News of the world: Kandahar mayor assassinated; U.S. believes al Qaeda on verge of collapse

The Envoy

• "Army Master Sgt. Benjamin A. Stevenson, 36, was on his tenth tour of duty in the war zones of Afghanistan and Iraq when he was killed Thursday in a remote area of eastern Afghanistan." (CNN; Joshua Foust)

• The mayor of Kandahar was killed in a suicide attack, weeks after the assassination of Hamid Karzai's brother. (Washington Post)

• U.S. believes al Qaeda is on the brink of collapse ... (Washington Post)

• ... but issues a new global terror alert. (UPI)

• Convicted Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, released by the UK to Libya in 2009 on humanitarian grounds, seen at pro-Gadhafi rally in Tripoli. (BBC)

• UK kicks out Libyan envoy, recognizes rebel government, a day after joining France and the United States saying Gadhafi might remain in Libya if he steps down. (CNN)

• A United Nations Security Council meeting yesterday foreshadows high-stakes vote on Palestinian statehood in September. (New York Times)