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JAKARTA, Indonesia - Explosions ripped through two luxury hotels in Jakarta Friday, killing eight and wounding at least 50 more, ending a four-year lull in terror attacks in the world's most populous Muslim nation. At least 18 foreigners were among the dead and wounded.

LONDON - An ugly scramble is brewing over the swine flu vaccine — and when it becomes available, Britain, the United States and other nations could find that the contracts they signed with pharmaceutical companies are easily broken.

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras - The mediator in Honduras' political crisis said he will propose a national reconciliation government during the next round of talks, while ousted President Manuel Zelaya prepared a second bid to return home to reclaim power.

MARSEILLE, France - The Marseille hospital authority says a second person has died after the roof of a stage being built for a Madonna concert collapsed.

BEIJING - China has bought a rebound in economic growth with a flood of government spending and bank loans, averting a surge in politically dangerous unemployment and fueling hopes that it might help lead a world recovery.

TAIPEI, Taiwan - The 100-strong Chinese delegation boycotted the opening ceremony of the World Games in Taiwan on Thursday, underscoring the limits of the historic breakthrough in relations between Taipei and Beijing.

In the wake of China's bloody crackdown on the Uighur riots in Xinjiang province, few governments in the Middle East have stepped up to defend the country's minority Muslims. But they have their reasons for keeping quiet

MEXICO CITY - Mexico on Thursday ordered 5,500 federal police, soldiers and navy personnel to move into a gang-plagued western state following a cartel's slaying of 20 officers and troops in one of the boldest revenge attacks ever mounted against the government.

JERUSALEM - Smoldering trashcans and broken glass littered Jerusalem streets Friday as police prepared for a fourth day of rioting by ultra-Orthodox Jews enraged at the arrest of a mentally ill Hasidic woman who authorities say was starving her child.

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip - Representatives of an anti-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect paid a brief visit to the Gaza Strip on Thursday on a solidarity mission with the area's militantly anti-Israel Hamas leaders.

LONDON - Some of Britain's leading children's authors are refusing to do readings in schools because of a new policy requiring them to be registered in a national database and undergo criminal background checks to prove they aren't sex offenders.

TEHRAN, Iran - A powerful cleric-politician, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, criticized Iran's leadership Friday on one of the country's most resonant political stages, the Islamic prayer sermon. In a boost for the opposition, he said the leadership must clear up doubts over the disputed presidential election and warned of a "crisis."

URUMQI, China - Mosques opened for worshippers in Urumqi on Friday, though some shops were forced to shut as Chinese security forces kept a tight grip on this far west city still reeling from ethnic riots earlier this month.

BEIJING - Beijing officials shut down a legal research center led by activist lawyers Friday while China revoked the licenses of more than 50 attorneys, many known for their human rights cases.

CANBERRA/BEIJING (Reuters) - Global miner Rio Tinto on Friday strongly defended its four employees being held in China on accusations of industrial espionage, saying claims they bribed Chinese steel mills were unfounded.

TURNBERRY, Scotland - These kind of things usually don't end well, no matter how much we might want them to. Golf is a tough enough game for even the youngsters playing in this British Open, and 59-year-olds have no business getting in the way — no matter what their pedigree might be.

WARSAW, Poland - A group of prominent former Eastern European leaders wrote to President Barack Obama on Thursday that their region is gripped by anxiety that his efforts to reach out to Russia could lead him to forget their interests.

BAGHDAD - The U.S. military said Friday that three of its soldiers were killed in an attack on a base outside Iraq's second largest city of Basra, in the south.

TEHRAN, Iran - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad railed against the U.S. in a speech Thursday, showing little indication of embracing Washington's offer of engagement, a day after Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said time was running out.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - The first rocket fired from the Palestinian enclave of Gaza in more than a month landed in southern Israel on Thursday evening without hurting anyone or causing damage, the Israeli army said.

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain could look at further reductions in the number of its nuclear warheads, but only if the United States and Russia make deeper cuts in their arsenals than those already announced, the government said on Thursday.

AOSTA, Italy - A hospital spokesman says Pope Benedict XVI is undergoing surgery after breaking his right wrist in a fall during his vacation in the Italian Alps.

As of Thursday, July 16, 2009, at least 4,324 members of the U.S. military had died in the Iraq war since it began in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count.

MOSCOW - Outside Moscow's sprawling Cherkizovsky market, tensions are rising almost as quickly as the sweltering summer heat.

JAKARTA (AFP) - At least six people including several foreigners have been killed and 10 have been injured after explosions ripped through two luxury hotels in central Jakarta on Friday, police have said.

Attacks on two luxury hotels in Jakarta kill at least nine, wound dozens -- and deal a blow to Indonesia's image as an increasingly stable nation

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel on Thursday demanded tougher action by United Nations peacekeepers against Hezbollah arms stockpiles following blasts in south Lebanon.

PARIS (AFP) - Around 2,000 French Jews are to emigrate to Israel this year, slightly more than last year but down from previous peaks, according to figures from the agency helping to arrange the trip.

BASRA, Iraq (AFP) - The trade union representing workers of Iraq's state-owned Southern Oil Company (SOC) threatened on Thursday to prevent exploitation of one of Iraq's biggest oil fields by energy giants BP and CNPC.

Some recent high-profile slayings of activists, reporters and lawyers who have challenged Russian authorities in recent years. There have been no convictions in any of the following killings.