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South Korean students walk by models of mock North Korea's Scud-B missile, center, and other South Korean missiles at Korea War Memorial Museum in Seoul Thursday, July 6, 2006. South Korea and the United States will hold talks on the North Korean nuclear issue during a visit later this month to Seoul by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon said Thursday. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

N. Korea threatens to fire more missiles

2 hours, 27 minutes ago

SEOUL, South Korea - North Korea angrily mocked international criticism of its multiple missile tests, threatening on Thursday to fire off more rockets.

  • Felipe Calderon, presidential candidate for the National Action Party, greets supporters after giving a speech at his party's headquarters in Mexico City, Mexico on Thursday July 6, 2006. Calderon won the official count in Mexico's disputed presidential race, a come-from-behind victory for the stiff technocrat. But his leftist rival refused to concede and said he'd fight the results in court.(AP Photo/Dario Lopez-Mills)
    Calderon wins Mexican presidential race 45 minutes ago

    MEXICO CITY - The ruling party's Felipe Calderon won the official count in Mexico's disputed presidential race Thursday, a come-from-behind victory for the stiff technocrat. But his leftist rival refused to concede and said he'd fight the results in court.

  • Explosion in northern China kills 43 1 minute ago

    BEIJING - An explosion in a villager's home killed at least 43 people early Friday in northern China, a government news agency reported.

  • Smoke rises after Israeli shells landed between Beit Hanoun, background, and Beit Lahiya, foreground, in the northern Gaza Strip Thursday, July 6, 2006. In the bloodiest day since Israel invaded Gaza over a soldier's capture, troops on Thursday seized empty Jewish settlements abandoned by Israel last year and pushed toward densely populated towns, leaving at least 13 Palestinians and one soldier dead. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
    21 Palestinians, 1 Israeli soldier killed 1 hour, 34 minutes ago

    BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip - Palestinian militants armed with AK-47s and rocket-propelled grenades battled Israeli helicopters and tanks Thursday in the bloodiest day since Israel invaded Gaza over a soldier's capture. At least 21 Palestinians and one Israeli soldier died.

  • Russian President Vladimir Putin sips from a cup during an online conference in Moscow, Thursday, July 6, 2006. President Vladimir Putin on Thursday was to answer questions from Russian and foreign Web surfers during a live Internet conference, part of a charm offensive ahead of next week's Group of Eight Industrialized nations summit in Russia. (AP Photo/ITAR-TASS, Dmitry Astakhov, Presidential Press Service)
    Putin talks about North Korea in Webcast Thu Jul 6, 3:01 PM ET

    MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin criticized North Korea's missile tests and urged Iran to respond to an international offer on its nuclear program, but suggested Thursday it would be counterproductive to threaten either country with sanctions.

  • Tourists take pictures outside Buckingham Palace in London, Thursday, July 6, 2006. A year on from the terrorist attacks that killed 52 commuters and effectively shut down the capital for a day, businesses are still not adequately prepared for anonther assault. However, international tourism has rebounded to pre-attack levels despite a warning from police that the flow of terrorism investigations in the city shows no sign of abating. (AP Photo/Sang Tan)
    Video surfaces year after London bombings Thu Jul 6, 3:49 PM ET

    LONDON - One of the suicide bombers who struck London's transit system a year ago warned in a video broadcast Thursday that the attacks were only the beginning of a campaign of terror.

  • A destroyed minibus lies in an intersection in Tiraspol, the capital of the Moldovan separatist republic of Trans-Dniester, Thursday, July 6, 2006. An explosion ripped apart a small civilian bus in the Moldovan separatist republic of Trans-Dniester early Thursday, killing eight people and injuring 46, the breakaway region's official news agency Olvia Press said. The cause of the explosion was not immediately clear. (AP Photo/Andrew Juriev)
    Bus blast kills 8 people in Moldova 1 hour, 40 minutes ago

    CHISINAU, Moldova - An explosion ripped apart a small bus in a separatist Moldovan region Thursday, killing eight people and injuring 46, state media said.

