• Helicopter rescues 2 Italian climbers in Pakistan (AP)
    AP - A high-altitude rescue helicopter safely plucked two stranded Italian climbers from one of the world's highest mountains on Thursday, officials said.

  • Visa program expanded for Iraqis who worked for US (AP)
    AP - The U.S. Embassy on Thursday launched an expanded immigration program that provides 5,000 more visas each year for Iraqis who have put themselves at risk by working for the U.S. government.

  • Motor racing boss Mosley wins British privacy suit (AP)

    Motor racing boss Max Mosley leaves the Royal Courts of Justice, after winning a privacy-invasion lawsuit over a British tabloid's claims he took part in a Nazi-themed orgy, in London, Thursday, July, 24, 2008. A High Court judge ruled the News of the World must pay Mosley 60,000 pounds (US$120,000) in damages plus legal costs for the story claiming Mosley participated in a sadomasochistic sex romp with a Third Reich theme. Mosley's legal costs are estimated at about 450,000 pounds (US$900,000). Mosley, 68, admits the encounter with sex workers, but says it was private and there were no Nazi overtones. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant)AP - Motor racing boss Max Mosley won a closely watched privacy-invasion lawsuit Thursday over a British tabloid's claims he took part in a Nazi-themed orgy, and the judge ordered the newspaper to pay over $1 million.




  • Israel to build new settlement in West Bank (AP)

    Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert gestures as he speaks with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, not seen, during a joint press conference at his Jerusalem residence, Sunday, July 20, 2008. (AP Photo/Ronen Zvulun,Pool)AP - A key committee has approved construction of the first new Jewish settlement in the West Bank in a decade, an Israeli official said Thursday. The news infuriated Palestinians, who said the decision could cripple peace efforts.




  • Libya halting fuel supplies to Switzerland (AFP)

    Hannibal Kadhafi, seen here in 2005, a son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi. Libya has said it will halt fuel supplies to key oil client Switzerland, in the latest reprisal for last week's brief detention in Geneva of Hannibal.(AFP/SCANPIX/File/Morten Juhl)AFP - Libya said on Thursday it will halt fuel supplies to key oil client Switzerland in the latest reprisal for last week's brief detention in Geneva of a son of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.




  • Obama and German leader discuss war and economics (AP)

    Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., left, waves to the media as he greets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin, Thursday, July 24, 2008. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)AP - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel discussed the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as climate and energy issues at Germany's chancellery Thursday, part of a tour aimed at lifting the first-term senator's international standing.




  • Mexico grounds 2 airlines on back bills (AP)
    AP - Mexico's transportation secretary says it has grounded two airlines for lacking proof they paid for fly rights in the country's air space.

  • Nigerian oil union threatens fresh strike over diesel cost (AFP)

    Motorists queue at a petrol station in Lagos in 2007. Nigeria's oil workers' union NUPENG has threatened to resume a suspended strike over the high cost of diesel and kerosene in the oil-rich west African country.(AFP/File/Pius Otomi Ekpei)AFP - Nigeria's oil workers' union NUPENG has threatened to resume a suspended strike over the high cost of diesel and kerosene in the oil-rich west African country, its leader said Thursday.




  • Rice says US-India nuclear deal good for the world (AP)
    AP - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Thursday that a proposed U.S.-India nuclear energy deal is good for both countries and for global efforts to reduce the spread of atomic technology and greenhouse gas emissions.

  • Australian leader wants Aborigines recognized (AP)
    AP - Australia's prime minister, who has won applause for apologizing to Aborigines for past wrongs, has revived plans for a constitutional revision to recognize the country's indigenous people.