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Olmert says Israel must leave many West Bank areas JERUSALEM, July 21 (Reuters) Israel will have to withdraw from "many areas" in the occupied West Bank, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said in remarks broadcast on Saturday, part of a drive by Middle East power brokers to resume peace efforts. "Anyone living with some kind of dream detached from reality that we can keep all the (occupied) territories, isn't making a correct assessment," Olmert said at a collective farm. (Posted @ 13:30 PST)

 

Hamas says two gunmen killed by Israeli troops in northern Gaza GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip, July 22 (AP) Israeli troops operating in the northern Gaza Strip early Sunday shot and killed two Hamas gunmen, the militant group and the army said. (Posted @ 10:50 PST)

 

SKorea's cabinet holds crisis meeting over kidnapped Christians SEOUL, July 22 (AFP) South Korea's cabinet and security chiefs held an emergency meeting Sunday as an apparent deadline loomed for the fate of 23 nationals kidnapped in Afghanistan by Islamic extremists. The meeting, details of which have not been released, came as a South Korean crisis team was due to arrive in Kabul to spearhead efforts to try to win the release of the nationals. The team, led by Vice Foreign Minister Cho Jung-Pyo, was expected to meet Afghan authorities in the capital later in the day, officials here have said. (Posted @ 10:45 PST)

 

Polls open in legislative elections in Turkey ANKARA, July 22 (AFP) Voters went to the polls across Turkey on Sunday for early legislative elections in which the ruling Islamist-rooted party is tipped to secure a second mandate in power, the CNN-Turk news channel reported. (Posted @ 10:40 PST)

 

China flood toll keeps rising BEIJING, July 22 (AFP) Another 68 people have died in floods in western and southwestern China as authorities warned that levees holding back the swollen Huaihe River in the heavily populated east are at risk of bursting. The latest reported deaths from heavy rains included 59 killed in recent days in the mountainous southwestern province of Yunnan, state-run Xinhua news agency said in a report late Saturday. Another eight people remain missing. And nine people have been confirmed killed by floods in far-western Xinjiang province, with two more missing, Xinhua said. (Posted @ 10:30 PST)

 

Violence across Iraq: 17 bodies found BAGHDAD, July 22 (Reuters): U.S. forces killed six insurgents and wounded five overnight in a helicopter strike near Husseiniyah town, north of Baghdad, the military said. Iraqi police and residents said the strike killed 18 civilians and wounded 21. Authorities found 17 bodies across Baghdad throughout Saturday, police said. Most of the killings are believed to be part of sectarian violence. Four people were killed and 14 wounded in separate mortar attacks on various predominantly Shi'ite districts in Baghdad, police said. (Posted @ 10:00 PST)