  • Animal rights activists hold up banners before a sprint, with runners wearing just underwear or even less, to protest the running of the bulls, in Pamplona, Spain, Wednesday, July 5, 2006. The run proceeded along part of the route that will see thrillseekers dash ahead of a pack of six fighting bulls and six meek steers starting Friday for eight days. Banner at left reads: Put yourself in the bull's skin!' (AP Photo/Alvaro Barrientos)
    Festivities begin for Running of Bulls 17 minutes ago

    PAMPLONA, Spain - Thousands of alcohol-soaked revelers pressed into the small plaza outside Pamplona's municipal office on Thursday to celebrate the start of Spain's most famous festival: San Fermin — the running of the bulls.

  • In this file image taken from Russian State Television Channel on June 28, 2006, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifts the shirt of a young boy called Nikita and kisses his stomach in the Kremlin in Moscow. On Thursday July 6, 2006 Putin answered what was for many observers a burning question: What compelled him to kiss the bare stomach of a young boy in a Kremlin courtyard? The question was one of the most popular among the thousands e-mailed in for the Web chat, hosted by the British Broadcasting Corp. and Russian search engine Yandex.ru. (AP Photo/RTR-Russian Television Channel)
    Russian president explains kiss Thu Jul 6, 7:28 PM ET

    MOSCOW - In between answering questions Thursday about North Korea's missiles, Iran's nuclear program and relations with the United States, Russian President Vladimir Putin answered what was for many observers a more burning question: What compelled him to kiss the bare stomach of a young boy in a Kremlin courtyard?

  • Lawmakers cheer Socialist leader Oleksandr Moroz after he was elected the parliament speaker, in Ukraine's capital Kiev Thursday, July 6, 2006. Ukraine's pro-Russian opposition on Thursday ended a 10-day parliament blockade and lawmakers elected a speaker, steps toward ending the political turmoil that enveloped the ex-Soviet republic after March parliamentary elections. (AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky)
    Ukrainian opposition ends protest 1 hour, 43 minutes ago

    KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine's pro-Russian opposition ended a 10-day parliament blockade on Thursday and lawmakers elected a speaker, steps toward ending the political turmoil that enveloped the ex-Soviet republic after March parliamentary elections.

  • Neighbor and eyewitness Hussein Mohammed, 33, points to the charred and blood splattered floor and wall where he found the body of the young Iraqi girl who was allegedly raped then killed along with family members in their home, Thursday, July 6, 2006, in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad, Iraq. Former US Army Pfc. Steve D. Green was charged Monday in federal court in Charlotte, North Carolina, with rape and four counts of murder. At least four other U.S. soldiers still in Iraq are under investigation in the attack. (AP Photo/Ali al-Mahmouri)
    U.S. calls Iraqi rape-murder 'inexcusable' Thu Jul 6, 5:37 PM ET

    BAGHDAD, Iraq - America's two top officials in Iraq on Thursday sought to calm Iraqi anger over allegations that U.S. soldiers were involved in the rape-murder of a girl, promising an open investigation and calling such acts "absolutely inexcusable and unacceptable."

  • Officials from the supreme Islamic Courts, Mogadishu, Somalia, From left to right, Sheikh Abdirahman Janagow, Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Abdulkadi Ali, during their meeting with officials from AU and Arab League in Mogadishu, Thrusday, July 6, 2006. Members of the radical Islamic group that controls the Somali capital met African, Arab and European officials Thursday and repeated their opposition to the deployment of peacekeepers to stabilize the lawless country. 'We believe that alien forces are both unnecessary and counterproductive,' leaders of the Supreme Islamic Courts Council said in a written statement distributed to their visitors. 'The Somali problem is a political one, and cannot be resolved by military means. (AP Photo/Mohamed Sheikh Nor)
    Somalia militants arrest 2 in TV killings Thu Jul 6, 4:42 PM ET

    MOGADISHU, Somalia - The Islamic group that controls Somalia's capital arrested two of its own militiamen for killing two people who were watching a World Cup soccer match, the group's leader said Thursday.

  • Citizens protest against the visit of the Pope to Valencia, Spain Thursday July 6, 2006 where Benedict XVI will attend the Fifth World Meeting of Families, July 8 and 9. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
    Pope to focus on families in Spain trip Thu Jul 6, 4:03 PM ET

    VATICAN CITY - Pope Benedict XVI travels to Spain this weekend as part of his campaign to defend the traditional family, visiting a predominantly Roman Catholic country that allows gay marriage, divorce and abortion.

