The Fourth of July celebrations will undoubtedly bring forth pronouncements that U.S. troops in Iraq are defending the freedoms expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, most of the “freedoms” that Americans will be celebrating today are antithetical to the genuine principles of freedom enunciated in the Declaration.

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Iraq's Kurdish and Sunni leaders have complained that they have not yet seen the draft oil legislation which is to be put to parliament.

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Ehud Olmert, Israel's prime minister, has named his ally Haim Ramon, who was convicted of sexual misconduct this year, deputy prime minister.

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China's envoy to the United Nations has urged the international community to boost diplomatic efforts to end the nuclear standoff with Iran.

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Scientists said that a lake in southern Chile that mysteriously disappeared last month developed a crack which allowed the water to drain away.

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The US president has refused to rule out granting a full pardon to a former White House aide convicted of perjury.

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Bill Gates has been replaced as the world’s richest by a Mexican telecoms tycoon, according to a Mexican financial website.

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Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist held hostage in the Gaza Strip since March has been released, saying it was "an amazing thing to be free".