NPR: World Story of the Day Podcast

A suicide bomber drove a car full of explosives into a line of Algerians waiting to apply to a police academy, killing more than 40 people in the most deadly terrorist attack in Algeria in about a decade. The attack appears to be the work of Al Qaeda in the Islamic Magreb, which has been carrying out attacks in Algeria recently on virtually a weekly basis.

Russia says it's starting to pull troops from Georgia, but there is little evidence so far of any significant withdrawal. Many Georgians believe Russia's occupation is aimed at destroying the country's infrastructure.

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has resigned to avoid facing impeachment. In a televised address, he said he wanted to spare Pakistan of an impeachment battle. The former military ruler was a key U.S. ally in the war on terrorism.

American Michael Phelps fulfills an improbable quest with a gold medal finish in his 8th race in Beijing. Phelps now has more gold medals in a single Olympics than any other athlete ever, and some are calling him history's greatest Olympian.

In the next few weeks, Gen. David Petraeus will recommend whether or not to pull more American troops out of Iraq. Lawrence Korb, who helped lead the Pentagon during the Reagan administration, and retired Lt. Col. John Nagl, who helped write the Army's latest counterinsurgency manual, discuss how many troops should leave and how fast.

Not long ago, visitors from far and wide flocked to the sumptuous Swat Valley in northwest Pakistan. But these days, Swat once seen as the 'Switzerland of Asia' stands on the front line of a conflict between the Taliban and the Pakistani government's security forces.

Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen each claim the oil-rich northern city as their own. Tensions have stalled plans for provincial elections, and some Iraqi leaders say they'd rather shed blood than compromise over Kirkuk's future.

NPR's Jackie Northam accompanies Special Forces commandos during an air assault on a suspected Taliban hideout. It's the first time a journalist has been allowed to accompany the Afghan-U.S. commandos on an operation.

The head of Georgia's national security council has said the town of Gori, just 60 miles from the capital, Tblisi, had fallen to Russian forces. Moscow has denied the claim. The conflict is over Georgia's bid to seize South Ossetia.

Georgia says it's pulling its troops out of the breakaway region of South Ossetia, the scene of fierce fighting for the past three days, and that it wants a ceasefire with Russia. But Russia says there are still Georgian forces in South Ossetia, and Russian warplanes have continued bombing targets inside Georgia. NPR's Ivan Watson in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Andrea Seabrook talk about the day's developments.

Georgia this weekend prepared for increased ground attacks as Russia sent more troops and hundreds of tanks into the breakaway province of South Ossetia on Saturday. President Bush urged Russia and Georgia Saturday morning to declare a cease fire.

The opening of the new airport in the Iraqi city of Najaf highlights plans to turn this holy city into the "Baghdad of the south" for Shiites. What does the economic boom mean for a country that is trying not to split up along ethnic and religious lines?

Nearly 50 years after revolution brought Fidel Castro to power, Cuba's infrastructure is in shambles. In a July 26 address, his brother and successor, Raul Castro, offered no new plans to liberalize the economy and warned people of even harder times ahead.

Across Iraq, farmers are struggling with the worst drought the country has faced in years. Some say it's the worst they've seen in their lifetime and not just because of the lack of rain. Some Iraqi officials blame waste and regional politics, as well as the fighting in Iraqi bread baskets.

All four members of the U.S. Table Tennis team are Chinese. One of the players spends 11 months of the year practicing in China because she says pingpong in the U.S. "is really no good."

Like many Americans, a small but growing number of Chinese are worried about what's in their food and how it's grown. The farm of a stockbroker-turned-organic-farmer is an example of how some people are taking the problem into their own hands.

Russian media reports that legendary writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn has died at the age of 89.

A work by Vincent Van Gogh was recently uncovered at a museum in the Netherlands. But it wasn't lost in some dusty corridor, it was hidden under the paint of another Van Gogh. Scientists found it by using a giant X-ray machine.

During the Cold War era, the CIA was the only U.S. spy agency. But as threats to national security have become more diverse, other government agencies such as the FBI and the DEA are recruiting foreign informants and pursuing their own intelligence leads. And that's causing competition and conflict.

As Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert announces he will step down after fall elections, tensions are rising between Israelis and Palestinians over the possession of East Jerusalem.

Japan's Cabinet approved a trial plan to trade carbon credits in an effort to lower emissions and fight global warming. Some critics believe the efforts are more publicity than policy and paint a deceptive picture of Japan's environmental status.

The British government is funding a number of Islamic schools, where children are segregated by gender and receive Islamic teaching. Proponents say it's an excellent way to expand education in the Muslim community. Opponents say it encourages segregation in an already difficult religious and racial situation.

Business owners in Beijing have a lot of complaints about restrictions that the Chinese government has placed on them ahead of the upcoming Olympic Games. The challenge is to keep the foreign media from finding out.

Cuban President Raul Castro marks the 55th anniversary of the attack that launched the island's communist revolution. But there were no major new initiatives in a speech watched for news of more reforms aimed at revitalizing Cuba's state-run economy.

As the physical reminders of the massive earthquake that killed thousands of school children are swept away, Chinese officials are waging a campaign to tamp down on potential unrest among survivors and bereaved parents.

Taliban militants are gaining strength and power around the northern Pakistan city of Peshawar. As the group expands its control, it is having a direct impact on U.S. and NATO military operations in Afghanistan.

Radovan Karadzic's arrest on war crimes charges was met with a burst of celebration in the streets of Sarajevo, which suffered a brutal siege at the hands of Bosnian Serb militias loyal to Karadzic during the Bosnian war. But many citizens of Sarajevo are bitter that he was able to live on the lam for 13 years.

Leaders of the world's Anglicans are meeting in London amid speculation that the church might split. Conservatives argue that there is no place for practicing homosexuals in the church.

Columnists and pundits in the United States are grading Barack Obama's trip to the Middle East, questioning whether the trip will help or hurt his campaign. Support for him as a person is strong, though some are dismayed by what they view as his sharp right turn on Mideast policy.

Former Bosnian Serb President Radovan Karadzic has been arrested after a decade-long search. Serbia's president said Karadzic was arrested Monday. The U.N. war crimes tribunal for the former Yugoslavia indicted him for genocide during the 1992-95 Bosnian war.