  • In this photo released by China's Xinhua news agency, a bus and a police car are trapped on a flooded street in Wuhu, in east China's Anhui Province, Wednesday, July 5, 2006. Many areas of Anhui Province were stricken by rainstorm in recent days, leaving 4.12 million people affected and three dead. (AP Photo/Xinhua)
    Stormy weather kills at least 30 in China Thu Jul 6, 3:36 PM ET

    SHANGHAI, China - Torrential rains and a tornado killed at least 30 people as storms battered eastern China this week, with millions more affected by flooding and other storm damage, state media and officials said Thursday.

  • Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu takes a question at a press briefing in Beijing Thursday, July 6, 2006. Jiang said China and North Korea still maintain friendly relations, a day after Pyongyang provocatively test-fired a series of missiles. Jiang's comments that North Korean-Chinese relations are intact follows Pyongyang's defiance of Beijing's urgings in the past week that North Korea should refrain from launching missiles. (AP Photo/Greg Baker)
    N. Korea puts China in difficult spot Thu Jul 6, 3:34 PM ET

    BEIJING - When North Korea fired a volley of missiles this week, it not only defied warnings from longtime enemies the United States and Japan, it also spurned the pleas of its chief benefactor — China.

  • Iraqi army secure the area of an early morning car bomb attack, Thursday, July 6, 2006, in Kufa, 160 kilometers (100 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq. A suicide car bomb targeting Iranian pilgrims struck near a Shiite shrine in the holy city of Kufa on Thursday, killing at least 12 people and wounding 37, police said. (AP Photo/Alaa al-Marjani)
    Car bomb kills 12 Iranians near Baghdad Thu Jul 6, 4:36 PM ET

    BAGHDAD, Iraq - A suicide car bomber attacked Iranian pilgrims Thursday as they got off tour buses at a Shiite Muslim shrine south of Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 39.

  • Shehzad Tanweer, one of the four London suicide bombers, is seen standing at the immigration counter of Karachi Airport (R) next to a photocopy of his passport in this picture published July 18, 2005 in Pakistan's Daily News. Al Jazeera television aired on Thursday excerpts of a video featuring al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahri and what it said was the last statement of Tanwee. (Daily News/Reuters)
    Pakistan security forces kill 31 militants Thu Jul 6, 3:52 PM ET

    QUETTA, Pakistan - Security forces killed 31 fighters in an offensive against renegade Baluch tribesmen in southwestern Pakistan, officials said Thursday.

  • Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, right, and the U.S. commander in Iraq General George Casey applaud after the U.S. national anthem during Fourth of July-U.S. independence day celebrations, Tuesday, July 4, 2006, at the U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq. (AP Photo/Ali Jasim/pool)
    U.S. expresses condolences to Iraq family Thu Jul 6, 2:54 PM ET

    BAGHDAD, Iraq - The top U.S. commander in Iraq and the American ambassador expressed condolences Thursday to the family of the victims of an alleged rape-slaying attack against an Iraqi family by U.S. forces.

  • * FILE ** Paul Dadge, right, helps injured tube passenger Davinia Turrell away from Edgware Road tube station in London following an explosion, in this Thursday July 7, 2005, file photo. Friday July 7, 2006 marks the first anniversary of the terrorist attacks on London that killed 52 commuters. (AP Photo/Jane Mingay)
    A year later, life in London mostly normal Thu Jul 6, 2:43 PM ET

    LONDON - London's sweaty subway cars are as jam-packed as ever this summer and red double-decker buses still roll through the capital crowded with commuters and photo-snapping tourists.

  • Itzhak Levanon, Ambassador of the Permanent Representative Mission of Israel to Geneva, listens to a statement at the special session of the Human Rights Council concerning the situation of human rights in the Palestinian areas at the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, Wednesday, July 5, 2006. (AP Photo/Keystone/Martial Trezzini)
    U.N. council rebukes Israeli operation Thu Jul 6, 2:17 PM ET

    GENEVA - The U.N. Human Rights Council on Thursday deplored Israel's military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip as breaching international humanitarian law and voted to send a fact-finding mission to the region.