Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Editor: Frances Kerry
Night Editor: David Storey
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TOP STORIES SHARM EL-SHEIKH - Rice and Gates in Egypt talking to Arab allies BAGHDAD - US forces welcome least deadly month of Iraq push UNITED NATIONS - U.N. resolution on Darfur troops near vote KABUL - Afghans recover body of slain Korean hostage
MIDDLE EAST MEETING
SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defence Secretary Robert Gates join forces in the Middle East to push Arab allies to do more to stabilize Iraq and counter the rise of Iran (MIDEAST-USA/ (UPDATE 5), moved at 11:52 a.m., picture, by Sue Pleming and Andrew Gray, 700 words)
BEIRUT - U.S. promises of military aid or arms sales to strengthen its Middle Eastern allies against Iran and other regional foes seem aimed at repairing a balance of power destroyed by the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq (MIDEAST-USA/ARMS (ANALYSIS), moved at 11:02 a.m., by Alistair Lyon, 800 words)
IRAQ
BAGHDAD - Build-up of extra troops in Baghdad may be bearing fruit, U.S. commanders say, after news that July was least deadly month for their forces in Iraq since last November (IRAQ/ (WRAPUP 2), expect by 6 p.m. picture, by Peter Graff, 600 words)
WASHINGTON - U.S. will be in Iraq for "years not months," president's nominee for top military adviser says (USA-IRAQ/, expect by 4 p.m., by Susan Cornwell and Richard Cowan, 600 words)
See also IRAQ/SOCCER-POLITICS, moved at 10:05 a.m., by Mussab Al-Khairalla, 500 words
DARFUR AGREEMENT
UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Security Council schedules vote to authorize up to 26,000 troops and police for Sudan's Darfur region in effort to quell violence (SUDAN-DARFUR/UN (UPDATE 3), expect by 5 p.m., by Evelyn Leopold, 700 words)
See also SUDAN-DARFUR/ (FACTBOX), moved at 12:57 p.m. at 350 words
AFGHANISTAN
ARZOO, Afghanistan - Afghan authorities recover the body of a second South Korean shot dead by Taliban kidnappers who threatened to kill more of the 21 hostages if Kabul does not free rebel prisoners by 0730 GMT (3:30 a.m. EDT) on Wednesday (AFGHAN-HOSTAGES/ (UPDATE 5), moved at 12:41 p.m., picture, by Yousuf Azimy, 750 words)
See also AFGHAN-HOSTAGES/FAMILIES (PICTURE), moved at 4:46 a.m., by Jon Herskovitz, 680 words; AFGHAN-VIOLENCE (UPDATE 3), moved at 9:42 a.m., 280 words
U.S. NEWS
WASHINGTON - Democratic-led U.S. House of Representatives, which won power last year amid a spate of mostly Republican scandals, overwhelmingly approves legislation to toughen congressional ethics and lobbying laws (USA-CONGRESS/ETHICS (UPDATE 2), moved at 1:50 p.m., by Thomas Ferraro, 600 words)
WASHINGTON - U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts assures President Bush he is doing well a day after suffering a seizure at his summer home in Maine (USA-COURT/ROBERTS (UPDATE 1), moved at 2 p.m., by James Vicini, 550 words)
WASHINGTON - Republican Fred Thompson needs to say in August if he is running for president because he has enjoyed about all the benefits he can expect from being a noncandidate, a key backer says (USA-POLITICS/THOMPSON, moved at 12:58 p.m., by Steve Holland, 600 words)
OTHER INTERNATIONAL NEWS
MOSCOW - Russia saying it views President Abbas as legitimate Palestinian leader and downgrades ties with his militant rivals, Hamas (RUSSIA-PALESTINIANS/ABBAS (UPDATE 2), moved at 9:45 a.m., picture, by Oleg Shchedrov, 400 words)
JERUSALEM - United States wants Israel to expand scope of talks with Palestinian President Abbas to include core issues such as borders (PALESTINIANS-ISRAEL/US (UPDATE 1), moved at 1:44 p.m., by Adam Entous, 600 words)
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan - Pakistani security forces, backed by helicopter gunships, kill 18 Islamist militants in tribal region on Afghan border, as violence increases after storming of militant mosque (PAKISTAN-VIOLENCE/ (UPDATE 4), moved at 11:51 a.m., picture, by Haji Mujtaba, 639 words)
TORONTO - Toronto court rules on insider trading case against lone remaining figure in multibillion-dollar Bre-X gold fraud, greatest mining scam of all time (BREX-TRIAL/GEOLOGIST (UPDATE 3), moved at 2:04 p.m., by Cameron French, 600 words)
HAVANA - One year after Fidel Castro relinquished power in Cuba, his brother Raul revives hopes in communist Cuba of relief from economic hardships (CUBA-CASTRO/RAUL, moved at 11:56 a.m., picture, by Anthony Boadle, 500 words)
MOGADISHU - Islamist rebels attack Somali and Ethiopian troops in Mogadishu with rockets and gunfire, killing at least four people in heaviest fighting for days (SOMALIA-CONFLICT/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 9:21 a.m., by Guled Mohamed, 350 words)
LONDON - End of brutal wars in West Africa and global efforts to halt recruitment have cut number of child soldiers, but children are still forced into battle everywhere from Latin America to Asia (RIGHTS-CHILDSOLDIERS/ (ANALYSIS), moved at 7:05 a.m., picture, by Peter Apps, 850 words)
BRUSSELS - European Union trade chief Peter Mandelson got a taste of how tough his job was going to be when Chinese t-shirts, underwear and trousers piled up in millions in ports in 2005 and now he is trying to head off new disputes over China's soaring exports (EU-CHINA/TRADE (ANALYSIS), moved at 11:42 a.m., by William Schomberg, 800 words)
CROSSMAGLEN - Army watchtowers have gone and British soldiers no longer search homes for wanted men, but for many in Northern Ireland's border towns trauma of conflict still burns (IRISH-ARMY/ (UPDATE 1), moved at 9:16 a.m., picture, by Jonathan Saul, 650 words)
ENVIRONMENT
UNITED NATIONS - First-ever U.N. special session on global warming finds scientists and policy-makers pushing for new politics to deal with threats of climate change (CLIMATE-UN/, expect by 4 p.m., by Deborah Zabarenko, 500 words)
FILM
ROME - Michelangelo Antonioni, one of Italy's greatest film makers, dies aged 94 (ITALY-ANTONIONI/ (UPDATE 3), moved at 10:23 a.m., picture, by Phil Stewart and Nicola Scevola, 450 words)
See also ITALY-ANTONIONI (FACTBOX), moved at 6:28 a.m. at 550 words
