AP - More than two-thirds of Mauritanian lawmakers endorsed last week's army-led coup, urging world governments Wednesday to recognize the ruling junta as the legitimate government.

AP - Argentine senators have approved a bill declaring obesity and other eating disorders diseases covered by the nation's public and private health care programs.

AP - Hours after a suicide attack killed eight people, Pakistan's prime minister said in an Independence Day speech Thursday that the country must defeat extremism to survive.

AFP - Onetime pop star Gary Glitter will be deported to Britain next week upon his release from a Vietnamese prison after serving a three-year term for child molestation, his lawyer said Thursday.

AP - A roadside bomb packed with nuts and bolts exploded near a bus in this northern city Wednesday, killing 18 soldiers and civilians in Lebanon's deadliest bombing in more than three years.

AP - Syria and Lebanon agreed Wednesday to establish full diplomatic relations for the first time, taking a step toward healing tensions that have fueled decades of turmoil in Lebanon.

AP - It was a claim that could have provoked a dangerous Kremlin response: The United States is readying to take over airports and ports in the former Soviet republic of Georgia.

AP - China's government estimates it will cost $147 billion to rebuild from the massive earthquake that struck the central part of the country in May, according to state media.

AP - Russian troops began pulling out Thursday from this hub on Georgia's main east-west highway, Georgia's Interior Ministry said, where the soldiers' presence raised fears that Russia would challenge a shaky cease-fire agreement.

AP - Police detained eight foreign activists and a British journalist attempting to cover their protest, as the latest in a series of demonstrations spurred jumpiness about dissent during the Olympics.

AFP - Darfur rebels on Wednesday accused the Sudan government of mounting a massive attack to wipe out their strongholds in the far north of Darfur where they are losing ground for the first time.

AP - President-elect Fernando Lugo has reached a deal with a leading opponent that will give him a governing majority in Paraguay's Congress as his five-year term begins on Friday.

AFP - Michael Schumacher and Sebastien Loeb, the two most successful drivers in their disciplines, are to go head-to-head in a gala race in London, according to the World Rally Championship website Wednesday.

AP - Chinese officials defended their decision to pass off the voice of a 7-year-old songbird as that of another girl at the Olympic opening ceremony, calling it a simple casting choice. Critics said it was a step too far in China's obsession with the perfect Olympic Games.