Jennifer Aniston to appear on '30 Rock'

Jennifer Aniston will make a return visit to NBC, the TV network where she became a breakout star on "Friends."
She is currently filming a guest appearance on the network's comedy, "30 Rock," Aniston publicist Stephen Huvane confirms.
There were no immediate details on Aniston's role or the episode's air date. The series, which begins its third season in October, stars Tiny Fey and Alec Baldwin. Aniston's fellow "Friends" co-star, David Schwimmer, had a "30 Rock" guest shot last season.
Since "Friends" ended four years ago, Aniston has concentrated on films.

Iraq signs $3B oil deal with China

Iraq has signed its first major oil deal with a foreign company since the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime, a spokesman for the Iraqi Oil Ministry said Saturday.

It was the first time in more than 35 years that Iraq has allowed foreign oil companies to do business inside its borders.
The contract with the China National Petroleum Corporation could be worth up to $3 billion. It would allow the CNPC to develop an oil field in southern Iraq's Wasit province for about 20 years, said Oil Ministry spokesman Assim Jihad.
Iraq's Cabinet must still approve the contract, but Jihad said that would happen soon, and work could start within a few months.
The Chinese company will provide technical advisers, oil workers and equipment to develop the al-Ahdab oil field, providing fuel for the al-Zubaidiya power plant in Wasit, southeast of Baghdad, bordering Iran, Jihad said.

Once development begins, the field is expected to start producing a preliminary amount of 25,000 barrels of oil a day and an estimated constant daily amount of 125,000 barrels after three years, he said.
Iraq currently produces about 2.5 million barrels a day, 2 million of which are exported daily, Jihad said. That is close to its status before the U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam in 2003, but below its levels prior to the Persian Gulf War in 1991.

UK economy 'at 60-year low,' minister warns

The UK is facing the worst economic conditions for 60 years and the current crisis will be "more profound and long-lasting" than expected, British finance minister Alistair Darling warned Saturday.

Darling's comments are the Government's grimmest assessment yet of the situation, and come after a Bank of England policymaker warned that unemployment could hit two million by Christmas, the UK's Press Association reported.
Darling said that the economic conditions faced by the UK and the rest of the world "are arguably the worst they've been in 60 years," adding: "I think it's going to be more profound and long-lasting than people thought."
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Darling admitted that UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown's ruling Labour Party would face a tough job persuading voters that they deserved another term in office.

Thai PM resists pressure to quit

Thai Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej vowed Saturday not to resign despite growing pressure for him to step down as anti-government protesters occupied his headquarters for a fifth day and disrupted rail and air service in some of the country's most popular tourist destinations.

Samak's refusal to bow to protesters came ahead of an evening meeting with King Bhumibol Adulyadej at his seaside palace in Hua Hin, south of Bangkok. Bhumibol is a constitutional monarch with no formal political role but has repeatedly brought calm in times of turbulence during his six decades on the throne.
"I, the prime minister, have come to office in the appropriate way and I won't resign," Samak said during a televised ceremony for the royal family. In an apparent effort to end speculation that the king would seek his resignation, Samak said he had requested the meeting to brief the monarch on the political situation.
"I will not back down. I will rule this country and will lead it through all of the problems," said Samak, noting that his party soundly won December elections restoring democracy after a 2006 military coup. He also defended himself against critics who say he should not have let protesters overrun the government's seat of power.

McCain taps Alaska Gov. Palin as vice president pick

Sen. John McCain announced Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his vice presidential candidate Friday, calling her "the running mate who can best help me shake up Washington."

"She's exactly who this country needs to help me fight the same old Washington politics of me first and country second," the presumptive Republican nominee said at a Dayton, Ohio, rally of about 15,000 supporters, who welcomed the surprise pick of the relatively unknown politician with cheers and flags.

"She's got the grit, integrity, good sense and fierce devotion to the common good that is exactly what we need in Washington today," McCain said.
Palin, 44, described herself as a fighter against corruption and a bipartisan reformer in her first appearance as a candidate for vice president, an office she said she never expected to seek.
"I was just your average hockey mom in Alaska" before getting involved in politics, she said. "When I found corruption there, I fought it hard and brought the offenders to account."
Palin told the crowd, "To have been chosen brings a great challenge. I know that it will demand the best that I have to give, and I promise nothing less."

