In Brief

* WARNED – The al Qaeda terror network warned European nations to pull their troops out of Iraq within a month or face more attacks like the London bombings, according to an Internet statement.

“This message is the final warning to European states. We want to give you a one-month deadline to bring your soldiers out from the land of Mesopotamia (Iraq),” said the statement signed by al Qaeda group the Brigades Abu Hafs al-Masri dated July 16.The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.* NUCLEAR – A fourth round of six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament will begin in Beijing on July 26, China said, although analysts are sceptical significant progress will be made.* EMMERGENCY – Thailand’s cabinet imposed the highest state of emergency across three Muslim-majority provinces in the south that have been wracked by a deadly insurgency for the past 18 months.* SANCTIONS – President George W.Bush said he would ask Congress and allied nations to lift sanctions preventing Indian access to civil nuclear technology as part of a new bilateral partnership forged with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.* TYPHOON – Nearly one million people were evacuated as Typhoon Haitang headed for mainland China after battering Taiwan, where two people were killed and two feared dead from the storm.* FIRE – Firefighters managed to partly bring under control a massive fire in central Spain that has killed 11 volunteer firemen and destroyed vast tracts of pine forest, officials said.* PROBE – Philippine President Gloria Arroyo announced she would form a commission to investigate allegations she stole last year’s election but insisted she was right in refusing to resign.* JUSTICE – Proceedings against two “war on terror” suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will resume “as soon as possible” after a court ruling upholding the legality of trials by special military commissions, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.* TOLL – The number of confirmed dead in the July 7 bombings in London rose to 56, police said.- Nampa-AFPWe want to give you a one-month deadline to bring your soldiers out from the land of Mesopotamia (Iraq),” said the statement signed by al Qaeda group the Brigades Abu Hafs al-Masri dated July 16.The authenticity of the statement could not be verified.* NUCLEAR – A fourth round of six-party talks on North Korea’s nuclear disarmament will begin in Beijing on July 26, China said, although analysts are sceptical significant progress will be made.* EMMERGENCY – Thailand’s cabinet imposed the highest state of emergency across three Muslim-majority provinces in the south that have been wracked by a deadly insurgency for the past 18 months.* SANCTIONS – President George W.Bush said he would ask Congress and allied nations to lift sanctions preventing Indian access to civil nuclear technology as part of a new bilateral partnership forged with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.* TYPHOON – Nearly one million people were evacuated as Typhoon Haitang headed for mainland China after battering Taiwan, where two people were killed and two feared dead from the storm.* FIRE – Firefighters managed to partly bring under control a massive fire in central Spain that has killed 11 volunteer firemen and destroyed vast tracts of pine forest, officials said.* PROBE – Philippine President Gloria Arroyo announced she would form a commission to investigate allegations she stole last year’s election but insisted she was right in refusing to resign.* JUSTICE – Proceedings against two “war on terror” suspects at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba will resume “as soon as possible” after a court ruling upholding the legality of trials by special military commissions, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.* TOLL – The number of confirmed dead in the July 7 bombings in London rose to 56, police said. – Nampa-AFP