Iran says to give crushing response to possible U.S. attack-Iran stocks hit all-time high despite sanctions

Tehran Stock Market

An Iranian military officer said Monday that Iran's armed forces have prepared a crushing plan to respond to any possible aggression of the U.S. or the Zionist regime of Israel, the official IRNA news agency reported.

Political Deputy of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC) Yadollah Javani made the remarks reacting to the Sunday statement of the U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen, the report said.

Floods cut water supply to 300,000 in northeastern China

Locals transport their belongings to a temporary shelter after floods hit Wuhan, Hubei province on July 27, 201

Heavy rains damaged water pipelines supplying an industrial city in northeastern China’s Jilin province, cutting drinking water to about 300,000 residents, the Xinhua news agency reported today.

Officials in Tonghua, about 50km from the North Korean border, could not say when water would be restored and were supplying residents with bottled water and food.

Russia declares emergency as wildfires kill 34

A firefighter works to extinguish a fire in a pine forest outside Voronezh, Russia today August 2, 2010

Russia declared a state of emergency in seven regions today after wildfires killed at least 34 people and left thousands homeless in the worst heat wave since records began 130 years ago.

Fires raging across European Russia have destroyed homes, forests and fields, already scorched for weeks by an unprecedented heat wave.

Flood toll in China's northeast rises to 100

About 37,000 houses have been swept away while waters damaged 125,000 others

Floods sweeping through northeastern China have left more more than 100 people dead or missing after 10 days of downpour, state media said Sunday,

Floods have cut off roads, left villages inaccessible and knocked out communications and water supplies in the hardest-hit areas, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

About 37,000 houses have been swept away while waters damaged 125,000 others, the report said. About 592,000 residents have been evacuated from waterlogged areas.

Homemade ice cream in just 20 minutes

Speedy: The instant ice cream maker, on sale at Lakeland

Homemade ice cream may sound like a laborious way to satisfy impatient children on a sunny day.

But now a gadget is promising to whip up a batch of additive-free ice cream in only 20 minutes - and help mothers beat the pester power of their offspring.

Two mine accidents in China leave 17 dead, 104 injured, 24 trapped

An injured boy receives medical treatment in a hospital in Yicheng, north China's Shangxi Province, July 31, 2010. A blast occured near the employees' dormitory area of Liugou Coal Mine of Yangquan Coal Industry (Group) Co. Ltd in Linfen City on Saturday, leaving 17 people dead and more than 100 others injured. Seven seriously wounded ones have been out of danger, as all injured people were sent for medical treatment.

The death toll in an explosion at a coal mine in Linfen City of north China's Shanxi Province early Saturday has risen to 17 after another two bodies were found, local authorities said.

The blast at Liugou Coal Mine of Yicheng County also left 104 persons injured, seven of them seriously, as of 11 p.m. Saturday, said Wang Jianshe, head of the county's People's Hospital, where all the injured were admitted.

All the injured are in stable condition, Wang said.

Russia Mobilizes Army to Fight Deadly Fires-Dozens dead in Russian forest fires-Wildfires wreak havoc across Russia-Scorched Land: 25 killed as raging fires destroy homes, forests

Russian wildfires still spreading

A man walks at the court yard of his house after it was burned by a forest fire near the town of Voronezh some 500 km (294 miles) south of Moscow, Saturday, July 31, 2010. Russia sent the army on Saturday to battle wildfires that have killed at least 28 people and were threatening dozens of towns and villages. Thick smoke and ash slowed firefighting efforts and thousands of people were being evacuated.

Firefighters have brought wildfires under control in some parts of Russia, but new fires are breaking out elsewhere.

The wildfires that began threatening much of western Russia last week have killed 28 people and destroyed or damaged 77 towns or villages. Thousands have been evacuated from areas in the path of encroaching flames.

In the southern Voronezh region, one of the worst hit, officials said Sunday the fires are under control and no longer threaten any population centers.

But Emergencies Ministry spokeswoman Yelena Chernova said new fires are breaking out elsewhere, particularly in the Mordovia region and around the industrial city of Togliatti.

Much of Russia is suffering a severe drought in the hottest summer since record keeping began 130 years ago.

Fergie in fresh cash crisis after struggling to pay £6,500 debt to the Queen... for stamps

Fresh cash crisis: The financially challenged Duchess of York faces a £6,000 postal bill from the Queen

The Duchess of York was facing fresh embarrassment today after running up a bill of £6,500 using the Queen’s special mail service.

The cash-strapped Duchess, 50, used the service to send out signed photographs and gifts to friends at home and abroad - and was warned she might be barred from using it further unless her debt was cleared.

Hundreds of British troops launch Operation Black Prince in fresh surge to clear Taliban

Talking tactics: Troops conducting final planning preparations for Operation TOR SHEZADA (Black Prince)

British troops launched a massive push against Taliban insurgents yesterday.

In the biggest offensive of the summer, hundreds set out by land and air on Operation Tor Shezada - Black Prince - before dawn.

Led by 1st Battalion, The Duke Of Lancaster's Regiment, the operation aims to seize the rebel-held town of Saidabad in Nad-e Ali district in southern Helmand Province.

BP used excessive dispersants in Gulf oil spill expose toxic in seas.

New documents released by a congressional subcommittee indicate that Coast Guard officials allowed BP to use excessive amounts of chemical dispersants in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP used the chemicals to break up oil after the April 20 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion sent millions of gallons of crude gushing into the Gulf.

The 'Angel of Death': Special Forces' latest weapon is biggest flying howitzer in the world

Hell in the sky: The AC-130 Hercules - aka 'Angel of Death' fires its deadly load

This is the ‘Angel of Death’, the world’s biggest flying artillery gun – and the latest weapon being used by British and US Special Forces to defeat Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

Our exclusive picture shows the AC-130 Hercules aircraft unleashing its awesome firepower on the enemy 2,000ft below.

From a distance the plane – nicknamed the ‘Angel of Death’ because of the shape that its anti-missile flares take when they are fired – looks like a normal troop carrier.

But the aircraft, which is rarely deployed in daylight, carries a powerful Howitzer 105mm field gun which can ‘vaporise’ targets at a range of 1,200 yards.

Chelsea Clinton Weds at Exclusive NY Estate-America's 'Royal' Wedding-Clintons on Eve of Chelsea's Wedding

Bill and Hillary Clinton 'so happy' as they see their daughter Chelsea marry in front of 500 guests

Happy family: (left to right) Marc Mezvinsky with Hillary Clinton, his bride Chelsea and father-in-law Bill Clinton after the couple's wedding

Chelsea Clinton has finally become a married woman, saying her vows in an idyllic gazebo decked with white roses under the late afternoon summer sun.

The groom was ‘a bundle of nerves’ and the father of the bride ‘so emotional’ he considered just getting his daughter down the aisle was ‘a major accomplishment’. As for the bride, she had, she told friends jokingly, rather hoped for a small wedding.

But it’s hard to be low-key when your big day is hailed as America’s ‘Royal wedding’, and last-minute preparations include shutting down a chunk of federal airspace, with the secret service making sure access roads to the venue are secure.

Israel warns Hamas after rocket fire

Israel's prime minister has issued a stern warning to Gaza's Hamas rulers after weekend rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory on two Israeli communities.

The attacks caused damage but no injuries.

Benjamin Netanyahu told his Cabinet on Sunday that Israel holds the Islamic militant group Hamas responsible for the rare flare-up in violence. He said Israel would continue "to use all means" to protect its citizens.

No Palestinian group took responsibility for the attacks.

Israel responded with a series of airstrikes on militant targets in Gaza, including one that killed a senior commander of the Hamas military wing.