Reuters - GOZ-BEIDA, Chad (Reuters) - Harsh light and shifting shadows in the windblown desert of eastern Chad can conjure strange images, but this was no mirage.

The Canadian Press - KYOTO, Japan - Foreign ministers from wealthy nations including Canada welcomed North Korea's long-awaited declaration of its nuclear capabilities but warned Friday there remains a long way to go before the isolated Stalinist state can rejoin the international community.

AFP - BOGOR, Indonesia (AFP) - The wreckage of a military transport plane with a Briton on board has been spotted in thick jungle in Indonesia, officials said Friday amid reports that residents have found the bodies of the 18 passengers.

Reuters - BEIJING (Reuters) - A Chinese high school teacher who controversially fled a classroom before his students during last month's devastating earthquake has compelled China to amend laws governing teacher-student ethics.

AFP - BELFAST (AFP) - A judge in Belfast on Friday acquitted a man charged with murdering a father-of-two outside a Belfast bar, whose death sparked a high-profile campaign by his sisters.

Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The handover of security control in Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi forces has been put on hold, the U.S. military said on Friday, blaming a sandstorm forecast to hit the region.

AFP - SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea on Friday blew up the cooling tower of its atomic reactor at Yongbyon to symbolise its commitment to nuclear disarmament, one day after it handed over details of its atomic programmes.

AFP - SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (AFP) - African Union foreign ministers bickered behind closed doors on Friday over how to handle Zimbabwe as they prepared for a summit next week under the shadow of its political crisis.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - A star-studded cast of artists gathered Friday to celebrate Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday at a giant concert in London, in support of his global AIDS campaign.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - The economy stumbled badly during the first three months of 2008, recording the lowest quarterly expansion for three years amid the global credit crunch and a slowing property market.

AFP - BOGOTA, June 27, 2008 (AFP) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe has asked Congress to immediately schedule an early presidential vote after a court questioned the legality of the law that let him seek re-election in 2006.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - Gordon Brown marked his first year as prime minister Friday with a humiliating fifth place in a by-election that the main opposition claimed had put them on track to regain power.

AFP - MOGADISHU (AFP) - At least seven policemen were killed when insurgents ambushed a Somali police station in the capital, sparking deadly clashes, witnesses and officials said Friday.

AFP - GLASGOW (AFP) - Rangers goalkeeper Allan McGregor has committed his future to Rangers after signing a new five-year contract with the Glasgow club.

AFP - KHANTY-MANSIYSK, Russia (AFP) - Russia is committed to the non-violent resolution of long-running conflicts on its borders, President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday, in a reference to a dispute with Georgia.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - Injured war veterans and the families of those killed in active service are to be allowed free travel on London's transport network to recognise their service to Britain, Mayor Boris Johnson said Friday.

Reuters - BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej survived a no-confidence motion on Friday, as expected, after three days of fiery debate that questioned his handling of the economy at a time of stuttering growth.

AFP - THE HAGUE (AFP) - War crimes prosecutors detailed Friday a grim case of mass murder and sexual enslavement against a pair of Congolese militia leaders accused of seeking to wipe out an entire village in 2003.

Reuters - SIBUYAN ISLAND, Philippines (Reuters) - The Philippines halted a search for hundreds of bodies feared trapped inside a capsized passenger ferry on Friday after authorities learnt that 10 metric tons of pesticide was on board.

AFP - PARIS (AFP) - Richard Branson said in an interview that a French government minister asked for a one-million-euro (800,000 pounds) bribe to get permission for his Virgin Megastore to open on Sundays on the Champs Elysees in Paris.

AFP - SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea is scheduled Friday to blow up its nuclear reactor cooling tower to symbolise its commitment to nuclear disarmament, one day after it handed over details of its atomic programmes.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - The economy grew by the slowest quarterly rate since 2005 in the first three months of the year, official data showed on Friday.

AFP - SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Thousands poured onto the streets of Indian Kashmir's main city Friday calling for independence in some of the largest pro-freedom protests in the Muslim region in almost two decades.

AFP - NEW DELHI (AFP) - A former Indian army chief who led the country to victory against Pakistan in 1971 in a war that resulted in the formation of Bangladesh has died at the age of 94, officials said Friday.

Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The handover of security control in Iraq's Anbar province to Iraqi forces has been put on hold, the U.S. military said on Friday, blaming a sandstorm forecast to hit the region.

AFP - BAGHDAD (AFP) - An Iraq Supreme Court judge was ambushed and gunned down in Baghdad as he drove home from work, a court spokesman and security sources said on Friday.

AFP - UNITY, New Hampshire (AFP) - Senator Hillary Clinton was reaching out with a show of unity in Unity, bestowing a warm endorsement on her Democratic rival, now the party's presumptive White House hope, Barack Obama.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - BAE Systems, the aerospace company making military equipment, said on Friday said that its chief operating officer Ian King would replace chief executive Mike Turner from September.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - Struggling Spurs goalkeeper Paul Robinson has said he would welcome a transfer to Premier League rivals Aston Villa in the hope that the move would revive his fortunes.

AFP - SAN FERNANDO, Philippines (AFP) - Philippine officials Friday suspended recovery operations at a sunken ferry containing hundreds of dead bodies after learning it was carrying large amounts of highly toxic pesticide.

AFP - NEW DELHI (AFP) - Pakistan's foreign minister and his Indian counterpart began talks in New Delhi Friday to boost a slow-moving peace process between the rivals still at odds over the 60-year-old Kashmir dispute.

AFP - JAKARTA (AFP) - A search is underway for 18 people including three foreigners who went missing when a military transport plane disappeared over thick jungle in West Java, Indonesian officials said Friday.

Reuters - LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has suffered a humiliating defeat in a mid-term election for a vacant parliamentary seat, the latest setback coming exactly a year after he took power.

AFP - KYOTO, Japan (AFP) - Group of Eight powers warned Friday they could take further action against Sudan at the UN Security Council unless it complies with demands to bring Darfur war crimes suspects to justice.

AFP - HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabwe voted Friday in an election which was virtually certain to end in victory for President Robert Mugabe, but dismissed by the opposition as meaningless after it boycotted the poll.

AFP - ISLAMABAD (AFP) - Former Pakistani premier Nawaz Sharif pledged Friday after his party won the most seats in by-elections that he would keep pushing for the restoration of judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf.

AFP - GLASTONBURY (AFP) - The famous Glastonbury music festival gets underway Friday, with all eyes on how well US rapper Jay-Z goes down as hip-hop hits hippiedom.

Reuters - BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The Iraqi government is trying to entice back hundreds of doctors who fled the country because of rampant violence and says improved security is already leading some to return.

AFP - SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea Friday blew up the cooling tower at its Yongbyon nuclear reactor, according to South Korea's MBC TV.

AFP - HARARE (AFP) - The prices at Dzidzai Guti's makeshift stall can seem eye-popping, with rotting oranges, a pack of cigarettes and bananas fetching as much as 250 million Zimbabwean dollars.

AFP - BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej survived a no-confidence vote on Friday, mustering enough votes in parliament despite harsh criticism of his four months in power and public protests against him.

AFP - KHAR, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistani Taliban rebels executed two Afghans in front of thousands of people Friday after accusing them of spying, while two other people died in clashes afterwards, officials said.

AFP - COLOMBO (AFP) - Sri Lankan security forces killed at least 30 Tamil Tiger rebels in fresh ground battles, the defence ministry said Friday.

AFP - KYOTO, Japan (AFP) - Group of Eight foreign ministers warned Friday that they would not recognise Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's government as he went ahead with a widely condemned election.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - The Labour Party on Friday slumped to a humiliating fifth place in a worse-than-expected by-election result, in a new poll blow exactly a year after Gordon Brown took office.

AFP - NEW DELHI (AFP) - The International Cricket Council has put South Africa on standby as a possible Champions Trophy venue, but insists that Pakistan remains its first choice as hosts, an ICC source told AFP Friday.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - Auction houses Christie's and Sotheby's racked up nearly 300 million pounds in three days of sales of impressionist and modern art this week, a European record.

AFP - WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a much-disputed bill alloting 162 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - New Zealand quick Mark Gillespie is adamant the run-out row which marred the Black Caps' dramatic one-wicket win in the fourth one-day international against England at The Oval will not leave a legacy of ill-feeling come Saturday's series finale at Lord's.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - One year after becoming prime minister, Gordon Brown was reeling from fresh blows on Friday as his party placed fifth in a by-election and a poll showed voters view him as an electoral liability.

