World News

As of Saturday, July 26, 2008, at least 4,124 members of the U.S. military have died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

BAGHDAD - For years, extremist Iraqi detainees in U.S. custody held self-styled Islamic courts and tortured or killed inmates who refused to join them, military officials said, disclosing new details about the use of American prisons to recruit for the insurgency.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's president said Saturday his country now possesses 6,000 centrifuges, a significant increase in its nuclear program that is certain to further rankle the United States and others who fear Tehran is intent on developing weapons.

LONDON (AFP) - The whiff of rebellion is in the air after the third crushing by-election loss in as many months by the Labour Party of Prime Minister Gordon Brown, reviving talk of replacing him.

LONDON (AFP) - British rising star Amir Khan has chosen as his new trainer the man who once looked after the Cuban boxer who beat him for the gold medal at the 2004 Athens Olympics.

SKOPJE (AFP) - Macedonia's parliament approved Saturday a new government presented by Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski, who has promised to speed up reforms needed for the Balkan country to join the European Union.

SANTIAGO, Cuba - President Raul Castro returned Saturday to the military barracks where he and his brother Fidel launched Cuba's revolution, addressing thousand of supporters amid questions about whether he will announce more changes to remake the island's communist system.

ACAPULCO, Mexico - Environmental officials in Mexico say dozens of dead sea turtles apparently killed in fishing nets have washed up on beaches in recent days.

BOGOTA, Colombia - A senior Colombian rebel commander is rejecting asylum in France or anywhere else for jailed guerrillas freed in any potential prisoner swap.

PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria - Eight foreign oil workers kidnapped Saturday in Nigeria have been released unharmed, a military spokesman said.

LAGOS (Reuters) - Gunmen in Nigeria released eight foreign oil workers seized from a vessel off the Niger Delta on Saturday but eight other people abducted in separate incidents were still being held, security officials said.

LAGOS (AFP) - Eight foreign workers seized overnight near a major oil export terminal in southern Nigeria were released late Saturday, an army spokesman said.

AHMADABAD, India - Bombs exploded Saturday near a busy market and a hospital in a western Indian city, killing 29 people and injuring 88 a day after deadly blasts struck the southern technology hub of Bangalore.

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodians looked set to extend Prime Minister Hun Sen's 23-year rule in elections Sunday, after a campaign overshadowed by a tense military standoff in a border dispute with Thailand.

APIA, Samoa (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice arrived here Saturday for regional talks aimed at urging Fiji to hold free elections next year.

KABUL (Reuters) - NATO countries have agreed to send more troops to the volatile south of Afghanistan, Canada's foreign minister said on Saturday, and another 200 Canadian troops could also be deployed.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Elections to fill three seats in Canada's House of Commons will be held on September 8 with the major issue likely to be the opposition Liberal Party's proposal to introduce a carbon tax.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told reporters on Friday that the government plans to present its fiscal update in October.

AUCKLAND, New Zealand - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Saturday that a lingering nuclear dispute between the United States and New Zealand ought to be overcome to focus on a new era of cooperation in the Pacific and elsewhere.

PERTH, Australia, July 25, 2008 (AFP) - The United States and Australia on Friday urged Pakistan to do more to control militant activity in its border areas to stem the growing insurgency in Afghanistan.

CANBERRA (Reuters) - An Australian lesbian couple have lost a controversial court battle after trying to sue their doctor for having healthy twins from an in vitro fertilisation procedure (IVF), with doctors on Friday praising the verdict.

AHMEDABAD, India (Reuters) - At least 16 small bombs exploded in the Indian city of Ahmedabad on Saturday, killing at least 29 people and wounding 88, a day after another set of blasts in the country's IT hub, officials said.

AHMADABAD, India - Bombs exploded Saturday near a busy market and a hospital in a western Indian city, killing 29 people and injuring 88 a day after deadly blasts struck the southern technology hub of Bangalore.

HAVANA (AFP) - Cuban president Raul Castro on Saturday was expected to announce more economic and social reforms in a speech marking the 55th anniversary of the country's communist revolution.