AP - One of the top three leaders of Mexico's most powerful drug cartel died in a gunfight with soldiers Thursday, ending the long run of a mysterious capo considered a founder of the country's massive methamphetamine trade.

AP - The U.S. Consulate in the Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez will temporarily close pending a review of its security protocols.

AP - Militants flew an al-Qaida flag over a Baghdad neighborhood Thursday after killing 16 security officials and burning some of their bodies in a brazen afternoon attack that served as a grim reminder of continued insurgent strength in Iraq's capital.

AP - The discovery of the body of a second U.S. sailor who vanished in Afghanistan last week only deepened the mystery of the men's disappearance nearly 60 miles from their base in a dangerous area controlled by the Taliban.

AP - Gunmen who abducted four journalists in northern Mexico are demanding their media outlets broadcast videos apparently taped by a drug cartel that accuse officials of favoring a rival gang.

Time.com - While China's boom has always been dogged by environmental andsafety hazards, the frequency of disasters this summer has raised new questions about whether the country can maintain its pace of expansionwithout doing more harm than good

AFP - A US senator said investigators could be sent to Britain to quiz witnesses who refused to travel to Washington to testify at a Senate probe into the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

AP - Syria on Thursday warned the United States to stop trying to interfere as Arab leaders try to defuse heightened tensions in the Middle East.

AP - US Consulate in Mexican border city of Ciudad Juarez temporarily closes for security review.

AFP - King Mohammed VI of Morocco on Thursday granted pardons or reduced sentences to nearly 1,000 people to mark his 11 years on the throne, the justice ministry said.

AFP - South Korea's Samsung Electronics Friday reported a record second-quarter operating profit of 5.01 trillion won (4.2 billion dollars), an 88 percent rise on the same period last year.

Reuters - Proposed Canadian regulations to cut emissions from cars and trucks may have little to no effect as early "action credits" banked by automakers may be able to carry them through the compliance period, an environmental think tank said on Thursday.

The Christian Science Monitor - For environmentalists, it doesn’t get much better than Australia’s Cape York Peninsula, a vast expanse of wetlands, tropical rainforest, savannah grasslands, and bone-white sand dunes, sheltering one-half of the country’s birds and one-third of its mammals.

McClatchy Newspapers - WASHINGTON — A new Army report has founded that inattention to rising rates of drug abuse and criminal activity among soldiers and not repeat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan is responsible for the record-high levels of suicide among troops.

The Christian Science Monitor - Mexico staged a handful of protests today against the new immigration law in Arizona, where up to 530,000 undocumented workers live and 88.6 percent of the Hispanic population is Mexican.

Time.com - Spain's National Court has re-opened its case against three U.S. troops implicated in a 2003 attack on Baghdad's Hotel Palestine that killed two journalists

OneWorld.net - CHANDRA, Jul 29 (IRIN) - As swollen monsoon rivers and rising sea levels threaten to engulf more land across Bangladesh, NGOs are training thousands of farmers in traditional soil-less farming on water.