Jane's News:
• China overtakes Japan as No.2 economy: FX chief
BEIJING (Reuters) - China has overtaken Japan to become the world's second-largest economy, the fruit of three decades of rapid growth that has lifted hundreds of millions of people out of poverty.
• Imports slow second-quarter growth
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Economic growth slowed in the second quarter as a capital investment drive by businesses saw imports increasing at their fastest pace since the first quarter of 1984, a government report showed on Friday.
• House to take up offshore drilling reform bill
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three months after the catastrophic oil rig explosion that sent millions of gallons of crude spewing into the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. House of Representatives was poised on Friday to debate legislation clamping down on the industry's offshore drilling practices.
• U.N. rights body tells Israel to end Gaza blockade
GENEVA (Reuters) - Israel must lift its military blockade of the Gaza Strip and invite an independent, fact-finding mission to investigate its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a United Nations rights body said on Friday.
• U.S. embassy Paris says mail in scare seems harmless
PARIS (Reuters) - Two employees of the U.S. Embassy in Paris were examined for possible poisoning Friday after handling a suspicious envelope, but preliminary results indicated it was not harmful, the embassy said.
• Arizona appeals immigrant law ruling amid protests
PHOENIX (Reuters) - Arizona on Thursday appealed a judge's decision to block key parts of the state's crackdown on illegal immigrants and police in Phoenix arrested scores of activists protesting the remaining measures in the law.
• BP lawsuits over oil spill take center stage
BOISE, Idaho (Reuters) - More than 2,000 miles from the Gulf of Mexico shoreline, a panel of U.S. judges heard arguments from lawyers on Thursday on how piles of oil spill-related lawsuits against BP Plc should be merged.
• WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, U.S. says
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks may have blood on its hands, the Pentagon said on Thursday, warning its unprecedented leak of secret U.S. military files could cost lives and damage trust of allies.
• Mexican army kills kingpin in drug war coup
GUADALAJARA, Mexico (Reuters) - Mexican soldiers killed drug boss Ignacio "Nacho" Coronel on Thursday, the first major triumph this year for President Felipe Calderon's war against drug cartels but one that is unlikely to end spiraling violence.
• Four killed in Air Force plane crash in Alaska
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (Reuters) - All four crew members were killed in a U.S. Air Force cargo plane that crashed in flames while practicing for an aviation show at Elmendorf Air Force Base, the Air Force said Thursday.