Rehnquist says he will not retire from Supreme Court

WASHINGTON -- Squelching rumors of his retirement, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said Thursday he will continue heading the court as long his health permits. "I'm not about to announce my retirement," he said. Rehnquist released the statement hours after being released from an Arlington, Va., hospital after being treated for two days with a fever.

Suicide bombers strike near Green Zone

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Suicide bombers struck near the heavily fortified Green Zone on Thursday. Iraqi and U.S. forces announced some rare successes: Capturing one suicide bomber before he could detonate his explosive belt, and arresting a key suspect in the kidnap-slaying of Egypt's top envoy to Iraq. The coordinated attacks by a suicide car bomber and two men strapped with explosives occurred near a police station 150 feet from the Green Zone, site of the U.S. Embassy and major Iraqi government offices.

Rescuers pull five to safety after NYC building collapse

NEW YORK -- Rescuers pulled a 7-month-old baby and four other victims to safety Thursday after a former supermarket under demolition suddenly collapsed, sending a shower of rubble onto a Manhattan sidewalk and street. The baby girl was expected to survive, and none of the pedestrians' injuries were life-threatening, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said. One person suffered two broken arms and two broken legs.

Death toll in Pakistan train crash rises to 133

GHOTKI, Pakistan -- Railway workers cleared debris and repaired damaged train tracks in southern Pakistan on Thursday, a day after the country's worst rail crash in more than a decade left at least 133 people dead. Abdul Aziz, a senior official with Pakistan Railways, said Thursday that the death toll had climbed to 133 after two more bodies were recovered and three people died at a hospital.

Envoys meet ahead of N. Korean arms talks

SEOUL, South Korea -- Negotiators from Japan, South Korea and the U.S. met Thursday to coordinate strategy for talks this month to pressure North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, after the North's leader reportedly said a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula was his father's dying wish. North Korea agreed Saturday to end a 13-month boycott of the talks, after being assured by the chief U.S. nuclear envoy that Washington recognized its sovereignty.

-- From wire reports

Under heavy security, France celebrates Bastille Day

PARIS -- Parisians thronged the Champs-Elysees avenue Thursday to celebrate Bastille Day by watching a colorful military parade while France topped their national holiday by snatching a moment of Gallic glory from American Lance Armstrong in the Tour de France. With security tightened because of the perceived risk of terrorist attacks, President Jacques Chirac welcomed the guest of honor, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, to the official reviewing stand at the Place de la Concorde. Bastille Day commemorates the 1789 storming of the former Bastille prison in Paris by angry crowds, sparking the revolution that rid France of its monarchy. Protecting the annual parade has been a high priority since a gunman tried to shoot Chirac in a July 14 motorcade in 2002. Police were stationed at intervals of several yards between the presidential Elysee Palace and the parade.

United States seeks to strengthen sanctions against al-Qaida and Taliban

UNITED NATIONS -- The United States on Wednesday moved to strengthen U.N. sanctions against al-Qaida and the Taliban, circulating a draft resolution that would spell out in far greater detail those who could be punished. U.N. sanctions currently require all 191 U.N. member states to impose a travel ban and arms embargo against those "associated with" Osama bin Laden's terror network and the former Afghan rulers and to freeze their financial assets. The resolution dedicates almost half a page to better defining those groups and individuals who should fall under the sanctions regime.