AFP - Nigerian armed group MEND threatened Saturday to thwart a 10-billion-dollar trans-Saharan gas pipeline project linking vast reserves in Nigeria to Europe.

AP - Vice President Joe Biden celebrated the Fourth of July with his son and other American troops in Iraq on Saturday, a day after warning Iraqi leaders that U.S. assistance will be jeopardized if the country reverts to ethnic and sectarian violence.

AFP - US Vice President Joe Biden said on Saturday that America's role in Iraq was switching from deep military engagement to one of diplomatic support, ahead of a complete withdrawal from the country in 2011.

E! Online - Law enforcement sources have reportedly recovered a potent anesthetic from inside Michael Jackson's Holmby Hills home.

Reuters - Pakistani helicopter gunships attacked Taliban militants on Saturday in a northwestern region where a military helicopter crashed the previous day killing 26 soldiers on board, a government official said.

Reuters - More than half a million fans from around the world applied for 17,500 free tickets to Michael Jackson's public memorial service next week, organizers said on Friday as a massive security operation got underway.