Top Stories - AFP

ISLAMABAD, Aug 22, 2008 (AFP) - Pakistan's shaky ruling coalition was set for a make-or-break meeting on Friday, a day after a double suicide bombing killed 64 people and underscored the government's struggle with extremism.

MADRID (AFP) - Distraught relatives of the 153 victims of the Madrid airline disaster struggled Thursday to identify charred remains of their loved ones as investigators scoured the wreckage for clues.

SYDNEY (AFP) - A lost baby whale which captured hearts around the world as it tried to suckle from an Australian yacht it thought was its mother was killed Friday to end its suffering, wildlife rangers said.

BEIJING (AFP) - Maria Sharapova's dresses may never make an appearance, nor the Williams sisters' bling, but table tennis is at least trying to sex up its sport.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy and top US trade negotiator Susan Schwab were to meet in Washington in an effort to restart the Doha Round of negotiations, a US official said.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Flocks of eBay sellers were squawking as the pioneering online auction website continued "bold changes" aimed at wrenching market share from Internet retail giant Amazon.

BEIJING (AFP) - America's Beijing Olympics campaign blundered into fresh humiliation on Thursday when their much-vaunted sprint squads suffered a relay horror show and Japan broke their traditional domination in softball.

BEIJING (AFP) - Double world-record breaker Usain Bolt is set to race further into the record books and Olympic history with a third gold medal in the sprint relay Friday.

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Pop diva Gwen Stefani and her British rock-star husband Gavin Rossdale welcomed their second child Thursday, a son, People magazine reported on its website.

WAH, Pakistan (AFP) - Two suicide bombers blew themselves up outside Pakistan's main army munitions factory Thursday, killing 64 workers in the deadliest attack on a military installation in the country's history.

TSKHINVALI, Georgia (AFP) - Georgia faced dismemberment Thursday as Moscow-backed separatists hardened independence demands and Russia retained an iron grip on the eve of a promised troop withdrawal.

STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Climate change poses a serious threat to essential water resources in the Himalayan region putting the livelihoods of 1.3 billion people at risk, experts said Thursday.

ACCRA (AFP) - Time is running out in the fight against global warming, the UN's top climate change official warned as a new round of UN talks got started here Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Intel on Thursday showed off a wireless electric power system that analysts say could revolutionize modern life by freeing devices from transformers and wall outlets.

NEW YORK (AFP) - Oil prices rocketed higher Thursday as traders tracked geopolitical tensions between the United States and Russia, a weak dollar and a large drop in US motor fuel reserves.

BEIJING (AFP) - Defending champions United States produced an extra-time winner to claim Olympic gold after a 1-0 win over Brazil in the women's football tournament here on Thursday.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - Yahoo is building an Internet-age news service, leveraging its global audience of a half-billion people to win exclusive interviews with world leaders.

MADRID (AFP) - A Spanish tourist jet carrying 172 people careened off a Madrid airport runway and broke up in flames on Wednesday, killing 153 people in the country's worst air crash in more than 20 years, the government said.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Moscow moved closer Wednesday to recognising the independence of two Georgian separatist regions at the centre of Caucasus conflict -- as a diplomatic onslaught with its former Cold War rivals gathered pace.

WARSAW (AFP) - Warsaw and Washington signed a deal Wednesday to deploy a US missile shield in Poland, in the face of deep anger and threats of retaliation from Moscow.

TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. said Wednesday that it had developed a new way of predicting from a person's DNA their response to medication and risk of developing disease.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Scientists from a US firm claim to have created a large number of red blood cells from human embryonic stem cells, opening up the prospect of having a limitless supply of blood for transfusions.

LONDON (AFP) - British regulators called Wednesday for Spanish-owned group BAA to sell two airports in London and one in Scotland in order to end a dominance which they said hurts both passengers and airlines.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw their share prices plummet Wednesday amid heightened concerns about their ability to ride out the credit crisis without government help.

BEIJING (AFP) - Jamaica's Usain Bolt broke the 200-meter world record Wednesday to complete the first Olympic golden sprint double in 24 years and the first 100-200 twin triumphs to feature two world records.

LONDON (AFP) - Joe Cole helped England coach Fabio Capello avoid a first Wembley defeat as his late equaliser earned a barely-deserved 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic on Wednesday.

SANTIAGO (AFP) - When it comes to attracting tourists to a remote region in central Chile, the town of San Clemente is aiming high -- playing up its reputed connection to visitors from outer space.

BEIJING (AFP) - The IOC said Friday it has asked the International Gymnastics Federation to re-examine claims that Chinese gold medal winner He Kexin was not old enough to compete in the Beijing Games.