AP - Defying an emergency government order, Greek truck drivers vowed Friday to press ahead with a strike that has halted fuel supplies across the country and is hurting tourism during the peak summer season.

AP - Vast sections of Russia were under a state of emergency Friday as more than 10,000 firefighters fought to save villages and forests from being reduced to ash and ember during the country's hottest summer on record.

AP - The leaders of Syria and Saudi Arabia launched an unprecedented effort Friday to defuse fears of violence over upcoming indictments in the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

AP - NATO announced Friday that six more U.S. troops have died in Afghanistan, bringing the death toll for July to at least 66 and surpassing the previous month's record as the deadliest for American forces in the nearly 9-year-old war.

AP - Silvio Berlusconi has split with his oldest political ally and co-founder of his party, a spectacular falling-out expected to make it harder for the premier to push disputed legislation through parliament.

AP - Iraqi police say a roadside bomb north of Baghdad has killed five members of a family, including a 4-year-old girl.

AP - After a 27-year courtship, two men on Friday became the first gay couple to wed under Argentina's historic same-sex marriage law — the first of its kind for a Latin American nation.

AFP - Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on Friday lauded international efforts to achieve lasting peace and political stability in crisis-wracked Guinea-Bissau, his office said.

AFP - James Anderson marked his 28th birthday with five wickets as Pakistan slumped to 147 for nine on the second day of the first Test against England at Trent Bridge here on Friday.

AFP - Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd was Friday admitted to hospital for surgery to treat severe stomach pain -- one month after he was dramatically removed from office by his own party.