Suicide attack kills 13 Iraqi soldiers - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

Suicide attack kills 13 Iraqi soldiers - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com: "BAGHDAD - A suicide bomber driving a tanker truck struck an Iraqi army checkpoint outside the capital on Saturday, killing at least 13 soldiers in the deadliest of a series of attacks against Iraqi forces as they try to take over their country’s security.

In southern Iraq, an apparent rocket attack at the U.S.-run Camp Bucca detention facility killed at least six detainees and wounded 50, the military said. No American casualties were reported.

The U.S. military oversees some 21,000 inmates at Camp Bucca in southern Iraq and Camp Cropper, near the Baghdad airport. Military officials refuse to give a breakdown of how many prisoners are at each facility but say the majority are at Camp Bucca." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Jordan's refugees long to return

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Jordan's refugees long to return: "The 1967 Middle East war left the West Bank occupied by Israel, and prompted tens of thousands of Palestinians to flee the West Bank for what was left of neighbouring Jordan. Forty years on, many are still there:

There is an odd sense of exuberance at the Baqaa refugee camp. Arab pop music blares from music shops, and from the windows of peoples' homes.

The market is as bustling as any you would find in a small Middle Eastern town but then that is what this camp has become.

Forty years on, the Camp is a permanent fixture, a rather tumble-down residential area like any other on the outskirts of the Jordanian capital, Amman.

But any suggestion that Baqaa might become their permanent home is fiercely rejected by its occupants." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Six dead in attack on Iraq prison

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Six dead in attack on Iraq prison: "Six civilian prisoners have been killed and at least 50 wounded in an attack on a US-run detention camp in Iraq, the US military says.

The attack was aimed at Camp Bucca in the south of the country.

There were no Americans injured or wounded in the incident, according to a US military statement.

Meanwhile, at least 12 Iraqi soldiers were killed and 30 hurt after a suicide car bombing at their base near Hilla, 100km (60 miles) south of Baghdad.

The explosion occurred just after 5pm (1300 GMT), near the gate of the army unit's headquarters." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel 'tests' Syria peace aims

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Israel 'tests' Syria peace aims: "Israel's government has sent secret messages to Syria about the possibility of renewing peace negotiations, the deputy prime minister has confirmed.

Shaul Mofaz did not comment on the content of the messages, but said it was important that a secret channel existed for sending them.

He said Syria had yet to respond. The last attempt at a deal between the two countries broke down seven years ago.

On Wednesday, PM Ehud Olmert said his country did not want war with Syria.

He also repeated his warning that a 'miscalculation' could spark hostilities between the two.

Israel and Syria are officially at war, and Israel has occupied the Golan Heights since 1967.

Syria says that in the mid-1990s the late Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin agreed to a total pullback from the Golan Heights.

The Israelis say this was only a theoretical acceptance and that it depended on the full normalisation of relations, a condition that Syria, it claims, did not accept." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Gaza militants launch Israel raid

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Gaza militants launch Israel raid: "Palestinian militants have launched a raid into Israel from the Gaza Strip.

The militants used an armoured jeep to burst through the Kissufim border crossing, and attacked a nearby Israeli army post, leading to a gun battle.

One of the attackers is reported to have been killed. The Israelis said they suffered no casualties.

The cross-border attack was the first since gunmen abducted an Israeli soldier, Corporal Gilad Shalit, almost a year ago.

The attack on the army post was launched by two Palestinian militant groups, Islamic Jihad and the al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigade.

Four militants were involved, according to an Islamic Jihad spokesman.

After they broke through the border and began firing mortar rounds, heavy fighting broke out and lasted for three hours." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Sri Lanka troops 'kill 30 Tigers'

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Sri Lanka troops 'kill 30 Tigers': "Sri Lanka's military says its troops have killed at least 30 Tamil Tiger rebels in fierce fighting in the east of the country.

'We have captured and destroyed four Tamil Tiger camps during battles over the last 48 hours,' said military spokesman Brig Prasad Samarasinghe.

He said one Sri Lanka soldier had been killed and 17 wounded. There has been no confirmation from the Tamil Tigers.

Despite an official truce, Sri Lanka has been sliding back to civil war.

More than 4,000 people have been killed in violence in the past 15 months." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Russia warns US on missile plan

BBC NEWS | Europe | Russia warns US on missile plan: "The US should halt moves to deploy a missile defence shield in central Europe, pending further talks, the Russian foreign minister has said.

Sergei Lavrov was speaking after President Bush made clear Poland and the US were committed to the plan.

Russia has proposed a radar station in Azerbaijan should be used instead of Polish and also Czech locations.

Mr Lavrov said US plans could 'seriously complicate' talks on the dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.

The United Nations imposed sanctions on Iran in March after it refused to suspend its uranium enrichment programme." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Iraq condemns Turkish 'shelling'

BBC NEWS | Europe | Iraq condemns Turkish 'shelling': "Iraq has made an official protest to Turkey, accusing it of shelling Kurdish areas in northern Iraq this week.

A protest letter by the Iraqi foreign ministry said the shelling caused widespread damage in northern Iraq.

Turkey has not confirmed any such shelling but it has been building up forces along the border with Iraq.

Speculation grows that Ankara could mount a raid in Iraq on PKK rebels sheltering there who it blames for recent attacks in Turkey.

The Iraqi foreign ministry summoned Turkey's charge d'affaires to voice its protest.

The letter said that said the shelling took place over several hours on Wednesday and early Thursday, starting large fires and causing serious damage.

