Hundreds of Palestinian prisoners freed

Hello! I'm Kristin Volk on this Friday, July 20, 2007 with a UPI top news update. More than 250 Palestinian prisoners are free today. Israel let them go this morning and sent them in buses to the West Bank. The Israeli government says the released prisoners don't have any quote blood on their hands. The government added they were being held on lesser charges such as attempted murder and aiding fugitives. A prison official says all of them had served at least 70 percent of their jail terms. North Korea nuclear talks have ended without any deadline set to complete the disarmament of their nuclear program. Negotiators met for the past two days in Beijing to set a timetable for the country to disable all of its facilities. This follows the shutting down of the nuclear facilities at Yongbyon last week. Delegates have decided to reconvene in September for another round of talks. A top U.S. general says a solid judgment on the troop surge in Iraq may not come until November. That's two months after the predicted pivotal time for determining the course in that country. Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno is warning that security and political goals could take more time than originally thought. The Bush administration has tried to minimize the importance of the progress report due in September, saying it's not the final judgment. The administration says U.S. forces will play a role in Iraq through the end of Bush's presidency in January 2009. A mild earthquake shook the San Francisco area this morning. Police say the 4.2 magnitude quake caused shaking that lasted about 50 seconds and set off many alarms in people's homes. They say they had a spike in calls, but mostly calls of inquiry and none of injury or damage that was reported. Thanks for watching today's news headline. Check out our weekly wrap-up from the White House on upi.com today. Have a safe and pleasant weekend.

YouTube | July 20, 2007