VOI - International News

Washington – Israeli and Palestinian leaders agreed to a series of direct talks on Thursday, seeking to forge the framework for a U.S.-backed peace deal within a year and end a conflict that has boiled for six decades. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who hosted the first session of talks between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, expressed confidence that this effort could succeed where so many others have failed.

Read more: Israel and Palestinians agree to more peace meetings

Baghdad – Iraq's prime minister said the end of U.S. combat operations on Tuesday restored Iraq's sovereignty and meant it stood as an equal to the United States, despite political deadlock and persistent violence. U.S. troop levels were cut to 50,000 before the partly symbolic deadline of August 31 pledged by President Barack Obama to fulfill his pledge to end the war launched by his predecessor George W. Bush.

Read more: Iraq wins independence as U.S. ends combat role: PM

Beijing - China says the death toll in a massive landslide in the country's northwest has risen to 1,467. The official Xinhua News Agency cited rescue officials as saying Tuesday that another 298 people were still missing following the Aug. 8 mudslide that crashed into Zhouqu county in Gansu province, triggered by heavy rain.

Read more: Death toll from Northwest China landslide rises to 1,467

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia will not apologize for its police’s action in arresting, handcuffing three Indonesian fisheries officers and having them wear prison garb, the country’s foreign minister, Anifah Aman, said. "If the procedure and rules of the Malaysian police are like that, we will not apologize to anyone. Other countries have to respect the law and rules prevailing in Malaysia," he said at a meeting with Malaysian and Indonesian media at Putrajaya here on Thursday.

Read more: Malaysia not to apologize for its police’s actions

San Fernando, Mexico – The bodies of 72 people believed to be migrants heading to the United States were found after a shootout on a ranch in northeast Mexico, officials said. Marines found the bodies of 58 men and 14 women after a clash with armed attackers in Tamaulipas state in which one marine and three gunmen were killed, the military said. An injured Ecuadoran man claiming to be the sole survivor of the massacre had been placed under federal protection, a navy source told AFP, requesting anonymity.

Read more: 72 bodies, likely migrants to US, found on Mexico ranch

Manila  –  Philippine police conceded Tuesday they made blunders in ending a bus hijacking as outrage grew over the bloody assault played out on live television that left eight Hong Kong tourists dead. Commandos fired dozens of bullets into the bus and smashed its windows with sledgehammers as they tried to storm it, but were then forced to wait outside helplessly for over an hour as the hijacker used his captives as human shields.

Read more: Mayhem in Manila: 9 killed on hijacked tourist bus