Quake rattles southwestern China

A 6.1 magnitude earthquake struck China's southwestern Sichuan province Saturday, state media said.
The earthquake hit 31 miles (50 kilometers) southeast of Panzhihua city in the southwestern corner of Sichuan at 4:30 p.m., the official Xinhua News Agency said.
A duty officer at the State Seismology Bureau said the quake occurred in a mountainous area and there were no reports of casualties or aftershocks. He did not want to give his name, as is common with officials in China.
The bureau is still gathering information, he said.
On May 12, a 7.9 magnitude earthquake in northern Sichuan killed nearly 70,000 people and left 5 million homeless. The region has been hit by scores of aftershocks, keeping people there on edge.

Israel to release Palestinian prisoners as Rice visits

Israel on Monday will release nearly 200 Palestinian prisoners, including two convicted murders, according to the government.

The prisoner release -- which will coincide with a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- is a "confidence-building measure" and an effort to "energize the peace process" with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, according to Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev.
The Israeli Cabinet approved the release a week ago, after outgoing Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Abbas agreed on a list of names.

Bolt helps Jamaica smash world relay record

Sprint king Usain Bolt won his third gold medal of the Games as he helped Jamaica win the men's 4x100 meter relay gold medal, shattering the world record in the process.

Bolt, already the Olympic champion and new world record holder in both the 100 and 200 meters, ran the third leg as Jamaica powered home in a time of 37.10 seconds, nearly a full second ahead of Trinidad and Tobago, for whom Richard Thompson was adding to his individual 100m silver medal.
The Japanese team finished strongly to claim a surprise bronze.

Madrid plane burst into flames after runway skid

A Spanair MD-82 airliner was not on fire as it took off from Madrid's airport but lifted off slightly into the air, fell back to the ground and only caught fire after skidding off the side of the runway, a source familiar with the investigation told CNN Friday.

A total of 153 people were killed.
Initially there were indications an engine might have caught fire as the plane was taking off, but the source said airport video shows the plane lifting off, veering sharply right, and then dragging or skidding down the right side of the runway. There was a cloud of dust, the source said, followed by a fireball.

Coalition troops kill 30 militants in Afghan fight

U.S.-led coalition and Afghan troops killed 30 Taliban militants, including a commander, in a battle in western Afghanistan early Friday, according to a coalition spokesman.
Meanwhile, in eastern Afghanistan, a soldier in the U.S.-led coalition was killed in a roadside bombing, the U.S. military said in a statement that offered no further details.
The battle in western Afghanistan began when the troops, on their way to detain a Taliban commander, were ambushed by insurgents along a road in the Shindad district of Herat province, the military spokesman said.
In addition to the 30 militants killed, five were taken prisoner, the spokesman said.
A cache of weapons and roadside bomb-making materials were seized, he said.

Bombings rock Pakistan ahead of elections

The Taliban claimed responsibility Thursday for dual suicide bombings at a Pakistani military arms factory that police said killed 66 people and wounded more than 70 others.

The spokesman for Pakistan's Taliban, Maulvi Omar, said his group, Tehrik-e-Taliban, was responsible for Thursday's attacks.
Two suicide bombers blew themselves up near the gates of the military arms factory in Wah, near Rawalpindi, where Pakistan's military is based. The attack took place during a shift change at one of several factories that employ several thousand people.
It was the second deadly suicide attack in the country since President Pervez Musharraf resigned Monday.

China accused over iTunes outage

Customers in China of Apple's iTunes online music store were unable to download songs this week, and an activist group said Beijing was trying to block access to a new Tibet-themed album.

In Internet forums, iTunes users complained they had been unable to download music since Monday. That was a day after the Art of Peace Foundation announced the release of "Songs for Tibet," with music by Sting, Alanis Morissette, Garbage and others, and a 15-minute talk by the Dalai Lama, the exiled Tibetan leader.
Michael Wohl, executive director of the New York City-based group, said he believed the album was the reason for the iTunes interruption, though he had no proof.

