JERUSALEM -- Sirens wailed across Israel Wednesday, bringing the nation to a standstill in a solemn two-minute ritual on the country's Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of Palestinian suicide bombings and other attacks.

Memorial Day is one of the most somber and emotional days on the Israeli calendar, with nearly every Israeli family touched by decades of conflict. It comes a day before the country celebrates the 60th anniversary of its independence.

"This special day wipes away our divisions. The feeling of unity and shared destiny is stronger than ever," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in a ceremony at Mount Herzl, the country's national military cemetery. "Memorial Day is a sad day, but free of any disagreements and very Israeli."

TOKYO -- A strong earthquake struck off the coast of Japan early Thursday, the national Meteorological Agency said, waking up people 100 miles away in Tokyo.

Two people suffered minor injuries from falling furniture, public television broadcaster NHK reported. An 18-year-old man was hit when his stereo speakers fell onto his bed, and a 25-year-old man was hit by objects rattled off shelves.

There were no other immediate reports of injuries or damage from the magnitude 6.8 earthquake, NHK said. No tsunami warning was issued.

The earthquake occurred at 1:45 a.m. offshore at a depth of about 25 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The epicenter was about 100 miles northeast of Tokyo.

A second quake with a magnitude of 5.3 struck the same area about 30 minutes later, and more aftershocks could follow, Tamotsu Aketagawa, an official who monitors earthquakes for the country's Meteorological Agency, told The Associated Press.

BAGHDAD -- Entire sections of Baghdad's embattled Sadr City district have been left nearly abandoned by civilians fleeing a U.S.-led showdown with Shiite militias and seeking aid after facing shortages of food and medicine, humanitarian groups said Wednesday.

The reports by the agencies, including the U.N. children's fund, add to the individual accounts by civilians pouring out of the Sadr City area as clashes intensify.

U.S. forces have increased air power and armored patrols in the attempt to cripple Shiite militia influence in Sadr City, a slum of 2.5 million people that serves as the Baghdad base for the Mahdi Army led by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr.

The battles started in late March after the Iraqi government opened a crackdown on militias and armed gangs in the southern city of Basra, including some groups Washington says have links to Iran.

Claire Hajaj, a UNICEF spokeswoman based in Jordan, said up to 150,000 people -- including 75,000 children -- were isolated in sections of Sadr City "cordoned off by military forces."

She said about 6,000 people have been forced to flee their homes and that some areas of southeastern Sadr City were virtually abandoned.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico -- The U.S. military is confirming that a former Guantanamo detainee from Kuwait carried out a recent suicide attack in northern Iraq.

A spokesman for U.S. military's Central Command told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Abdallah Salih al-Ajmi took part in an attack in Mosul.

U.S. Navy Cmdr. Scott Rye says authorities don't know the motive for the attack, which was reported last week by Dubai-based Al-Arabiya television. Iraqi security forces were apparently targeted.

The U.S. transferred al-Ajmi to Kuwaiti custody from Guantanamo in 2005. A Kuwaiti court later acquitted him of terrorism charges.

BEIJING -- China announced Wednesday new rules that require health care providers to report all cases of a viral illness that has killed 28 children and sickened thousands in outbreaks across the country.

There have been 15,799 cases of hand, foot and mouth disease this year, the official Xinhua News Agency said, cropping up in areas ranging from the tropical island province of Hainan in the south to Jilin province in the northeast and Yunnan province in the southwest.

The number and scope of cases in recent years, along with the need for increased surveillance, prompted the Health Ministry to enforce the new reporting rules, spokesman Mao Qun'an said.

"This demonstrates our commitment to people's health," Mao said at a rare news conference held jointly with the World Health Organization.

Under the mandate which took effect Tuesday, health care providers need to report cases to the ministry within 24 hours.

The outbreaks are the latest headache for authorities as they gear up for the Beijing Olympics. Preparations have already been upset by unrest in Tibet and protests during the global torch run.

Mao insisted there would not be any impact on the games, which begin Aug. 8. Already embassies and foreign schools have sent out notices urging vigilance against the illness.

ROME -- When the prestigious annual Turin Book Fair opens Thursday, it will be amid a cavalcade of fanfare that organizers could not possibly have wanted.

Riot police will guard the event. Rival demonstrators will make their stand. Boycotts, diplomatic incidents and mutually recriminating outrage swirl in the background.

How did a mild-mannered book festival become the focus of such impassioned attention?

It began with the decision by organizers to honor Israeli writers at this year's fair, which coincides with the 60th anniversary of the creation of the Jewish state.

That unleashed cries of protest from a number of Arab and Italian intellectuals and left-wing activists, who charged that celebrating Israeli letters ignores the plight of the Palestinians.

Sponsors of the 21-year-old fair, the second-largest in Europe with more than 300,000 visitors in 2007, reacted angrily that their motives were being misconstrued. They received the backing of several Italian leaders, including President Giorgio Napolitano, a former communist, who will inaugurate the five-day exposition featuring traders, writers and more than 1,400 publishers from all over the world.