World - Reuters

JANNAT ABAD, Iran (Reuters) - A Tupolev aircraft crashed in Iran on Wednesday on its way to Armenia, after catching fire mid-air and plowing into farmland killing all 168 people on board just 16 minutes after take-off.

KABUL (Reuters) - The death toll for foreign troops in Afghanistan halfway through July equaled the highest for any month of the eight-year-old war, tallies showed on Wednesday, as a U.S. escalation has met unprecedented violence.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A prominent human rights activist kidnapped in Russia's troubled Muslim republic of Chechnya on Wednesday has been found dead in woodland, the Interior Ministry in neighboring Ingushetia said.

TOKYO (Reuters) - Chaos deepened on Wednesday in Japan's ruling party ahead of an expected August 30 election, as lawmakers fearing a crushing defeat persisted with efforts to ditch unpopular Prime Minister Taro Aso.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Some Israeli soldiers who took part in the January invasion of the Gaza Strip say they were encouraged by commanders to shoot first and worry later about civilians, and went into Gaza with guns blazing.

KAMPALA (Reuters) - African Union peacekeepers in Somalia need a stronger mandate to help bring security to the anarchic Horn of Africa nation, requiring at least triple the troops, the force's biggest contributor said on Wednesday.

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt (Reuters) - Top diplomats from India and Pakistan have begun talks to reduce tensions between the two states in a meeting on the fringes of a gathering in Egypt, sources close to the talks said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel played down prospects for renewed peace negotiations with Syria on Wednesday after hosting a top adviser to U.S. Middle East envoy George Mitchell.

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada's spy agency failed to a pay enough attention to the age of a young Canadian terrorism suspect when it interviewed him at Guantanamo Bay, an oversight committee found on Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - President Dmitry Medvedev will defend a Russia-backed deal to buy German car maker Opel and seek more support for the Nord Stream gas pipeline project when he visits Munich on Thursday, a top Kremlin aide said.