A round-up of today's other stories in brief...
Car bomb in market kills 18 in Iraq
MOSUL - A car bomb in a vegetable market in the northern Iraqi town of Tal Afar killed 18 people and wounded 25 yesterday.
The town, 420km (260 miles) northwest of Baghdad, is near Mosul, where US-backed Iraqi troops have cracked down on al-Qaeda militants in recent months.
The attack was the biggest since suicide bombers struck Shia pilgrims in Baghdad and a protest by Kurds in Kirkuk last month, killing nearly 60 people. - (Reuters)
Algerian army kills 12 rebels
ALGIERS - The Algerian army killed 12 rebels in an ambush overnight in the mountainous region of Kabylie, the main base of al-Qaeda's north African wing, state news agency APS reported yesterday. - (Reuters)
Mbeki's Harare trip signals deal
HARARE - South African president Thabo Mbeki, mediating in Zimbabwe's post-election crisis, visits Harare today amid growing optimism that a powersharing deal can be reached between the ruling party and the opposition.
A statement from South Africa's foreign ministry said Mr Mbeki would meet President Robert Mugabe and Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai. - (Reuters)
Apology for false royal cancer tale
LONDON - London's Evening Standard newspaper was forced to apologise yesterday after falsely reporting that Queen Elizabeth's husband, Prince Philip, was suffering from prostate cancer.
Buckingham Palace had complained to the Press Complaints Commission about the August 6th front-page story. "We now accept that the story was untrue and that he is not suffering from any such condition," the newspaper said. - (Reuters)
Dallas bus crash kills at least 13
DALLAS - At least 13 people were killed when a private charter bus crashed north of Dallas, Texas, yesterday. An official at the police department in the city of Sherman, north of Dallas, confirmed the accident and death toll but provided no other details. - (Reuters)
US wants more from N Korea
WASHINGTON - The US said yesterday North Korea had to make "substantial progress" on a verification plan for its nuclear weapons before being taken off a US list of state sponsors of terrorism.
Washington promised North Korea it could be removed from the list as early as next Monday if a robust verification plan was in place, but US officials have made clear this was a "minimum timeline" rather than a fixed date. - (Reuters)
Bombs in French Basque resorts
PARIS - French officials say explosives experts have defused three explosive devices planted at tourist sites in France's southwest Basque country. About 1,200 people were evacuated from various tourist sites after a phone tip-off. There has been no immediate claim of responsibility. - (AP)
Police question Olmert again
JERUSALEM - Prime minister Ehud Olmert, who last week threw Israeli politics into turmoil by announcing plans to resign, was questioned by police for a fifth time yesterday in Jerusalem over bribery and fraud allegations. Mr Olmert declared on July 30th he will step down after a successor is chosen. - (Reuters)