Kabul/Bagram, Afghanistan (Reuters): Dozens of Afghan women clad in blue burqas staged an unprecedented protest on Thursday against an American air attack on a remote Afghan village believed to have killed 40 people attending a wedding.

Takahama, Japan (Reuters): Aship carrying nuclear material bound for Britain slipped out of a Japanese port under tight security on Thursday, defying protests from antinuclear activists who said the cargo could be at risk of theft or attack.

Moscow (Agencies): Russia's RIA news agency said on Thursday the crew of a Russian airliner alerted Swiss air controllers they were on a collision course with another jet 90 seconds before they crashed in mid-air, killing 71 people.

United Nations (Associated Press): The United States backed down from its threat to end the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and gave it a reprieve until July 15 after it failed twice to get immunity for American peacekeepers from the new war crimes tribunal.

West Virginia (Agencies): United States President George W. Bush paid tribute to veterans on Friday and said the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks had reminded a uniquely diverse nation that it is "a single people."

Canberra (Dow Jones): East Timor, the world's newest nation, will have trouble settling its disputed maritime boundaries with Australia, Stephen Sherlock,

Hong Kong (Agence France-Presse): Chinese energy giant PetroChina Co., has signed a framework agreement with an international consortium led by Dutch/Shell Group to build an US$8.5 billion east-west gas pipeline, it announced Thursday.

Singapore (Dow Jones): Asian currencies recouped some of their recent losses Thursday as a short-covering rally in the dollar wound down.

London (Reuters): Lleyton Hewitt clawed his way out of the deepest of holes while Tim Henman roused himself from a Wimbledon torpor to set up an explosive semifinal at the grasscourt grand slam on Thursday.

Lemont, Illinois (Reuters): The last-minute withdrawal of Tiger Woods from this week's Western Open has left the event wide open for possible winners.