Age of Chinese gymnasts investigated

The International Olympic Committee has asked gymnastics officials to look into whether China's women's gymnastics team used underaged competitors, an IOC spokeswoman said Friday.

The committee asked the International Gymnastics Federation to clarify the situation, said spokeswoman Giselle Davis. She said she wouldn't call it a formal investigation.
The Chinese women's gymnastics team won a gold medal in a team competition at the Summer Olympics Games. Five members won medals in individual competitions.

Obama notifies candidates on shortlist

Sen. Barack Obama called some people on his shortlist for the vice presidential slot Thursday night to tell them he had not selected them as a running mate, a highly placed Democratic Party source said.

The source did not say which people got the call.
Obama has told some other potential running mates over the last few weeks that he would not be choosing them.
Obama is expected to appear at a rally Saturday with his vice presidential choice in Springfield, Illinois.

NASA warns about debris from destroyed rocket

NASA says it destroyed an unmanned suborbital rocket shortly after a failed launch early this morning from an island off the Virginia coast.
There were no injuries or property damage, according to a NASA statement, but the agency warned that debris from the explosion could be hazardous.
NASA believes most of the wreckage fell into the Atlantic Ocean off Wallops Island.
The rocket, made by Alliant Tech Systems of Salt Lake City, was carrying two experiments

Mel C to become last Spice mom

Singer Melanie Chisholm says she is expecting a baby which will make her the last of the former Spice Girls to become a mother.
The 34-year-old Mel C announced the news Friday on her Web site.
The father is Thomas Starr, her partner for six years.
Among the other Spice Girls, Victoria Beckham has three sons, Melanie "Mel B" Brown has two daughters, Geri Halliwell has one daughter and Emma Bunton has a son.

Karadzic to enter war crimes plea next week

A plea in the case of Radovan Karadzic, the former Bosnian Serb leader accused of war crimes, will be entered next week, the tribunal at The Hague said on Friday.

Karadzic did not enter a plea during his initial appearance on July 31 but will have to on August 29. And if he doesn't enter a plea, the pre-trial judge will do so, the court said.
Karadzic is being tried by the U.N.'s International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
He is charged with 11 counts including genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes stemming from the 1992-95 war in Bosnia-Herzegovina, when he was president of a breakaway Serb republic.

Russian troops 'putting on peacekeeper hats'

Russian troops have begun a modest withdrawal from Georgia, but are "just changing hats" to make themselves look like peacekeepers, Georgia's Interior Ministry said Friday.

Russia says its remaining forces are peacekeepers who will have pulled back into buffer zones outside two breakaway Georgian provinces, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, by late Friday.
Russia also accused Georgia of violating a cease-fire, partly by conducting operations into South Ossetia earlier this week. Georgia denied the accusation.

Glitter fears for safety after UK return

Former rock star and convicted child molester Gary Glitter fears for his safety after returning to the UK, his lawyer says.

British police met Glitter at London's Heathrow airport Friday after he was denied entry to Thailand and Hong Kong, an airport official confirmed.
Glitter, born Paul Gadd, served nearly three years in a Vietnam prison on a child molestation conviction and was deported Tuesday from Ho Chi Minh City.
Glitter, 64, initially tried to enter Thailand instead of continuing on to the UK but when he was barred he flew to Hong Kong, where he was also denied entry.

Al Qaeda branch claims Algeria bombings that killed 60

The North African branch of al Qaeda claimed responsibility Friday for devastating bombings in Algeria that killed up to 60 people this week, in a statement carried by an Arab TV news station.

The group described the attacks on a police academy, a military barracks and a Canadian engineering firm as retaliation against security forces for their crackdown on militants, described as "Mujahedeen," or holy warriors.
The attacks "follow the perfidious operation, where a number of young Mujahedeen have been killed," said a man identified as Salah Abu Mohammed, an al Qaeda spokesman, in a tape delivered to the Al-Jazeera news channel.