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JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa celebrated the 90th birthday on Friday of Nelson Mandela, a symbol of reconciliation in a nation now torn by doubts and nostalgia for his leadership.

KATHMANDU (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters calling for independence for Tibet protested in the Nepali capital of Kathmandu on Friday, and police said they took 118 demonstrators into custody for organizing anti-China demonstrations.

GENEVA (Reuters) - From banana imports to rules for protecting the product names, officials and diplomats were working on Friday on a range of issues ahead of next week's make-or-break ministerial trade negotiations.

VIENNA (Reuters) - Senior U.S. and Indian officials met the International Atomic Energy Agency chief on Friday and briefed IAEA governors to resolve questions about India's plan for expanded nuclear inspections.

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) - Malaysian opposition figure Anwar Ibrahim has given details of his alibi to the police investigating a sodomy allegation, his lawyer said on Friday, as he faced mounting pressure to provide a DNA sample.

MOGADISHU (Reuters) - Gunmen shot dead three Somali elders on Friday who were helping local aid workers distribute food in a refugee camp outside Mogadishu, witnesses said.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel accused six Arabs on Friday of trying to set up an al Qaeda cell in Israel and said one of them had proposed attacking helicopters used during a visit by President George W. Bush.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Military-ruled Myanmar has ratified a charter by Southeast Asian nations that aims to create an economic bloc of half a billion people, Singapore's foreign minister said in remarks published on Friday.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran's chief nuclear negotiator said he hoped for "good and constructive" talks when he left Tehran on Friday to meet world powers in Geneva on the country's disputed nuclear program.

TUNCELI, Turkey (Reuters) - Two Turkish soldiers and two Kurdish guerrillas were killed in clashes in southeast Turkey over the past 24 hours, security sources said on Friday.

KOHAT, Pakistan (Reuters) - A Pakistani army helicopter killed five Taliban militants on Friday in a restive northwestern town, taking the death toll in three days of fighting to 13, government and military officials said.

BEIJING (Reuters) - World powers should heed the worries of African and Arab states in responding to genocide charges against Sudan's president, China's envoy on Darfur said, warning that the court steps could imperil peace efforts.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Tropical Storm Kalmaegi slammed into China's southeastern coast on Friday, after killing six people in neighboring Taiwan.

BEIJING (Reuters) - Having deployed surface-to-air missiles, readied a 100,000-strong anti-terrorism force and instituted a series of security checkpoints, Beijing is adding Chinese residents as another layer in its shield to protect Olympics venues against possible attack.

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand feared a spike in violence in its Muslim deep south on Friday after an unknown rebel group announced a "ceasefire" dismissed by some analysts as a hoax that might enrage real fighters on the ground.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice plans to host peace talks in Washington with Israeli and Palestinian negotiators on July 30, Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said on Thursday.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Top U.S. Air Force officials sought to spend millions of dollars in counterterrorism funds on "comfort capsules" for military planes used by senior officers and civilian leaders, The Washington Post reported on Friday.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The International Criminal Court's top prosecutor said on Thursday he would not drop his call for the arrest on genocide charges of Sudan's president, but the United Nations said the court must weigh the impact of its work.

SINGAPORE (Reuters) - An Australian journalist was arrested in Singapore on drug-related charges, the Australian government said on Friday, and faces up to 20 years in jail and 15 strokes of the cane if convicted.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The new U.S. military command for Africa is unlikely to foster the security required to bring badly needed development to the impoverished continent, according to a study released on Thursday.