World News

RAFAH, Gaza Strip - The monkeys and lions were drugged, tossed into cloth sacks and dragged through smuggling tunnels under the border between Egypt and the besieged Gaza Strip before ending up in a dusty Gaza zoo. Stocked almost entirely with smuggled animals, the "Heaven of Birds and Animals Zoo" is a sign of Gaza's ever-expanding tunnel industry.

BAGHDAD - Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered most of his militiamen to disarm but said Friday he will maintain elite fighting units to resist the Americans if a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops is not established.

BAGHDAD - The Baghdad Zoo on Friday welcomed a pair of rare Bengal tiger cubs that were donated by a North Carolina animal sanctuary despite protests by animal rights activists.

DZHAVA, Georgia - Russia sent columns of tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases Friday after Georgia launched a major military offensive to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, threatening to ignite a broader conflict.

MADRID (Reuters) - A one euro coin has turned up in Spain bearing the face of cartoon couch potato Homer Simpson instead of that of the country's king, a sweetshop owner told Reuters on Friday.

LONDON (AFP) - Kevin Pietersen hit a century in his first match as captain to put England in a powerful position on the second day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa at the Oval on Friday.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - A police official says an FBI agent may have accidentally killed a local officer in a late-night shootout with alleged kidnappers.

ASUNCION, Paraguay - Paraguayan president-elect Fernando Lugo says he does not support landless peasants who plan to invade farms in three northern states of the South American country.

MEXICO CITY - The National Hurricane Center says Hurricane Hernan has formed far off Mexico's Pacific coast and is expected to remain far from land.

LONDON (AFP) - Kevin Pietersen hit a century in his first match as captain to put England in a powerful position on the second day of the fourth and final Test against South Africa at the Oval on Friday.

SOWETO, South Africa (AFP) - As the young rugby players sing the national anthem, the scene provides a small glimpse into the racial divisions still linked to the game in South Africa years after apartheid ended.

KHARTOUM (AFP) - Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir on Friday appointed a chief administrator for the contested oil region of Abyei where fighting three months ago threatened to reignite a north-south civil war.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates has endorsed a 17-billion dollar plan to double the size of the Afghan army over five years, the Pentagon said Friday.

NEW DELHI - With a deadly attack on its embassy in Afghanistan, Pakistani troops clashing with its soldiers in disputed Kashmir and Islamic militants bombing its cities, India has in recent months seemed a country under siege.

BEIJING - President Bush, the first U.S. president to attend an Olympics abroad, blended political messages for China and Russia with high fives and hugs for American athletes Friday.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - A surprisingly large 55,000 jobs were lost in Canada in July, the biggest monthly job loss since the 1991 recession.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canadian police have arrested a fugitive Italian mafia suspect who was identified on Friday by the Italian government as a leader of the 'Ndrangheta organized crime group.

TORONTO (Reuters) - Canadian consumers were feeling slightly more confident in July, but concern about the job market deepened, the Conference Board of Canada said on Friday.

SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian Customs and police said Friday they had seized 4.4 tonnes of ecstasy tablets worth nearly 400 million dollars, describing it as the biggest haul of the illicit drug anywhere in the world.

TOKYO - An American nuclear-powered submarine leaked radiation for more than two years, releasing the bulk of the material in its home port of Guam and at Pearl Harbor, Japanese and U.S. officials said Thursday.

DILI (Reuters) - The United Nations urged on Thursday East Timor not to let those responsible for bloodshed surrounding Dili's 1999 independence vote from Indonesia off the hook, pledging to provide support to prosecute perpetrators.

DZHAVA, Georgia - Russia sent columns of tanks and reportedly bombed Georgian air bases Friday after Georgia launched a major military offensive to retake the breakaway province of South Ossetia, threatening to ignite a broader conflict.

LONDON - Eric Dowling, who helped plan the mass wartime breakout from a German prison camp that inspired the movie "The Great Escape," has died at 92.

BAGHDAD - Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered most of his militiamen to disarm but said Friday he will maintain elite fighting units to resist the Americans if a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. troops is not established.