Bona Malual, aide to Sudanese president Omar al-Beshir, threatened that if the latter is indicted for war crimes, "We can't be responsible for the well-being of foreign forces in Darfur."

Svetozar Vujacic, lawyer to former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic, is delaying his client's extradition decision as long as possible by mailing the letter from a remote post office minutes before the deadline.

Sylvain Chavanel from France won the 19th stage of the Tour de France, a 165.5-km ride from Roanne to Montlucon. His compatriot Jérémy Roy finished second. However, Spaniard Carlos Sastre retained the leader's yellow jersey.

During a joint press conference, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and US presidential hopeful Barack Obama expressed mutual admiration and presented shared views on issues like Iran, the Middle East, the environment, and Darfur.

Marathon WTO trade talks finally saw some hope after a long stalemate, when WTO chief Pascal Lamy put forward new proposals to facilitate the more contentious subjects such as agriculture.

At the first summit between South Africa and the EU in Bordeaux on Friday, Zimbabwe was a hot topic, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy declaring condemnation of contested Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe.

Cyprus President Demetris Christofias and Turkish Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat will conduct direct negotiations to find a mutually acceptable solution for the divided island, a UN spokesman said.

The land of Srebrenica in Bosnia is still churning out the bodies of its inhabitants, allegedly massacred in 1995 by the soldiers of Karadzic and Mladic. For the past seven years, forensic experts have sought to identify the remains.

At least one death and several injuries have been reported after a series bomb blasts in Bangalore, India's IT capital. Eight blasts occurred in the space of 45 minutes across the city, according to the police.

A Qantas Airways Boeing 747 landed safely in Manila after plunging tens of thousands of feet when the airplane's fuselage ruptured suddenly. All passengers are safe.

The rebel group Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) released 10 hostages Thursday, handing 8 to the International Committee of the Red Cross. The group were among 18 captured on July 17.

Sources believe that French utility Electricite de France has agreed terms for a takeover of nuclear operator British Energy, which has attracted much interest since Britain gave the green light to the building of new nuclear power stations.

The ruling Labour Party suffered a further blow as it lost a by-election to the Scottish National Party by just 365 votes in one of its traditional strongholds in Glasgow.

North Korea signed a non-aggression pact with the other members of the ASEAN Regional Forum on Thursday, a sign that it wants to be seen as a more responsible international player.

Scientists using data provided by NASA satellites have finally unravelled the mystery behind the multicoloured aurora borealis and aurora australis, saying that the spectacular light shows are triggered by magnetic explosions.

UN General Secretary Ban Ki-Moon has chosen International Criminal Court judge and former anti-apartheid activist Navanethem Pillay to succeed Canada's Louise Arbour as high commissioner for human rights.

Iraqi athletes will take no part in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended Iraq for "political interference" in the country's Olympic committee.

French Prime Minister François Fillon announced a modernisation plan for a leaner and more mobile military reflecting new priorities. The plan involves shutting 83 units, including regiments, logistics centres and air force bases, from 2009 onwards.

French automotive group Renault will cut overheads and aim for voluntary job cuts "to preserve competitiveness and profitability". Company shares fell in mid-day trading Thursday even as it posted a first-half net profit of 1.467 billion euros.