Reuters - SIBUYAN ISLAND, Philippines (Reuters) - The Philippines stopped the search for hundreds of bodies feared trapped on a capsized passenger ferry on Friday after authorities learnt that 10 metric tons of toxic pesticide were on board.

Reuters - HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabweans began voting slowly in a one-sided presidential run-off on Friday after President Robert Mugabe defied mounting world condemnation and calls to postpone an election which the opposition says is a farce.

AFP - JAKARTA (AFP) - A search is underway for 18 people including three foreigners who went missing when a military transport plane disappeared over thick jungle in West Java, Indonesian officials said Friday.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - A year since he entered office, voters increasingly believe Prime Minister Gordon Brown is a liability for his party, a poll published Friday showed.

AFP - BOGOTA (AFP) - Colombian President Alvaro Uribe asked Congress late Thursday to immediately schedule an early presidential vote after a court questioned the legality of the law that let him seek reelection in 2006.

AFP - SEOUL (AFP) - Secretive North Korea was preparing a global TV spectacular Friday to dramatise its commitment to scrapping atomic weapons, a day after it handed over an account of its nuclear programmes.

Reuters - KABUL (Reuters) - Three members of Afghanistan's U.S.-led coalition force and an Afghan interpreter were killed when their convoy was blown up by a bomb near the Afghan capital, the force said in a statement on Friday.

Reuters - HARARE (Reuters) - Zimbabweans began voting in a one-sided presidential run-off on Friday after President Robert Mugabe defied mounting world condemnation and calls to postpone an election which the opposition says is a farce.

AFP - MUMBAI (AFP) - Indian shares plunged 4.38 percent in morning trade Friday, hit by record crude oil prices and concerns that domestic inflation could rise further, dealers said.

AFP - JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel kept commercial goods crossings into the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip closed for another day Friday after a Palestinian rocket attack the day before tested a week-old truce.

AFP - SRINAGAR, India (AFP) - Authorities in Indian Kashmir deployed large numbers of police and paramilitary personnel on Friday to quell rising protests over the provision of land to Hindu pilgrims, officials said.

AFP - SAN FERNANDO, Philippines (AFP) - Philippine officials Friday suspended recovery operations at a sunken ferry containing hundreds of dead bodies after learning it was carrying large amounts of highly toxic pesticide.

AFP - NEW DELHI (AFP) - A US defence department team has arrived in India to prepare a search for the remains of hundreds of American personnel who went missing over the Himalayan "Hump" during World War II, diplomats and officials said.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - India's Sania Mirza crashed out of Wimbledon as her gutsy fightback against Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez ended in a heartbreaking 0-6, 6-4, 7-9 defeat.

AFP - MOSCOW (AFP) - Georgia has made an offer to Russia by which the two would divide Georgia's separatist Abkhazia region into zones of influence while Georgia would renounce its NATO goals, a Russian newspaper reported on Friday.

AFP - NEW DELHI (AFP) - India's field hockey coach Ajay Bansal played down reports that Malaysia deliberately lost a recent international, saying his team had won fair and square.

AFP - MUMBAI (AFP) - Every morning college student Siddhi Sarangdhar squeezes herself onto a Mumbai train and hopes she will survive the journey to school on the world's busiest -- and deadliest -- rail network.

AFP - HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabweans began voting Friday in an election which was virtually certain to end in victory for President Robert Mugabe but dismissed by the opposition as meaningless after it boycotted the poll.

Reuters - TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan quietly wrapped up a week of computer-simulated military exercises on Friday, keeping the annual island-wide training event low-key this year as relations improve with its old rival, China.

Reuters - SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is set to blow up the cooling tower at its nuclear plant on Friday, a symbolic move to show its commitment to a disarmament deal a day after it handed over a long-delayed account of its nuclear program.

Reuters - BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundavarej survived a no-confidence motion on Friday, as expected, after three days of fiery debate that questioned his handling of the economy at a time of stuttering growth.

AFP - BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej survived a no-confidence vote on Friday, mustering enough votes in parliament despite harsh criticism of his four months in power and public protests against him.

