OPERATION: The strike was conducted on a large gathering the Afghan defense ministry said was to execute four people for cooperating with the government
An airstrike on a large Taliban gathering killed dozens of rebels, the defense ministry said Friday, with at least 30 civilians wounded and unconfirmed reports of many more killed.

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The Taliban offered to hold talks with South Korean officials in Afghan government-controlled territory over the fate of 21 hostages if the UN guaranteed the safety of the militant delegation.

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CHECK: A congressman raised the issue of whether the nuclear deal conforms with the Henry Hyde Act, even though it has been in negotiation for two years
The US Congress has to determine whether an operational agreement of a landmark US-India nuclear deal is legal, the head of an influential House of Representatives panel said on Friday.

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Self-exiled former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto will return home in October and contest national elections despite the threat of imprisonment, one of her political advisers said.

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Hundreds of protesters chanted anti-US slogans and burned a US flag to protest a remark by Democratic US presidential hopeful Barack Obama saying that, if elected, he might order military strikes in Pakistan against al-Qaeda.

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Hong Kong's popular former deputy Anson Chan (陳方安生)criticized the city's leader in an open letter yesterday, saying his proposals for democratic reform did not reflect pre-election promises.

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EMBARGO BREACHES: The Security Council responded to a report that said the country should establish a force to put an end to weapons smuggling from Syria
The UN Security Council expressed strong concern on Friday over violations of the arms embargo on Lebanon's border with Syria.

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To some, they are terrorist sympathizers. To others, they are champions of Turkey's ethnic Kurd minority.

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`INDISCRIMINATE ATTACK': Stefan Aust, editor-in-chief at 'Der Spiegel,' called the investigation into the reports by several journalists a violation of freedom of the press
Seventeen German journalists and several members of parliament are under investigation in the alleged leak of classified documents given to a parliamentary committee, the federal prosecutor's office said on Friday.

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Foot and mouth disease has been found in cattle on a British farm, the government said on Friday as it banned livestock movements.

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A son of the late Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was jailed earlier this year over his role in a brutal murder in London, it was revealed on Friday after reporting restrictions were lifted.

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WARRANTLESS SPYING: The bill would authorize expanded eavesdropping for six months and passed only after the president vowed to veto a more restrictive proposal
The White House was halfway to its goal of winning expanded powers to eavesdrop on suspected foreign terrorists.

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Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez reveled in his role as host to Hollywood star Sean Penn as they traveled together through the Venezuelan countryside in an open jeep, stopping to greet adoring crowds.

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THE LAST EMPEROR: Archeologists are excavating what is believed to be the tomb of the last Aztec leader to complete his reign before Spanish conquistadors invaded
Mexican archeologists using ground-penetrating radar have detected underground chambers they believe contain the remains of Emperor Ahuizotl, who ruled the Aztecs when Columbus landed in the New World. It would be the first tomb of an Aztec ruler ever found.

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US President George W. Bush yesterday was to tour the highway bridge that crumbled into the Mississippi River as divers plunge back into murky waters in search of bodies.

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TERRA COTTA TOWN: An artist has decided to build clay statues to represent all of those who have left his village hoping to find a better life in the US
Artist Alejandro Santiago is undertaking an ambitious plan to repopulate his southern Mexico hometown, devastated by migration to the US, with an army of life-size clay figures.

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■ AUSTRALIA
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