LONDON (AFP) - US presidential hopeful Barack Obama arrived in London Friday, the last scheduled stop on a world tour aimed at boosting his foreign policy credentials before elections later this year.

BELGRADE (AFP) - A deadline for Radovan Karadzic to appeal his transfer to the UN war crimes tribunal expired Saturday, but it remained unclear whether his lawyer has lodged a complaint.

NICOSIA (AFP) - Rival Cypriot leaders on Friday set September 3 as the date when they will begin direct negotiations on ending the island's 34-year-old division.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Mississippi River reopened to limited traffic on Friday, two days after a barge collided with a tanker spilling hundreds of gallons of fuel oil, the US Coast Guard said.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a new law Friday that will see artificial trans fats outlawed in restaurants across the most populous US state from 2010.

GENEVA (AFP) - World trade powers strode forward towards a new global pact on Friday amid real hopes of a breakthrough after seven years of deadlock, but several emerging nations threatened to torpedo a deal.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - New US home sales ticked down in June, government data showed Friday, but the better-than-expected figures sparked a glint of hope that the worst housing slump in decades may be scraping bottom.