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WORLD at 1000 GMT(Associated Press WorldStream Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) HIGHLIGHTS: New: SRI LANKA. Military says troops killed 44 rebels in north and east battles. New: AGING POPULATION. Study: Eastern Europe, former Soviet republics aging fastest in world New: SIERRA LEONE-WAR CRIMES. Sierra Leone war crimes court delivers first verdict. New: EU SUMMIT. Acrimony, bitterness dominate runup to EU summit crucial to bloc's future. New: FRANCE-GREEN SKIES? Critics fear 'green' aviation is only hot air. Update: ISRAEL-PALESTININANS. Israeli army told to let in sick Gazans for medical treatment. Update: FRANCE-AIR SHOW. Boeing, Airbus win more orders at Paris Air Show. Update: NIGERIA-STRIKE. Nigerian unions launch general strike over raised fuel prices. TOP STORIES: Israeli army told to let in sick Gazans for medical treatment. EREZ CROSSING, Gaza Strip _ Israel's new defense minister orders the army to allow into Israel any of the hundreds of Gazans holed up at a fetid crossing who might desperately need medical treatment. Meanwhile, Israel's Supreme Court hears a petition by a human rights group demanding that authorities offer immediate medical treatment to 26 critically ill Palestinians hospitalized in Gaza. BC-ME-GEN--ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS. Moved. By Diaa Hadid. AP Photos JRL183-185. WITH: _BC-NA-GEN--US-MIDEAST. WASHINGTON _ Olmert spells out goodwill gestures for Abbas, joining Bush for him against Hamas. Moved. By Aron Heller. _BC-NA-ANL--US-WHAT DEMOCRACY. WASHINGTON _ Analysis: Bush's embrace of Palestinian government shows limits of democracy talk. Moved. By Anne Gearan. _BC-ME-GEN--PALESTINIANS-GAZA HOSPITAL. GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip _ Gaza's main hospital faces shortage of supplies, traumatized staff and patients. By Sarah El Deeb. AP Photos. Death toll from Baghdad mosque bombing reaches 87 BAGHDAD _ The death toll from a suicide truck bombing at a major Shiite mosque in central Baghdad increases to 87, the Interior Ministry says. The blast, which the ministry says also injured 214, struck just as worshippers were leaving a midday prayer service. BC-ME-GEN--IRAQ. Developing. AP Photos. With: _ BC-ME-ANL--IRAQ-DEJA VU. BAGHDAD _ A year later, amid concrete and blood, the view in Baghdad looks only bleaker. Moved. By Charles J. Hanley. AP Photos BAG107, 119, 122, 131. AP Graphic IRAQ ONE YEAR. EUROPE: Acrimony, bitterness dominate runup to EU summit crucial to bloc's future BRUSSELS, Belgium _ Acrimony, bitterness and nasty words dominate on the eve of a European Union summit seeking to salvage key elements from the aborted constitution. Poland is threatening to veto a deal on drafting a new slimmed-down treaty over worries it will lose influence in the club. BC-EU-GEN--EU-SUMMIT. By 1200 GMT. By Paul Ames. With Glance. Swiss trial opens for 2 Muslims accused of supporting terror on Internet BELLINZONA, Switzerland _ Switzerland's first Internet terrorism trial opens with the prosecution accusing two Muslims of running Web sites that supported al-Qaida linked groups and showed terror executions. BC-EU-GEN--SWITZERLAND-INTERNET TERROR. Moved. By Gabriella Broggi. Critics fear 'green' aviation is only hot air LE BOURGET, France _ Boeing, Airbus and dozens of airlines that fly their jets are jumping on the environmental bandwagon, showcasing "green" technology at the Paris Air Show to spew less noxious fumes into the planet's clogged skies. But analysts say the growth in worldwide air travel is outpacing industry progress in cleaning up aircraft emissions. High fuel costs and fear of government-regulated emissions cuts _ not pure environmental concerns _ inspired much of the research. BC-EU-GEN--FRANCE-GREEN SKIES? By 1400GMT. By Angela Charlton. WITH: _ BC-EU-FIN--FRANCE-AIR SHOW. LE BOURGET, France _ Boeing, Airbus win more orders. Moved. By Jane Wardell. MIDDLE EAST: U.N. sanctions has boosted Iran's Revolutionary Guards, official says TEHRAN, Iran _ Iran's top nuclear negotiator denies the country's Revolutionary Guards have any connection to Iran's nuclear program and says U.N. sanctions on commanders of the elite force will only increase their status, a state newspaper reports. BC-ME-GEN--IRAN-REVOLUTIONARY GUARDS. Developing. AFRICA: Nigerian unions launch general strike over raised fuel prices ABUJA, Nigeria _ Nigeria's powerful labor unions launch a general strike to protest government price hikes, leaving many schools and banks shuttered and normally bustling streets quieter in Africa's oil giant. BC-AF-GEN--NIGERIA-STRIKE. Moved. By Bashir Adigun. Gunmen attack Somali police stations, 2 dead MOGADISHU, Somalia _ More than a dozen gunmen attack two police bases in Mogadishu with rocket-propelled grenades, sparking fire fights that kill at least two people. BC-AF-GEN--SOMALIA. Moved. By Mohamed Olad Hassan. Sierra Leone court to deliver verdicts against alleged war criminals FREETOWN, Sierra Leone _ A U.N.