World News

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, accompanied by Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen hold a press briefing, Thursday, July 29, 2010 at the Pentagon.

photo: AP / Kevin Wolf

Pentagon asks FBI to probe leak
read more Al Jazeera

The US defence department has asked the FBI to help investigate the leak of more than 90,000 classified military documents, Robert Gates, the defence secretary, said. Speaking at a news conference at the Pentagon on Thursday, Gates called the leaks "potentially severe and dangerous". "We don't know whether this investigation should...

Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi, left, shares a word with Finance Minister Giulio Tremonti during a press conference following a cabinet meeting, at the Chigi Premier's Palace, in Rome, Friday, Feb. 6, 2009.

photo: AP / Andrew Medichini

Italy passes austerity measures
read more Al Jazeera

The Italian parliament has approved an austerity package worth more than $32bn, aimed at cutting the country's budget deficit and reassuring financial markets. The lower house of parliament approved the measures on Thursday after they had already passed through the senate two weeks ago and a confidence motion on Wednesday. Sponsored by the...

An Iraqi man holds blood-stained clothes at the scene of a bomb attack in Baghdad, Iraq, Wednesday, July 28, 2010. A bomb planted near a state-run bank killed and injured several people in the eastern Shiite slum of Sadr City police said.

photo: AP / Hadi Mizban

Baghdad attacks leave 16 dead
read more The Australian

SIXTEEN people, including nine security force members, were killed and 14 wounded yesterday in a string of attacks in the Iraqi capital's Sunni district of...

Waved Albatross (Phoebastria irrorata). Several waved albatrosses Punta Suarez, Espanola, Galapagos Islands. Fernandina (Narborough) Island: The name was given in honor of King Ferdinand II of Aragon, who sponsored the voyage of Columbus

photo: European Community / Snowmanradio

Galapagos Islands off danger list at gallop
read more Hong Kong Standard

Unesco's World Heritage Committee said it has removed Ecuador's Galapagos Islands from its list of endangered sites, due to protective efforts in the Pacific archipelago. //--> Friday, July 30, 2010 Unesco's World Heritage Committee said it has removed Ecuador's Galapagos Islands from its list of endangered sites, due to protective efforts in...

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, left, talks with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani during an Arab foreign ministers meeting at the Arab league headquarters in Cairo, Egypt Thursday, July 29, 2010.

photo: AP / Nasser Nasser

Arabs back direct peace talks when Abbas sees fit
read more The Star

CAIRO (Reuters) - The Arab League said on Thursday it would back face-to-face peace talks between the Palestinians and Israel when the Palestinians believe the time is right. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, facing U.S. pressure to agree to such talks, has said he first wants progress in U.S.-mediated, indirect negotiations that began two...

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, right, and British Prime Minister David Cameron look at one another before a meeting in New Delhi, India, Thursday, July 29, 2010.

photo: AP / Saurabh Das

Cameron Defends His Criticism of Pakistan
read more The New York Times

On Thursday in India, Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain defended remarks he had made a day earlier about the need for Pakistan to not give haven to terrorist groups. On Wednesday, Mr. Cameron said, after a speech in the Indian city of Bangalore, “We want to see a strong and a stable and a democratic Pakistan, but we cannot tolerate in...

Protesting truck drivers shout anti-government slogans outside the Ministry of Transport in Athens on Thursday, July 29, 2010.

photo: AP / Dimitri Messinis

Greek police fire tear gas at striking truckers
read more The Guardian

Government issues emergency order as fuel shortages strand tourists and disrupt food and medical supplies Greek truck drivers clash with riot police in Athens. Photograph: John Kolesidis/Reuters...

An ethnic Albanian man passes by a billboard where is written "Independence" in Kosovo's capital Pristina on Friday, Feb. 15, 2008.

photo: AP / Visar Kryeziu

Serbia proposes new talks on outstanding issues in Kosovo
read more Zeenews

Belgrade: Serbia submitted a resolution to the United Nations on Wednesday which, in an apparent concession to international pressure, called for new negotiations on Kosovo but did not insist on status talks. Belgrade wants the UN General Assembly to call on both sides "to find mutually acceptable solutions for all outstanding issues through...

A plume of smoke is seen after a plane crashes on the Elmendorf Air Force in Anchorage, Alaska, Weds., July 28, 2010.

photo: AP / Roger Herrera

Military cargo plane crashes at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Alaska; no word on casualties
read more Star Tribune

ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska - The Alaska National Guard says a military cargo plane has crashed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage. Alaska National Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes confirmed the Wednesday evening crash of a C-17. No other details were immediately available, including whether there were casualties. Military police refused...

In this photo taken on Wednesday, July 28, 2010, sand bags are used to block the flood water outside women's house in Changchun in northeast China's Jilin province.

photo: AP

China flood death toll nears 1,000
read more Al Jazeera

China's worst flooding in more than a decade has killed nearly 1,000 people across the country and stranded tens of thousands in the northeast without power. The state-run flood control office said 928 people have been killed since the rainy season began in May and 477 others are missing. More heavy rains were expected for the southeast,...