their incomes against uncertain conditions after the NATO troop pullout concludes in 2014.
 
In the report, released on Wednesday, the U.N. agency said the area of Afghanistan being cultivated for poppy production has risen to 209,000 hectares, higher than the previous peak of 193,000, reached in 2007.
 
It said this year's poppy harvest resulted in 5,500 metric tons of opium, a yield nearly 50 percent higher than last year. It also said farmers may be guarding against an uncertain future by increasing production of opium now.

China's foreign ministry has suggested a new national security committee proposed this week by Communist Party leaders will focus more on domestic threats than foreign ones.

The comments came a day after a vaguely worded communique issued at the end of a key party meeting said that Beijing would form a committee to "safeguard national security,".

From VOA news center in Washington.I'm David Deforest.More news on the internet at geilien.cn