It said such actions 'undermine confidence between the two nations and negatively affect their friendship'." Read complete post here.

Official: Cheney Urged Wiretaps - washingtonpost.com

Official: Cheney Urged Wiretaps - washingtonpost.com: "Vice President Cheney told Justice Department officials that he disagreed with their objections to a secret surveillance program during a high-level White House meeting in March 2004, a former senior Justice official told senators yesterday.

The meeting came one day before White House officials tried to get approval for the same program from then-Attorney General John D. Ashcroft, who lay recovering from surgery in a hospital, according to former deputy attorney general James B. Comey." Read complete post here.

Israeli Losing Patience for Iran Talks

Israeli Losing Patience for Iran Talks: "A senior member of Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government suggested Wednesday that his country is running out of patience with a U.S.-backed diplomatic overture to head off Iran's nuclear ambitions.

Top U.S. and Israeli officials also briefly discussed a possible Israeli peace initiative to adversary Syria during security talks Wednesday, a U.S. spokesman said.

The talks with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and others were focused largely on Iran. Israel accuses Iran of arming Hezbollah militants attacking Israel now, but is more concerned over the possibility that Iran might acquire nuclear weapons in the future.

'Iran continues a military nuclear program,' said Shaul Mofaz, Israel's deputy prime minister and transportation minister, following a meeting with Rice.

'I believe diplomatic efforts should bear results until the end of 2007,' Mofaz added without elaboration.

Although cryptic, his remark was apparently a sign of declining Israeli confidence that carrot-and-stick diplomacy will persuade Iran to give up parts of its nuclear program that Israel and the West fear could lead to a bomb." Read complete post here.

Marine says he erased photos of Haditha victims - Los Angeles Times

Marine says he erased photos of Haditha victims - Los Angeles Times: "CAMP PENDLETON — A staff sergeant testified Thursday that he was ordered to destroy grisly pictures of women and children killed by Marines so that the images would not be part of a statement being prepared for an investigative officer and a magazine reporter.

The testimony by Staff Sgt. Justin Laughner, taken under a grant of immunity, is the first evidence suggesting that any Marine officer may have engaged in a coverup in the deaths of 24 Iraqi civilians in 2005.

Other testimony has suggested that officers made only a superficial review before deciding that the deaths were combat-related and thus no war crimes investigation was required.

At the Article 32 inquiry, similar to a preliminary hearing, for a former battalion commander, Laughner testified hat he felt the order to destroy the pictures, which he said was given by Lt. Andrew Grayson, amounted to obstruction of justice but that he complied and later lied when asked whether any pictures had been taken.

'It was wrong,' Laughner said. 'Somebody was asking for them [the pictures], and we're not going to give them to them? It's not right, but I didn't say anything.'

Although Laughner deleted the pictures from his computer, the images remained on his digital camera and are now part of the criminal case against four officers and three enlisted Marines." Read complete post here.

Twist of history finds Palestinian refugees fleeing back to Shatilla | Jerusalem Post

Twist of history finds Palestinian refugees fleeing back to Shatilla | Jerusalem Post: "Palestinian refugees living in Lebanon say they fear they're the target of a Beirut government-sponsored plan to get rid of them.

Behind the bricked walls and tiny alleyways of Shatilla refugee camp in central Beirut, they whisper in hushed tones about the violence of the past fortnight. At least 114 people, including 46 Lebanese soldiers, have been killed in clashes between the army and militants of a previously little-known extremist group, Fatah al-Islam.

'The army's trying to kill as many Palestinians as possible,' says 82-year-old Wafa al-Shami, who had left Shatilla in 1982 after the massacre by Christian Phalangists that killed her brother and his family. She settled in the northern coastal camp of Nahr el-Bared, only to return now.

'We're in the way,' Shami says. 'If Lebanon wants a peace process with Israel, they need to get rid of us refugees. The government doesn't want to give us Lebanese identity, and Israel will never accept the 'right of return,' so the solution for the Lebanese is to kill as many Palestinians as possible and scatter us all over the world. They want us to forget our identity.'" Read complete post here.

Jewish worshippers desecrate Muslim cemetery in West Bank - Haaretz - Israel News

Jewish worshippers desecrate Muslim cemetery in West Bank - Haaretz - Israel News: "A Muslim graveyard in a village near the West Bank settlement of Ariel was desecrated by a group of Jewish worshippers visiting the area on Friday morning.

A group of some 1,300 Jews visited the tomb of Joshua Ben Nun on Thursday night, in full coordination with the Israel Defense Forces.

On Friday morning, after the Jewish worshippers had left, Palestinians informed leftist groups that several tombstones in the local Muslim graveyard had been vandalized. Some were smashed; others were sprayed with slogans reading 'death to Arabs.'

The Civil Administration filed a complaint with police.

IDF representatives met with the organizers of the excursion, who promised to repair the damages next week." Read complete post here.

IDF troops kill armed Palestinian, wound another in W. Bank raid - Haaretz - Israel News

IDF troops kill armed Palestinian, wound another in W. Bank raid - Haaretz - Israel News: "Israel Defense Forces troops shot dead an armed Palestinian and wounded another Friday night near the West Bank city of Hebron, the military said, adding that the wounded man escaped.

Residents of the village of Tufah, west of Hebron, said the men were local hunters out looking for game in the dark. They were not known to be
connected to any militant groups.

Medics said the dead youth was aged 17, while the other man, who was in moderate condition, was 25." Read complete post here.

Why Israel does not engage with the Saudi initiative - Haaretz - Israel News

Why Israel does not engage with the Saudi initiative - Haaretz - Israel News: "One of the most puzzling aspects of Israeli policy over the last five years is that neither the Sharon nor the Olmert governments have given the Saudi peace initiative any serious consideration. For most of its existence, Israel could only dream of an offer that explicitly includes peace, recognition of Israel's right to exist and normalization of its relationship with the Arab world. Why, then, has Prime Minister Ehud Olmert offered nothing but lip service to the Saudi initiative, and why did former prime minister Ariel Sharon never even indicate that he took it seriously at all?" Read complete post here.

US to Press Ahead With Anti-Missile Plan | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited

US to Press Ahead With Anti-Missile Plan | World Latest | Guardian Unlimited: "ROME (AP) - President Bush signaled Friday the United States will press ahead with a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe despite Russia's heated objections. Poland's president expressed support for installing interceptor rockets in his country.

An upset stomach crimped Bush's schedule on a busy day that took him from Germany to Poland and finally to Italy. The president stayed in bed and skipped morning sessions at the summit of world leaders in Heiligendamm, Germany, and he appeared subdued later after talks in Poland with President Lech Kaczynski.

``Still not 100 percent but better all the time,'' White House deputy press secretary Dana Perino said of her boss." Read complete post here.

30 die as police hunt gang in Nairobi slum | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited

30 die as police hunt gang in Nairobi slum | The Guardian | Guardian Unlimited: "Hundreds of people carrying mattresses, cooking pots and furniture fled yesterday from a Nairobi shantytown, where more than 30 people have been killed in a police crackdown on a gang accused of a wave of beheadings.

While many in Mathare acknowledge that the shadowy Mungiki sect does operate from the slum, they also accuse police of indiscriminate violence as they round up residents and demolish homes in search of weapons.

'I have never witnessed in my life anything like what is happening,' Jane Wachira, 37, who has three children, said as she packed her bags. 'My children and I are traumatised.'" Read complete post here.

General 'sacrificed' to clear decks on Iraq | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited

General 'sacrificed' to clear decks on Iraq | Iraq | Guardian Unlimited: "

· Chairman of joint chiefs of staff to stand down
· Senate hearings would have been controversial


The Bush administration yesterday attempted to wipe the slate clean on the Iraq war and chart a new way forward with the surprise announcement that it was replacing General Peter Pace as chairman of the joint chiefs of staff.

The defence chief, Robert Gates, said he had reluctantly decided on the reshuffle - despite his initial support for Gen Pace - to avoid a 'divisive ordeal' at the Senate which would have had to approve an extension of the general's term.

'The focus of this confirmation process would have been on the past rather than on the future,' Mr Gates told the press conference. 'There was a very real prospect that the process would be quite contentious.'" Read complete post here.

Palestinians face more restrictions than ever - Independent Online Edition > Middle East

Palestinians face more restrictions than ever - Independent Online Edition > Middle East: "The Israeli authorities have been ordered by the High Court to give a formal explanation of why an important highway running from Jerusalem through the occupied West Bank has been barred to Palestinians living in the area.

The Israeli High Court ruled yesterday that the state - in this instance the Israeli military - has to explain why Route 443 is in practice barred to Palestinians and why roadblocks preventing access to the road from Palestinian villages along the route have not been dismantled.

While it only concerns a single stretch of road, the petition from the Association of Civil Rights in Israel (Acri) in several respects goes to the heart of the heavy restrictions on Palestinian movement and access in much of the West Bank. This is graphically illustrated in a UN map showing road closures and territory - about 40 per cent of the West Bank- which are either barred or heavily restricted for Palestinians, severing the sectors of the West Bank from each other, and from Jerusalem.

The map highlights restrictions imposed by the barrier and road closures largely to protect Jewish settlements, and the unimpeded travel of settlers in the West Bank, resulting in what critics call the "cantonisation" of the territory into enclaves separated from each other and Jerusalem. Closures imposed since the intifada began in 2000 mean that Palestinians are probably more restricted now than at any time during the past 40 years.

The ruling follows a petition by Acri against the almost seven-year de facto ban on behalf of the 25,000 residents of six Palestinian villages near the road who are forced on to poor backways rather than the highway through the West Bank towards Ramallah, which had served them since the British mandate." Read complete post here.

Fresh assault on militants' camp in north Lebanon - Independent Online Edition > Middle East

Fresh assault on militants' camp in north Lebanon - Independent Online Edition > Middle East: "Sporadic fighting between Lebanese troops and al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militants continued yesterday in a northern Palestinian refugee camp as police, stepping up raids nationwide on suspected militant hideouts, made 13 more arrests.

In eastern Lebanon, police arrested a Syrian man with Lebanese citizenship after raiding his apartment in the village of Ghazzeh.

Security officials said troops confiscated detonators and timers from the apartment. An army raid on a suspected militant hideout Thursday, also in eastern Lebanon, uncovered vehicles rigged with explosives that were hidden in a garage with several rockets.

Authorities arrested separately 12 Iraqi nationals at the Masnaa Lebanon-Syria border crossing in the eastern Bekaa Valley after they crossed in from Syria. They said the men carried forged foreign passports, but it was not immediately clear whether they were related to Fatah Islam militants." Read complete post here.

Latest round of sectarian violence in Iraq leaves more than 30 dead - Independent Online Edition > Middle East

Latest round of sectarian violence in Iraq leaves more than 30 dead - Independent Online Edition > Middle East: "Carloads of attackers descended on a police chief's house northeast of Baghdad at dawn yesterday, killing the official's wife, two brothers and 11 guards, and kidnapping three of his grown children, Diyala provincial police reported.

The attack outside Baqouba, which came when the police chief was not at home, was one of the boldest and bloodiest in months of stepped-up violence around the city, where al-Qaida in Iraq and affiliated groups have been fighting US and Iraqi forces and local insurgents who have turned against al-Qaida.

Elsewhere in northern Iraq, bombings struck a Shiite mosque in a town near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, killing at least 19 people and wounding 25, police said.

The attack started at 1:45 p.m. when a parked car exploded near worshippers leaving the Thaqalain mosque after Friday prayers in the predominantly Shiite town of Dakok, about 45 kilometers (28 miles) south of Kirkuk, police chief Maj. Gen. Farhan Abdul-Rahman Youssef said.

About five minutes later, a suicide bomber was spotted driving toward the mosque but policemen in a nearby station opened fire on him and he exploded, Youssef said." Read complete post here.

Bush U-turn as 'surge' sceptic to oversee war - Independent Online Edition > Americas

Bush U-turn as 'surge' sceptic to oversee war - Independent Online Edition > Americas: "The White House has sidelined the main proponent of 'troop surge' in Iraq in what looks a tacit acceptance that, after several months, the much-vaunted strategy is not working.

Final responsibility for guiding President George Bush on conduct of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan has been shifted from his National Security adviser, Stephen Hadley, and handed instead to his new war tsar, Lt-Gen Douglas Lute, who has long voiced doubts about the surge.

In a Senate confirmation hearing into his appointment, General Lute revealed that from now on, Mr Hadley would guide the President on 'matters outside Iraq and Afghanistan'. But he added that Mr Hadley would be his 'teammate' on Iraq.

Even so, the news that Mr Hadley has surrendered primacy on Iraq looked like a palace coup coming to light as President Bush was abroad at the G8 meeting, with Mr Hadley. More important are the implications for a possible change of tack on Iraq at the White House." Read complete post here.

Wife and Son of Police Chief Are Among 50 Killed in Iraq - New York Times

Wife and Son of Police Chief Are Among 50 Killed in Iraq - New York Times: "BAGHDAD, June 8 — More than 50 people were killed in attacks across Iraq on Friday, including 14 who died when gunmen stormed a police chief’s home northeast of Baghdad and raked the occupants with automatic fire.

The police chief, staying elsewhere for the night, survived. His wife and son were among the dead.

At least 34 others were killed in two bombing attacks, one in the northern city of Daquq, about 30 miles south of Kirkuk, and the other in the southern city of Qurna, 60 miles north of Basra. In a familiar pattern, both bombings involved successive explosions set at close quarters in crowded areas, a technique often used to maximize casualties.

The Daquq bombings struck a Shiite mosque and a nearby police station. The attack began when two suicide bombers detonated explosive vests in the forecourt of a mosque frequented by supporters of the Shiite cleric Moktada al-Sadr, followed by a car bomb close by, according to the local police. They said at least 19 people died, and more than 20 were wounded." Read complete post here.

Besieged by Protests, Pakistan Suspends Curbs on TV - New York Times

Besieged by Protests, Pakistan Suspends Curbs on TV - New York Times: "ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, June 8 — After a barrage of criticism and nationwide protests by journalists and rights groups, the Pakistani government has suspended its restrictions on independent television stations.

The restrictions, which had been approved by the president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, on Monday, gave the government sweeping powers to cancel licenses of independent television channels, seal buildings where it believed that illegal broadcasts were being shown and increased the fines for many violations. The move touched off angry but peaceful protests by thousands of lawyers, opposition activists and journalists across the country.

Critical media coverage of the legal and political crisis that has erupted in the country since General Musharraf suspended the nation’s chief justice, Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, on March 9 appeared to have led to the media curbs.

On Wednesday, the prime minister, Shaukat Aziz, met with news media representatives and announced the formation of a six-member committee to review the amendments. It is composed of media representatives and government officials." Read complete post here.

Israelis Ask, What Have We Gained Since the ’67 War? - New York Times

Israelis Ask, What Have We Gained Since the ’67 War? - New York Times: "JERUSALEM, June 8 — In the months before the 1967 Middle East war, Israel was in a spiral of self-doubt, the 19-year experiment of an independent Jewish state looking shaky.

There were existential worries about destruction by Arab armies, fierce denunciations of the political leadership and deep anxiety about a sinking economy.

Forty years later, Israel is rich and its army one of the best in the world, yet the public mood is oddly similar. There is a quiet panic about a potentially nuclear Iran, condemnations of the leadership as weak, indecisive and corrupt, and deep concerns about “two Israels” — religious versus secular, settler versus beachgoer, Jerusalem versus Tel Aviv, Jew versus Arab.

Of course, Israel is no stranger to anxiety or complaint. A small nation built on the ashes of the Holocaust, many of its citizens are ready to fear the worst.

But as Israel marks 40 years after an extraordinary victory, there is far less exultation than questioning about the war’s impact on the country, and grave doubts about the future. There is a debate about what kind of country Israel is, about the impact those 40 years of development, immigration, war, settlement and occupation have had on the dreams of those who chose to make their lives here. And there is a widespread feeling that both left and right are out of answers." Read complete post here.

Suicide Attacks, Bombings Kill Dozens in Iraq - washingtonpost.com

Suicide Attacks, Bombings Kill Dozens in Iraq - washingtonpost.com: "BAGHDAD, June 7 -- Suicide attackers and car bombs struck targets in central, western and northern Iraq on Thursday, leaving at least 24 people dead and 42 wounded, Iraqi security officials said.

Gunmen also shot three professors from Islamic University in Baghdad, killing two and wounding one, and killed the head of the Education Ministry's department of research and development as he drove to work, police said." Read complete post here.

TIMELINE: CIA renditions and secret prisons | International | Reuters

TIMELINE: CIA renditions and secret prisons | International | Reuters: "(Reuters) - A European investigator said on Friday he had proof the CIA ran secret prisons in Poland and Romania to interrogate suspects in its war on terrorism.

At the same time, an Italian court began trying 26 Americans in absentia over the alleged kidnapping and secret transfer of a terrorist suspect in 2003.

Here is chronology of events in the international controversy over CIA secret prisons for terrorist suspects and the use of U.S. 'extraordinary renditions' to move detainees covertly around the world.

Nov 2005 - Washington Post reports CIA has been hiding and interrogating al Qaeda captives at secret facilities in Eastern Europe. Other media reports name Poland and Romania, which both deny hosting such centers." Read complete post here.

Doctors warn of deepening crisis in Chad | Reuters

Doctors warn of deepening crisis in Chad | Reuters: "NEW YORK, June 8 (Reuters) - A leading medical charity warned on Friday that 150,000 Chadian civilians forced from their homes by violence spilling over from neighboring Darfur face a deepening humanitarian crisis.

While world attention is focused on Darfur in Sudan, where international experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed and 2 million made homeless since 2003, Medicins Sans Frontieres warned of looming problems in Chad.

It said malaria and diarrheal diseases were on the rise and malnutrition could increase significantly as the rainy season starts at the end of this month. The group said 150,000 people were now internally displaced within Chad.

'Given the anticipated deterioration of the situation, it is urgent, in order to avoid a catastrophe, to increase hospitalization capacity, improve the water supply, and respond to the nutritional problems,' MSF said in a statement." Read complete post here.

Sudanese children abducted for fighting and sex: U.N. | International | Reuters

Sudanese children abducted for fighting and sex: U.N. | International | Reuters: "GENEVA (Reuters) - Children in Sudan, especially in the Darfur region, continue to be abducted for use in battle, forced labor or sexual exploitation, a U.N. human rights body said on Friday.

The U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child called on the Khartoum government to intensify its efforts to prevent children being abducted and to help reunify victims with their families.

The body, composed of 18 independent experts, issued its conclusions after holding a three-week session at which it examined the records of 11 countries, including Sudan.

It voiced concern that 'abductions of children continue to occur for forced recruitment, forced labor, and in some instances, sexual exploitation, especially in Darfur and South Sudan'." Read complete post here.

U.N. says immune from legal action over Srebrenica | International | Reuters

U.N. says immune from legal action over Srebrenica | International | Reuters: "UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations has received documents in a suit families of a 1995 massacre in Bosnia want to bring against it over its failure to prevent the bloodshed, but is immune from legal action, a U.N. spokeswoman said on Friday.

The world body has drawn lessons from the Srebrenica massacre, in which Bosnian Serb forces killed at least 8,000 Muslim men and boys that Dutch U.N. peacekeeping troops had been charged with protecting, said spokeswoman Marie Okabe.

Relatives of the victims sued the Dutch state and the United Nations in the Netherlands on Monday. Lawyers said the Dutch had refused crucial air support to their troops defending the town, and the U.N. had not tried to make them provide it.

Survivors of the massacre during Bosnia's 1992-95 war were 'absolutely right' to demand justice for what has been called Europe's worst atrocity since World War II, Okabe said." Read complete post here.

Secret CIA jails hosted by Poland, Romania: watchdog | International | Reuters

Secret CIA jails hosted by Poland, Romania: watchdog | International | Reuters: "PARIS (Reuters) - A European investigator said on Friday he had proof Poland and Romania hosted secret prisons for the Central Intelligence Agency in which it interrogated top al Qaeda suspects using methods akin to torture.

Swiss senator Dick Marty said Poland housed some of the CIA's most sensitive prisoners, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who says he masterminded the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States that killed almost 3,000 people.

'There is now enough evidence to state that secret detention facilities run by the CIA did exist in Europe from 2003-2005, in particular in Poland and Romania,' Marty said in a report for the Council of Europe human rights watchdog." Read complete post here.

Fierce fighting rocks Palestinian camp in Lebanon | International | Reuters

Fierce fighting rocks Palestinian camp in Lebanon | International | Reuters: "NAHR AL-BARED, Lebanon (Reuters) - Lebanese troops pounded al Qaeda-inspired militants dug in at a Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon on Friday after the group rejected demands to surrender.

Artillery and tanks blasted several areas of the squalid Nahr al-Bared camp, where Fatah al-Islam fighters have shown stiff resistance in three weeks of often ferocious battles.

Camp resident Wissam Badran told Reuters he had helped pull a man, woman and two children from under the rubble after a shell hit a house sheltering 10 civilians. He initially thought they were dead.

'They lost consciousness. We thought they were dead, but thank God, they are alive,' Badran said by telephone from inside Nahr al-Bared. Six others were lightly wounded, he said.

The heavy thud of machinegun fire echoed across the area as fires raged inside and clouds of smoke billowed over the camp, abandoned by most of its 40,000 residents. Witnesses said at least 30 civilians were evacuated by relief workers." Read complete post here.

Israel, offering Golan, awaits Syria proposals | International | Reuters

Israel, offering Golan, awaits Syria proposals | International | Reuters: "JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel has told Syria it is willing to trade land for peace and is waiting to hear whether President Bashar al-Assad would cut ties with Iran and hostile guerrilla groups in return, Israeli officials said on Friday.

One said Syrian officials had so far indicated a willingness to conduct discreet contacts that might lead to a resumption of formal peace talks after a seven-year hiatus. In two weeks, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert is due to meet President George W. Bush, who would play a crucial role in any such process.

Two days after Olmert confirmed Israel had sent conciliatory messages to Damascus, Israeli media widely reported a leak to a newspaper that quoted a senior diplomat saying Syria had been reminded that Israel was ready to discuss returning the Golan Heights, captured 40 years ago this week, if peace talks resume." Read complete post here.

U.S.-Libya chemical arms-related deal in doubt | U.S. | Reuters

U.S.-Libya chemical arms-related deal in doubt | U.S. | Reuters: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Libya, citing cost and liability concerns, has informed the United States of plans to back out of a contract to destroy its mustard gas stocks as promised under a landmark 2003 agreement, U.S. officials said.

The State Department played down the development and insisted Tripoli remains committed to getting rid of its chemical weapons agents.

But some officials and experts worry that a critical opportunity to destroy Libya's remaining stocks -- believed to include 23 metric tons of old mustard gas and 1,300 metric tons of precursor chemicals -- could be lost.

'We can't let this opportunity slip by,' said a U.S. official, who like several others interviewed this week spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to speak for the record.

Under the 2003 agreement -- hailed by the Bush administration as a major foreign policy success and a model for other countries -- Libya promised to dismantle its weapons of mass destruction and long-range missile programs." Read complete post here.

4th American-Iranian probed - Focus on Iran - MSNBC.com

4th American-Iranian probed - Focus on Iran - MSNBC.com: "TEHRAN, Iran - Iran confirmed Friday for the first time that it is holding an Iranian-American peace activist, the fourth dual citizen it has detained in recent months, according to a semiofficial news agency.

Ali Shakeri of Lake Forest, Calif., was being held on security-related charges and investigated by the security department of the Tehran prosecutor’s office, the Iranian Student News Agency reported. It provided no source for the information and calls to Iranian judicial officials were not immediately returned Friday, a weekend day in the Islamic country.

ISNA said in a four-sentence report on its Web site that Shakeri had been detained “some time ago.”

It was not immediately clear if he was being represented by a lawyer." Read complete post here.

Putin offers alternative to missile plan - G-8 summit - MSNBC.com

Putin offers alternative to missile plan - G-8 summit - MSNBC.com: "HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that U.S. missile defense interceptors could be located in Turkey, or even Iraq or on sea platforms, offering yet another alternative to an American plan for a missile shield in eastern Europe.

“They could be placed in the south, in U.S. NATO allies such as Turkey, or even Iraq,” Putin said at a news conference after the close of the Group of Eight summit. “They could also be placed on sea platforms.”

Putin’s proposal on missile defense interceptors followed his surprise suggestion Thursday to President Bush to share use of the huge Soviet-era radar at Gabala in northeast Azerbaijan, now leased by Russia.

The proposal came after Putin spent weeks bitterly denouncing a U.S. proposal to build the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic, to defend against a future missile threat from Iran." Read complete post here.

G-8 wraps up with Africa, Iran actions - G-8 summit - MSNBC.com

G-8 wraps up with Africa, Iran actions - G-8 summit - MSNBC.com: "HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - Leaders of the Group of Eight agreed Friday on a $60 billion package to fight AIDS, TB and malaria in Africa and warned Iran over its nuclear program, on the final day of the summit of the world’s richer nations.

The G-8 pledged to “adopt further measures” if Iran refuses to halt its uranium enrichment program — a sign of support for U.N. Security Council moves to discuss a third set of sanctions. Uranium enrichment is a process that can produce fuel for civilian energy — or fissile material for a bomb.

Meanwhile, G-8 diplomats ran in to obstacles in discussions on the future of the Serbian province of Kosovo." Read complete post here.

WP: U.S. unit allies with ex-insurgents - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com

WP: U.S. unit allies with ex-insurgents - washingtonpost.com Highlights - MSNBC.com: "BAGHDAD, June 8 - The worst month of Lt. Col. Dale Kuehl's deployment in western Baghdad was finally drawing to a close. The insurgent group al-Qaeda in Iraq had unleashed bombings that killed 14 of his soldiers in May, a shocking escalation of violence for a battalion that had lost three soldiers in the previous six months while patrolling the Sunni enclave of Amiriyah. On top of that, the 41-year-old battalion commander was doubled up with a stomach flu when, late on May 29, he received a cellphone call that would change everything.

'We're going after al-Qaeda,' a leading local imam said, Kuehl recalled. 'What we want you to do is stay out of the way.'

'Sheik, I can't do that. I can't just leave Amiriyah and let you go at it.'

'Well, we're going to go.'" Read complete post here.

Police chief’s house ambushed in Iraq - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

Police chief’s house ambushed in Iraq - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com: "BAGHDAD - Carloads of attackers descended on a police chief’s house northeast of Baghdad at dawn Friday, killing the official’s wife, two brothers and 11 guards, and kidnapping three of his grown children, Diyala provincial police reported.

The attack outside Baqouba, which came when the police chief was not at home, was one of the boldest and bloodiest in months of stepped-up violence around the city, where al-Qaida in Iraq and affiliated groups have been fighting U.S. and Iraqi forces and local insurgents who have turned against al-Qaida.

Elsewhere in northern Iraq, bombings struck a Shiite mosque in a town near the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, killing at least 13 people and wounding 14, police said." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Why did Israel attack USS Liberty?

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Why did Israel attack USS Liberty?: "For former US seaman Gary Brummett, the 40th anniversary of the 1967 Middle East war has stirred painful memories.

As a 21-year-old third class petty officer, Mr Brummett was serving on board the USS Liberty off the coast of Egypt on 8 June, when, without warning, the vessel came under fire, first from fighter planes, then torpedo boats.

The attack, which lasted at least 40 minutes, resulted in the deaths of 34 of Mr Brummett's fellow crewmen, at least 170 injured and catastrophic damage to the ship.

Alarmingly, the assault had been carried out not by enemy forces, but by the US' closest regional ally, Israel.

Israel insists it mistook the Liberty for a hostile Egyptian ship, the El Quseir, and numerous US and Israeli inquiries have concluded the attack was accidental.

But for Mr Brummett and a growing body of conspiracy theorists, the authorities are guilty of a cover-up.

'I have more trouble with it today than when it happened because I know more of the facts about what was going on,' said Mr Brummett.

'There's been an egregious wrong done here, there's been an extreme number of lies told to the American people and the American people do not know the truth about what happened." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Europe | First CIA rendition trial opens

BBC NEWS | Europe | First CIA rendition trial opens: "The first criminal trial over the CIA's 'extraordinary rendition' of terror suspects has opened in Italy.

Twenty-six Americans and six Italians are accused of kidnapping a Muslim cleric from Italy and sending him to Egypt, where he was allegedly tortured.

The American CIA agents and military personnel will be tried in absentia. Italy has not announced if it will seek their extradition to the Milan trial.

US President George W Bush arrived in Italy hours after the trial began.

Mr Bush will have his first meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican on Saturday and will later hold talks with Italy's prime minister, Romano Prodi.

Mr Prodi has already said that the extraordinary rendition case will not be on the agenda." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | UN condemns Ahmadinejad comments

BBC NEWS | Middle East | UN condemns Ahmadinejad comments: "UN chief Ban Ki-moon has said he was 'shocked and dismayed' at recent comments by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad about Israel.

Iran's official news agency reported Mr Ahmadinejad saying that the world would soon see Israel's destruction.

He said the war between Israel and Hezbollah in 2006 showed for the first time Israel's weakness.

The Iranian leader is a trenchant critic of Israel and has said the Holocaust of European Jewry is a myth." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq police chief's children held

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq police chief's children held: "Gunmen in Iraq have attacked the house of a senior police officer, killing his wife and 13 other people and taking away three of his children.

The attack took place late on Thursday on the house of Col Ali al-Jurani, the head of emergency police in the town of Kanaan, in Diyala province.

Diyala has been the scene of some of the worst violence in Iraq.

Meanwhile two double bombings - one in the south of Iraq and one in the north - killed at least 34 people in total.

Hundreds of people die every month in attacks which have brought Iraq to the brink of civil war.

Millions of people have also been displaced by the spiralling sectarian strife." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Police die in Afghanistan blasts

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Police die in Afghanistan blasts: "At least two policemen have been killed in Afghanistan by a bomb which blew up their patrol vehicle in the province of Kandahar, police say.

They say that two others were injured in the roadside blast near the Pakistani border.

Another policeman was killed on Thursday in neighbouring Zabul province, police say.

Kandahar has seen an increasing number of attacks by the Taleban. No group has so far said it carried out the blasts." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Hindu sites 'only for Hinduism'

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Hindu sites 'only for Hinduism': "The government of the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has banned the propagation of other religions in the holy places of Hindus across the state.

The authorities say the move is to ensure that Hindu sentiments in holy places are not offended.

It follows a row over alleged Christian missionary activity around a shrine in the town of Tirumala.

Christian organisations have not reacted, but a Muslim legal expert denounced it as unconstitutional.

The ordinance promulgated by the state Governor, Rameshwar Thakuar, came into effect immediately in Tirumala." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Top Afghan law officer assaulted

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Top Afghan law officer assaulted: "Afghanistan's most senior law officer says bodyguards of a top army general physically attacked him while travelling north of the capital, Kabul.

Attorney-General Abdul Jabar Sabet - one of President Hamid Karzai's closest aides - told the BBC that he needed hospital treatment after the attack.

The general, Deen Mohammad Jurat, says he and his men were only acting in self-defence.

Mr Sabet has a reputation for sacking officials suspected of corruption.

The BBC's Bilal Sarwary in Kabul says that the attorney-general's campaign against corruption has earned him many enemies." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Court halts expulsion of Tamils

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Court halts expulsion of Tamils: "Sri Lanka's Supreme Court has ordered the authorities to immediately halt any further evictions of minority Tamils from the capital, Colombo.

Hundreds of Tamils were expelled from the city on Thursday by the government.

They have arrived in a town close to the front line that divides government and Tamil Tiger rebel-held territory.

A defence ministry spokesman said nearly 400 Tamils were expelled because they were part of a plot by rebels to set off bombs in Colombo.

The police have offered no evidence against any of the evicted Tamils.

Later on Friday, President Mahinda Rajapakse ordered the country's top police officer to explain why the Tamils had been forced out of the capital.

Mr Rajapakse's office said he was prepared to take disciplinary action against any government official found to have exceeded their authority." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Expelled from Iran - refugee misery

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Expelled from Iran - refugee misery: "The queues of refugees start to pour over the border shortly from first thing in the morning - as they have been doing for the last month.

