TIMBUKTU, MALI - Islamist militants destroyed two tombs on Tuesday at the famous 14th century Djingareyber mosque in Timbuktu, classified by UNESCO as a world heritage site, residents said. About a dozen militants arrived in an armored four-wheel drive truck, armed with pickaxes and hoes.

USA - Johnson & Johnson faces a potentially more damaging and costly sequel to the $3 billion recall of its ASR all-metal artificial hips two years ago, one of the most expensive medical device failures in US history. A successor to ASR, the USA - Pinnacle metal-on-metal hip system has nearly 1,600 lawsuits pending in US courts. Doctors who are tracking large groups of patients with both products estimate that more than 10 percent of the Pinnacle all-metal hips will have failed in the next two to three years.

USA - At least 42 people have died in a heatwave that has brought soaring temperatures to a dozen US states from the Midwest to the East Coast. Crops shrivelled and roads and railway lines buckled in the heat. Hundreds of records fell across the affected area on Friday and Saturday, but the heat was expected to ease slightly on Sunday. Severe storms are expected to follow. Many homes in the region are still without power after storms a week ago.

LONDON, UK - Details of an additional 3,500 troops expected to be provided to help with 2012 London Olympics security are set to be announced by ministers later. It comes after it emerged that UK armed forces are on standby to provide more troops in addition to 13,500 already agreed amid fears private contractor G4S may not have enough trained staff. Olympic sites number more than 30 sporting venues and more than 70 "non-competition venues" including car parks and hotels.

SYRIA - Syria's ambassador to Iraq has defected to the opposition and urged other senior Syrian politicians and members of the military to do the same. Nawaf Fares is the first senior Syrian diplomat to abandon the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The move comes just a week after a Syrian general from a powerful family close to President Assad also defected. Meanwhile Western nations are urging the UN to threaten tough sanctions against Syria.

UK - Health experts have warned homeowners to take measures to stop "huge numbers" of rats flushed out by floods from re-establishing themselves. The Chartered Institute of Environmental Health (CIEH) said people clearing up after the heavy rain should block up holes and clear up waste food. Rats washed out of sewers are infesting homes amid more daytime sightings. Brown rats are one of the planet's most serious mammalian pests, ruining crops and harbouring disease. Expert jumpers, climbers and swimmers, a single pair can multiply to 200 within a year.

USA - The war on home Bible studies and house churches is heating up again. Down in Phoenix, Arizona a man has been sentenced to 60 days in prison and has been fined $12,180 for hosting a Bible study in his home.

USA - I'm old enough to remember when a big European summit was supposedly a big step towards solving the never-ending crisis of the common currency. That was last week. And the crisis is still never-ending. That didn't stop markets from indulging in a bit of euro-phoria in the interim. It was understandable.

USA - If passed, an amendment in the Agricultural Appropriations Bill will not just allow, but require the secretary of agriculture to grant permits for planting or cultivating GM crops – even if a federal court has given an injunction against it.

USA - US President Barack Obama quietly signed his name to an Executive Order on Friday, allowing the White House to control all private communications in the country in the name of national security. President Obama released his latest Executive Order on Friday, July 6, a 2,205-word statement offered as the “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions.” And although the president chose not to commemorate the signing with much fanfare, the powers he provides to himself and the federal government under the latest order are among the most far-reaching yet of any of his executive decisions.

EUROPE - The LIBOR rate-fixing scandal has sent a shock wave through the whole European financial industry. A number of other banks are suspected of having manipulated interest rates, and Deutsche Bank has already suspended two employees. Experts warn of a wave of lawsuits that could ruin some institutions.

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russia said on Tuesday that it had dispatched a flotilla of 11 warships to the eastern Mediterranean, some of which would dock in Syria. It would be the largest display of Russian military power in the region since the Syrian conflict began almost 17 months ago.

USA - The US futures industry reeled on Tuesday as Iowa-based broker PFGBest collapsed after regulators accused it of misappropriating customer funds for more than two years, dealing a new blow to trader trust just months after MF Global's demise.

EGYPT - According to several reports in the Arabic media, prominent Muslim clerics have begun to call for the demolition of Egypt’s Great Pyramids — or, in the words of Saudi Sheikh Ali bin Said al-Rabi‘i, those “symbols of paganism,” which Egypt’s Salafi party has long planned to cover with wax.

USA - The Episcopal Church has become the largest US denomination to bless same-sex relationships. The policy was overwhelmingly approved in a vote at the church's general convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. Church officials stressed the new ceremony, which includes prayers and an exchange of vows and rings, was not a same-sex marriage.