A strong earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 jolted northeast Japan on Sunday, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. The quake, at 3:54 a.m. local time Saturday, was also felt in Tokyo.

The anti-Muslim extremist who confessed to a bombing and youth camp massacre that killed 77 people in Norway has told investigators he also considered attacking other targets linked to the government or the prime minister's Labor Party, police said Saturday.

At least five civilians were killed on Saturday when Syrian forces shelled the eastern city of Deir al-Zor, an activists' group said, in the latest attempt by authorities to crush protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.

The Philippine coast guard and fishermen have rescued more than 140 people who were on board a passenger ship that dangerously tilted in choppy waters in the central Philippines.

The death toll rose to 25 on July 30 from two separate coal mining accidents on the same day in Ukraine's eastern industrial district, notorious for its poor safety standards.

At least 13 people were killed and five others were injured in a sectarian-motivated attack in Pakistan's southwest city of Quetta on the morning of July 30, said hospital sources.

A total of 189,033 people had been evacuated to safe areas in the southern island province of Hainan as of early morning of July 30 after tropical storm Nock-Ten landed on the island late afternoon of July 29, China's flood control authorities said on July 30.

NATO says it has disabled three Libyan state TV satellite transmission dishes in the capital, Tripoli, through a "precision air strike".

Representatives from the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) concluded on July 29 their two-day exploratory talks aiming at possible resumption of the long-stalled six-party talks on Korean Peninsular denuclearization in New York, with both sides describing the discussions have been "constructive and business- like."

Tens of thousands of Egyptians gathered in Cairo's Tahrir Square on July 29, with mass participation of Islamist groups.