-backed court issues its first verdicts against those accused of war crimes in Sierra Leone's brutal, decade-long civil war. The three defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges linked to heading a junta that burned villages, conscripted child soldiers and forced others to work as laborers in diamond mines. BC-AF-GEN--SIERRA LEONE-WAR CRIMES. Developing after 1100 GMT court session. By Clarence Roy-Macaulay. Morocco and Polisario Front to meet again in August to try to resolve Western Sahara dispute UNITED NATIONS _ The Moroccan government and Polisario Front rebels fail to resolve their 32-year dispute over the future of Western Sahara during their first direct negotiations in seven years, but they agree to meet again in August. BC-UN-GEN--UN-WESTERN SAHARA. Moved. By Edith M. Lederer. ASIA: US eyes 6-way NKorean nuclear talks in coming weeks, SKorea preparing oil shipments TOKYO _ The United States expects diplomats to start planning the shutdown of North Korea's nuclear facilities within the next two weeks, despite a surprise missile test by the communist country. BC-AS-GEN--KOREAS-NUCLEAR. Moved. By Mari Yamaguchi. AP Photo TOK105-106. Thai prime minister says general elections could be held in late November BANGKOK, Thailand _ Thailand's military-installed Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont says a new general election may be held as early as late November if the draft of the new constitution passes a national referendum in August. BC-AS-GEN--THAILAND-ELECTIONS. Developing. WITH: _BC-AS-ANL--THAILAND-DEMOCRACY DERAILED. BANGKOK, Thailand _ Analysis: Democracy faces uncertain future in Thailand. Moved. By Grant Peck. Taiwan vows to proceed with UN referendum despite Chinese, US objections TAIPEI, Taiwan _ Taiwanese officials vow to proceed with a referendum on rejoining the United Nations under the name Taiwan, despite fierce objections from China and U.S. warnings not to hold the poll. BC-AS-GEN--TAIWAN-UN REFERENDUM. Moved. By Peter Enav. AP Photo TPE101. Military: Up to 44 rebels killed in north and east battles in Sri Lanka COLOMBO, Sri Lanka _ Sri Lankan troops kill up to 44 Tamil rebels in clashes and destroy three small camps in the insurgents' last eastern stronghold. BC-AS-GEN--SRI LANKA. Moved. By Krishan Francis. AP Graphic SRI LANKA VIOLENCE. NORTH AMERICA: NYC mayor leaves Republican Party, prompting speculation of presidential bid NEW YORK _ New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg says he has left the Republican Party and become unaffiliated in what many believe could be a step toward entering the 2008 race for president. BC-NA-POL--US-BLOOMBERG-POLITICS. Moved. By Sara Kugler. AP Photos CARS115-118. World Bank study: Eastern Europe, former Soviet republics aging fastest of world countries WASHINGTON _ Populations in many countries of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union will be among the oldest in the world by 2025, the World Bank says. It urges governments to shed their complacency and act now to deal with the trend. BC-NA-GEN--AGING POPULATION. Moved. By Harry Dunphy. WITH: _BC-UN-GEN--UN-AGING POPULATION. UNITED NATIONS _ U.N. report: Universal pension of US$1 a day would reduce old age poverty in developing countries. Moved. By Edith M. Lederer. LATIN AMERICA: US transfers 6 from Guantanamo despite concerns 1 may face abuse at home SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico _ The U.S. announces the transfer of six Guantanamo Bay prisoners back to their home countries, including one who, according to his lawyers, now may face abuse in Tunisia for nonviolent political activities. BC-CB-GEN--GUANTANAMO-PRISONER RELEASE. Moved. By Ben Fox. Denying illegal campaign financing, Colombia's president asks for federal investigation BOGOTA, Colombia _ President Alvaro Uribe formally asks Colombia's chief federal prosecutor to investigate allegations that far-right paramilitaries helped finance his 2002 political campaign. BC-LA-GEN--COLOMBIA-PARAMILITARIES. Moved. By Frank Bajak. BUSINESS & FINANCE: WTO powers talk amid signs that positions are slowly converging POTSDAM, Germany _ The World Trade Organization's four most powerful members debate some of the biggest obstacles to a new global trade pact, a day after officials said the United States and Brazil edged closer on the key question of U.S. farm subsidies. BC-EU-FIN-ECO--WTO-TRADE TALKS. Developing. By Bradley S. Klapper. WITH: _BC-EU-FIN-ECO--WTO-US-INTERNET GAMBLING. GENEVA _ Antigua seeks huge WTO fine against US. Developing. Hennes & Mauritz says 2nd-quarter profit rose 31 percent STOCKHOLM, Sweden _ Hennes & Mauritz, Europe's second-largest clothing retailer, says second-quarter rose 31 percent after the company opened new stores and the Madonna-branded collection was well-received by customers. BC-EU-FIN-EARNS--SWEDEN-H&M. Moved. South Korean farmers denounce free trade deal with United States SEOUL, South Korea _ Thousands of South Korean farmers rally to denounce a free trade agreement with the United States, as officials from the two sides prepare to discuss amending the hard fought deal before its expected signing later this month. BC-AS-FIN--SKOREA-US-FREE TRADE. Developing. By Kelly Olsen. ___ YOUR QUERIES: Contact your local AP bureau, the Europe & Africa Desk in London at +44 207 427 4300 or the North America Desk in New York at +1 212 621 1650. Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |