France to pursue Afghan mission: Sarkozy

PARIS (AFP) — France remains committed to maintaining its defence budget and pursuing its mission in Afghanistan despite the pressure caused by the economic slowdown, President Nicholas Sarkozy said Tuesday.

Speaking to state television after the annual Bastille Day military parade down the Champs Elysees avenue in Paris, Sarkozy said the armed forces would receive new intelligence gathering and protective equipment.

"They know that we're going to make a great effort on their equipment. They will have all means to protect themselves in the battles that they will fight in," he said.

France, the president said, would invest 377 billion euros (527 billion dollars) in its armed forces over the next 12 years in order to maintain and improve their capacity to take on 21st-century conflicts.

He added that France remained committed to the NATO mission in Afghanistan, despite a recent increase in attacks from an increasingly confident Taliban.

Battle for Supreme Court justice to begin in Congress

WASHINGTON (AFP) — Judge Sonia Sotomayor's US Supreme Court confirmation battle opens with her first public grilling by the Senate, which is expected to anoint her as the bench's first Hispanic justice.

The Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on the historic nomination opens at 10:00 am (1400 GMT), with lawmakers, Sotomayor, and 31 invited witnesses expected to speak on whether she should win the lifetime appointment.

If confirmed, the 55-year-old appeals court judge would replace retiring Justice David Souter on the nine-member court that is the final arbiter of the US Constitution and often confronts volatile political and social issues, including gun control and abortion.

Over at least four days of hearings, the panel will hear from people like former FBI director Louis Freeh, who mentored Sotomayor, and Linda Chavez, a conservative activist.

Jackson memorial ticketing goes smoothly

LOS ANGELES – The ticket hand-off for Michael Jackson's public memorial service in Los Angeles has been going smoothly at Dodger Stadium.

Winners of an Internet ticket lottery began exchanging vouchers for tickets in a drive-through process Monday in the stadium parking lot.

Each winner gets two tickets, and are free to give anyone their second one.

Assistant police chief Earl Paysinger says about 1,500 cars had passed through by midmorning.

Jackson's memorial is planned for Tuesday morning at the Staples Center sports arena. Organizers made tickets available free of charge for 11,000 seats in Staples and 6,500 in the adjacent Nokia Theatre.

Police say anyone caught scalping the tickets faces arrest.

Jackson died June 25. He was 50.

AEG chief: Rehearsal footage may become motion pic

LOS ANGELES – A 30-second snippet of Michael Jackson rehearsing two days before his death was released Thursday, part of more than 100 hours of footage that could be turned into live albums, a movie and a pay-per-view special, the promoter said.

The treasure trove of material, along with possible insurance proceeds and ticket sales to memorabilia collectors, could help benefit the late singer's estate, which is burdened by an estimated $400 million in debt.

"He was our partner in life and now he's our partner in death," Randy Phillips, president and CEO of concert promoter AEG Live, said in an interview at Staples Center.

Jackson had been rehearsing for a giant series of comeback shows in London.

"If we all do our jobs right, we could probably raise hundreds of millions of dollars just on the stuff we have worldwide and then the estate could eradicate its debt."

Refund details announced for Jackson concerts

LONDON – More than 750,000 Michael Jackson fans can get full refunds for the pop star's canceled 50-night "This is It" concert extravaganza — or opt to receive souvenir tickets instead, the promoters announced Monday.

In a move that could help recoup some of its losses from the ill-fated tour, Los Angeles-based AEG Live said fans could choose to receive the actual tickets, which it said feature graphics "inspired and designed" by Jackson himself.

Images of the tickets, complete with a 3-D effect, can be viewed on the Web site http://www.MichaelJacksonLive.com beginning Wednesday, AEG said in a statement. Fans have until Aug. 14 to take the ticket offer.

For those opting for a refund, all service charges paid to authorized ticket sellers will be included, the statement said.

Fans spent more than $90 million on tickets, which were priced between $82 and $124, though some went for hundreds of dollars on Internet auction sites.

G8 countries condemn North Korea's missile tests

TRIESTE, Italy (AP) — Foreign ministers from Group of Eight countries on Friday condemned North Korea's nuclear and missile tests and urged the country to return to the negotiating table.

After its nuclear explosion last month, the United Nations slapped sanctions on Pyongyang.

"We condemn in the strongest terms the nuclear tests" in May, and the April launch using ballistic missile technology, "which constitute a threat to regional peace and stability," the G-8 foreign ministers said in a statement during their meeting in Italy.

They welcomed the U.N. Security Council resolution calling on all 192 U.N. members to inspect North Korean vessels on the high seas, "if they have information that provides reasonable grounds to believe that the cargo" contains banned weapons or material to make them, and if approval is given by the country whose flag the ship sails under.

Blair 'will cooperate' with widened British Iraq inquiry

LONDON (AFP) — Former premier Tony Blair will cooperate "fully" with a new British probe into the Iraq war, officials said Wednesday, as the government conceded the inquiry will have the power to apportion blame.

Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the investigation, announced last week to fulfil a pledge for a probe once British troops have mostly left Iraq, would be independent and able to criticise whoever it wants.

"It can praise or blame whoever it likes. It is free to write its own report at every stage," Miliband said, in what was widely seen as a concession on the remit of the probe originally intended only to learn lessons from the war.

He was speaking during a parliamentary debate sparked by an opposition call to rethink the inquiry's terms of reference. Concerns were raised about how much of the inquiry would be conducted behind doors and whether witnesses would be under oath.

Brown seeks fresh start but speaker fuels splits

LONDON (AFP) — Prime Minister Gordon Brown pledged a "new chapter" Tuesday after MPs replaced their scandal-tainted speaker, but the choice sparked fresh splits among them reeling from a damaging expenses row.

Struggling to draw a line under weeks of political turmoil, members of parliament elected John Bercow in a secret ballot on Monday night, to succeed Michael Martin, the first speaker to be forced out in over 300 years.

But critics say that Brown's ruling Labour party only backed him for tactical reasons ahead of elections it expects to lose next year, noting that Bercow is deeply unpopular within his own oppposition Conservatives.

"It was a vindictive political act on behalf of the Labour Party towards what they see to be the future Conservative government and the British people," said Tory MP Nadine Dorries.

Anglo American, Xstrata mull merger

LONDON (AP) — Shares in mining company Anglo American PLC jumped 6 percent on Monday after Anglo-Swiss rival Xstrata PLC made a preliminary approach seeking a merger. Xstrata's shares dropped 4 percent.

Anglo American confirmed the move made by Xstrata over the weekend, saying the "situation is at a very preliminary stage and there is no certainty that a transaction will be forthcoming."

Xstrata, which last year failed in a bid to take over another rival, Lonmin PLC, said on Sunday that a merger of the two companies was "highly compelling" and would lead to substantial cost savings.

Bringing the two companies together would create a group worth $68 billion based on Friday's closing share prices, ranking the combined company behind BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto.

Mining companies have been hit by a slump in demand in recent months, leading Xstrata to make last year's hostile 5 billion pound ($8.9 billion) takeover approach for Lonmin.

Iraqi police say bombing has al-Qaida signature

BAGHDAD (AP) — Police and rescue crews sifted through the rubble of a mosque and dozens of flattened mud-brick homes on Sunday looking for survivors of the worst attack in Iraq this year — a truck bombing blamed on al-Qaida that killed 72 people.

Political parties said Saturday's attack against a Shiite mosque near the ethnically tense city of Kirkuk was aimed at destabilizing Iraq, which is slowly trying to return to normal after years of ethnic and religious bloodletting.

The bombing, which wounded 163 people, came as U.S. troops have been withdrawing from Iraqi cities as part of a security agreement that requires all troops to leave the country by the end of 2011. There are concerns that violence will spike after U.S. troops fully pull out of the cities by a June 30 deadline.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has called for calm and said there will be no delay in the U.S. withdrawal. He warned over the weekend that there could be attempts to destabilize the country.

Car bomb in Spain's Basque country kills policeman

MADRID (AP) — A powerful bomb exploded Friday near the Basque city of Bilbao, killing a policeman in an attack blamed on the separatist group ETA.

In what appeared to be the first ETA killing since December, a bomb attached to the underside of the officer's car detonated as he started the engine in a parking lot in the town of Arrigorriaga, the Basque regional interior ministry said. ETA often uses that technique.

Amateur video footage obtained by AP Television News showed flames shooting out of the vehicle.

The victim was a member of the Spanish National Police, said the Basque interior minister Rodolfo Ares.

Basque President Patxi Lopez, a Socialist handling his first bombing since taking power in May, blamed ETA and vowed to crush the group.

Mideast peace possible only if imposed: author

JERUSALEM (AFP) — A Middle East peace deal is possible only if it is forced on Israelis and Palestinians by US-led efforts, one of Israel's best-known authors has written as he hit out at a speech by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Netanyahu's speech on Sunday "tells us between its contorted lines that there will be no peace here if it is not forced upon us," David Grossman wrote remarks published on Wednesday in the liberal Haaretz daily.

"It is not easy to admit it, but it seems increasingly that this is the choice Israelis and Palestinians face."

"A just and secure peace -- forced on the parties through firm international involvement, led by the United States -- or war, possibly more difficult and bitter than those that came before it."

Election battles turn into street fights in Iran

TEHRAN, Iran – Opponents of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad clashed with police in the heart of Iran's capital Saturday, pelting them with rocks and setting fires in the worst unrest in Tehran in a decade. They accused the hard-line president of using fraud to steal election victory from his reformist rival.

The brazen and angry confrontations — including stunning scenes of masked rioters tangling with black-clad police — pushed the self-styled reformist movement closer to a possible moment of truth: Whether to continue defying Iran's powerful security forces or, as they often have before, retreat into quiet dismay and frustration over losing more ground to the Islamic establishment.

But for at least one day, the tone and tactics were more combative than at any time since authorities put down student-led protests in 1999. Young men hurled stones and bottles at anti-riot units and mocked Ahmadinejad as an illegitimate leader. The reformists' new hero, Mir Hossein Mousavi, declared himself the true winner of Friday's presidential race and urged backers to resist a government based on "lies and dictatorship."

Top Republican rips Democrats for Sotomayor 'rush'

WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans accused Democrats Wednesday of moving too hastily on Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination, warning that the decision could imperil her confirmation as they pressed the judge for more documents from her past.

The top Senate Republican blasted Democrats' decision to schedule mid-July hearings for Sotomayor's confirmation, while another senior GOP senator floated the possibility of a filibuster by angry Republicans against President Barack Obama's first high court nominee.

"They want the shortest timeline in recent memory for someone with the longest judicial record in recent memory," said Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the minority leader. "This violates basic standards of fairness and it prevents senators from carrying out one of their most solemn duties."

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, a member of the Judiciary Committee, said many Republicans may end up voting against Sotomayor because they feel they haven't had time to learn enough about her. Others, he said, might decide to protest what they see as unfair treatment with stalling tactics in the Judiciary Committee or on the Senate floor to block her from being confirmed.

Billionaire Hariri favored to be Lebanon's next PM

BEIRUT (AP) — Saad Hariri, the billionaire businessman and son of a slain former prime minister, is emerging as the favorite to lead Lebanon's government after his pro-Western coalition fended off a serious challenge from Iranian-backed Hezbollah in weekend elections.

Legislative allies said Tuesday that Hariri, the 39-year-old moderate leader of the largest parliamentary bloc in the winning coalition, is expected to replace his ally Fuad Saniora.

Hariri's alliance dealt a major setback to Hezbollah and its Syrian and Iranian backers in Sunday's vote, gaining 68 seats to the opposing group's 57. The other three seats in the 128-member parliament went to independents.

Fears of Iran gaining more influence in the Arab country swayed Christian swing voters away from the coalition led by the Shiite militant group and helped deliver the election victory to the U.S.-aligned camp. Analysts and voters said Tuesday that President Barack Obama's outreach to the Muslim world also helped blunt the appeal of the militants.