AFP - KYOTO, Japan (AFP) - The Group of Eight powers pledged four billion dollars to develop the restive Afghan-Pakistan border as North Korea's nuclear disarmament dominated a meeting here of foreign ministers.

AFP - WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said Pakistan's failure to put pressure on Taliban forces on the country's border with Afghanistan had fueled a rise in violence, but said Islamabad appeared to recognize the problem.

AFP - SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said Friday that the country did not need to adopt nuclear energy to address climate change.

AFP - KYOTO, Japan (AFP) - Foreign ministers from the Group of Eight industrial powers called Friday on Iran and North Korea to end their nuclear programmes, officials said.

AFP - SEOUL (AFP) - South Korean authorities on Friday pushed ahead with procedures to release US beef to the market as violent protests and an opposition boycott of parliament continued unabated.

AFP - DILI (AFP) - A United Nations goodwill visit this week by kung fu star Jackie Chan to East Timor has highlighted concerns over gang violence by "martial arts groups" made up of disaffected youth.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - Golden girl Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick, the all-American poster boy of men's tennis, suffered their worst Wimbledon defeats on Thursday.

AFP - MANILA (AFP) - The Philippines on Friday suspended recovery operations at a sunken ferry containing hundreds of dead bodies after learning it was carrying large amounts of highly toxic pesticides, an official said.

AFP - WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate late Thursday approved a 1.6-billion-dollar, three-year package of anti-drug assistance to Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean known as the "Merida Initiative."

AFP - BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej and seven cabinet colleagues won a vote of no-confidence in parliament Friday.

AFP - JAKARTA (AFP) - Two Nigerian drug traffickers were executed by firing squad early Friday in Indonesia, an official said.

AFP - MUMBAI (AFP) - The death toll on Mumbai's railways averages a dozen a day -- more than a whole year on New York's subway system, which has an average annual accidental death rate of eight.

AFP - JAKARTA (AFP) - Three foreigners are among 18 passengers and crew who are missing after a military transport plane went down in thick jungle in West Java, the Indonesian Air Force spokesman said Friday.

AFP - WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Senate on Thursday overwhelmingly approved a compromise bill to free up 162 billion dollars for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the final congressional step before the bill goes to President George W. Bush for his approval.

Reuters - SIBUYAN ISLAND, Philippines (Reuters) - The Philippines halted the search for hundreds of bodies feared trapped on a capsized ferry on Friday after salvage divers discovered 10 tonnes of toxic pesticide on board.

Reuters - SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea is set to blow up the cooling tower at its nuclear plant on Friday, a symbolic move to show its commitment to a disarmament deal a day after it handed over a long-delayed account of its nuclear program.

AFP - SEOUL, June 27, 2008 (AFP) - Secretive North Korea was preparing a global TV spectacular Friday to dramatise its commitment to scrapping nuclear weapons, as world powers gave a wary welcome to its disclosure of some atomic secrets.

AFP - NEW DELHI (AFP) - A US defence department team has arrived in India to prepare a search for the remains of hundreds of American personnel who went missing over the Himalayan "Hump" during World War II, diplomats and officials said.

AFP - WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Pakistan's failure to put pressure on Taliban forces on the country's border with Afghanistan had fueled a rise in violence, but said Islamabad appeared to recognize the problem.

Reuters - MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - A Mexican police chief and his bodyguard were shot to death as they ate lunch in Mexico City on Thursday, the latest police slaying in a drug war that has killed more than 1,600 people this year.

AFP - KHANTY-MANSIYSK, Russia (AFP) - EU leaders were in Siberia on Friday for their first major summit with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in talks expected to touch on energy and unrest in ex-Soviet Georgia.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - One year after becoming Gordon Brown was reeling from fresh blows on Friday as his party placed fifth in a by-election and a poll showed voters view him as an electoral liability.

AFP - HARARE (AFP) - Zimbabweans were set to vote Friday in an election which was virtually certain to end in victory for President Robert Mugabe but likely to do little to halt the country's mounting political crisis.

AFP - LONDON (AFP) - Prime Minister Gordon Brown's ruling Labour Party posted an embarrassing result on Friday in a by election defeat, coming in fifth and barely tallying three percent of the total vote.