AFP - The US-led coalition in Afghanistan on Thursday deflected accusations that it killed 11 Pakistani soldiers in an air strike, releasing video footage which it says shows its forces targeting insurgents.

Reuters - The Dalai Lama hopes postponed talks between China and his envoys will resume next month, he said on Thursday, adding he supported China's desire for stability but that it must come "from the heart not the gun."

Reuters - Prime Minister Raila Odinga's party won three parliamentary seats on Thursday after by-elections that went peacefully despite fears of a repeat of violence seen in the crisis after Kenya's presidential poll.

Reuters - The British government said on Thursday it had suspended a senior intelligence official who left a file with top secret documents about Iraq and al Qaeda on a train and MPs called for an independent inquiry.

Reuters - A 25-year-old factory worker arrested over the killing of seven people in a frenzied attack on a crowd of shoppers in Tokyo has told police he wanted someone to stop him, Japanese media said on Thursday.

Reuters - The first lock and dam on the upper Mississippi River closed to barge traffic on Thursday due to flood conditions that have destroyed homes and thousands of acres of corn and soybeans, said the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Reuters - A senior Chinese official will visit Beijing's often bitter political rival Taiwan later this year, state media said on Thursday, as the two sides sat down to their first formal talks in almost a decade.

Reuters - Ministers will pledge funds for Afghanistan and review their development strategy for the fragile Central Asian state at a donors conference which got underway in Paris on Thursday.

Reuters - Four people were killed and at least 20 injured when a tornado tore through an Iowa boy scout camp on Wednesday, where dozens of scouts were gathered for a summer retreat, state officials said.

AP - The "June Gloom" so typical of summer in San Diego gave way to sunshine on the eve of the U.S. Open, filling the blue sky with fighter jets from Miramar that until Wednesday could only be heard in the fog. But that isn't the biggest buzz at Torrey Pines.

AP - Paul Newman has always been a fiercely private man, shunning the trappings of fame wrought by his Hollywood career while immersing himself in auto racing, philanthropy and a multimillion-dollar food business.

AP - Belgian Brewer InBev is offering a big payday to shareholders of Anheuser-Busch Cos. Inc., but its bid to create the world's largest beer company is already facing a major obstacle — U.S. election-year politics.

AP - Marijuana potency increased last year to the highest level in more than 30 years, posing greater health risks to people who may view the drug as harmless, according to a report released Thursday by the White House.

AP - Taiwan and China agreed Thursday for the first time ever to set up permanent offices in each others' territories as the two sides met for their first formal talks in more than a decade, an official with one of the delegations said.

AP - House Democrats came so close to a veto-proof margin for their proposal to give the unemployed an extra three months of benefits.