August 18, 2006 (2006-08-18) (Friday)

Ford Motor Company will idle 10 plants in North America temporarily as it slashes production by 21%. (CNN Money)
Australia: The first person convicted under new anti-terrorism laws has been acquitted on appeal. Jack Thomas was convicted in March on two counts of receiving funds from a terrorist network and for carrying a falsified passport. According to ABC News his 5-year sentence was today quashed by the Victorian Court of Appeal, which ruled information obtained during an interview with Australian Federal Police Officers in Pakistan, conducted without legal representation and under threat of torture, was inadmissible.
North Korea:
South Korea said Friday it has no clear evidence that North Korea is preparing for a nuclear test. (CTV NEWS)
President Bush pressed participants in six-party talks to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons program. (Reuters)
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict:
Hezbollah hands out cash to war victims in Lebanon. (Reuters) (Aljazeera)
Southern Lebanese buried on Friday at least 250 people killed in the conflict between Israel and the Shia Muslim militia Hezbollah. Hezbollah hailed these individuals as martyrs and showered their flag-draped coffins with flowers. (Al-Jazeera)
Israel has set up a commission to investigate how the military campaign in Lebanon was conducted. (BBC NEWS)
Israel says it would be difficult to accept nations which do not recognise its right to exist as part of a UN force in Lebanon. (BBC)