Ninety thousand people have so far been forcibly returned to Afghanistan from Iran since 21 April, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

Every hour or so another bus arrives on the Iranian side, the people are unloaded, carrying the few possessions they had when they were arrested.

A policeman meets them on the Afghanistan side, and they join a long line of people waiting to pick up the few pieces of charity an aid agency has gathered for them.

They get water, biscuits and a bundle of clothes. They can also make a free phone call to relatives to let them know where they are.

Then they get a free 120 km bus trip from the border post to the city of Herat where they are left to start all over again in a country where they used to live." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Europe | CIA rejects secret jails report

BBC NEWS | Europe | CIA rejects secret jails report: "The CIA has dismissed a Council of Europe report alleging that it ran secret jails for terror suspects in Europe after the 11 September attacks.

A CIA spokesman said the report was biased and distorted, and that the agency had operated lawfully.

Swiss Senator Dick Marty, who wrote the report, said secret CIA prisons 'did exist in Europe from 2003 to 2005, in particular in Poland and Romania'.

The charge was denied by both Polish and Romanian officials.

Former Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who served from 1995 to 2005, said on Friday: 'There were no secret prisons in Poland.'

Romanian senator Norica Nicolai, who headed an investigation into the allegations, also denied his country's involvement." Read complete post here.

Israeli soldiers kill 2 Palestinians | International | Reuters

Israeli soldiers kill 2 Palestinians | International | Reuters: "HEBRON, West Bank (Reuters) - Israel killed two Palestinian men on Wednesday, one during a raid in the occupied West Bank, and another in an air strike in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian medics and security sources said.

An Israeli military spokeswoman confirmed both incidents.

In the latest attack, Israel fired at two armed Palestinians in Gaza 'who were spotted planting explosives,' the spokeswoman said.

Hamas said that one of its militants was killed in the attack." Read complete post here.

Factional battles kill 616 Palestinians since 2006 | International | Reuters

Factional battles kill 616 Palestinians since 2006 | International | Reuters: "RAMALLAH, West Bank (Reuters) - An estimated 616 Palestinians have been killed in factional fighting since Hamas defeated Fatah in elections in January 2006, a leading Palestinian rights group said on Wednesday.

President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah said earlier this week that Palestinians were at the brink of civil war and the danger posed by factional fighting was equal to and sometimes exceeded the 'danger of occupation' by Israel.

In its annual report, the Palestinian Independent Commission for Citizens' Rights said 345 Palestinians were killed in factional fighting in 2006.

In the first five months of 2007, another 271 Palestinians were killed in factional fighting, the commission said.

A Reuters count puts the number of Palestinians killed by Israelis since January 2006 at 659.

Fighting between Fatah and ruling Hamas Islamists surged late last year and continued into 2007, despite the formation of a Palestinian unity government in March.

The bulk of fighting was in Gaza, the power base of Hamas. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005." Read complete post here.

Weeks before last Baghdad brigade ready: U.S. general | International | Reuters

Weeks before last Baghdad brigade ready: U.S. general | International | Reuters: "BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The final extra U.S. brigade in a security crackdown to prevent all-out civil war in Iraq is unlikely to be fully operational for up to two months, the U.S. military's top spokesman in Iraq said on Wednesday.

Military and civilian deaths have spiked in the past month as thousands more U.S. and Iraqi troops are deployed in Baghdad but U.S. commanders say success cannot be judged until all five brigades are in place.

Car and suicide bombings remain an almost daily occurrence. In Baghdad, two car bombs exploded about two minutes apart in a busy Shi'ite district, killing at least seven people and wounding 25 others, police said." Read complete post here.

Twin car bombs kill seven in Baghdad: police | International | Reuters

Twin car bombs kill seven in Baghdad: police | International | Reuters: "BAGHDAD (Reuters) - At least seven people were killed and 25 wounded when bombs in two parked cars exploded in quick succession in a Shi'ite district in northeastern Baghdad on Wednesday, police said.

The cars were parked by the roadside near a central square in Kadhimiya. The bombs went off about two minutes apart, police said.

The first exploded close to al-Zahra square, a commercial area in central Kadhimiya. The second bomb exploded near a parking lot, commonly used by shoppers, close to a women's jail.

Thousands of extra U.S. and Iraqi troops have been deployed in Baghdad and other areas as part of a security crackdown aimed at averting all-out sectarian civil war between majority Shi'ites and minority Sunni Arabs dominant under Saddam Hussein." Read complete post here.

U.S., Iraqi troops control a third of Baghdad | International | Reuters

U.S., Iraqi troops control a third of Baghdad | International | Reuters: "BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S.-led soldiers control only about a third of Baghdad, the military said on Monday, almost four months into a security crackdown during which troops are dying at rates not seen for more than two years.

More than 18,000 extra U.S. troops have been deployed around Baghdad as part of the campaign, which began in mid-February and is seen as a last-ditch attempt to drag Iraq back from the brink of all-out sectarian civil war.

The last of five brigades to be deployed in the crackdown will be in place soon, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Christopher Garver said, adding that it would not be possible to judge the crackdown's success until all units were in place.

'Obviously we're constantly doing an assessment of the plan, but that plan doesn't kick in until everyone's here. We control about a third of the neighborhoods,' he said." Read complete post here.

U.S. hands over $10 mln bounty to Philippine Muslims | International | Reuters

U.S. hands over $10 mln bounty to Philippine Muslims | International | Reuters: "JOLO, Philippines (Reuters) - The United States handed over $10 million in bounties to four Muslim men in the southern Philippines on Thursday for their role in the killing of two leaders of the country's deadliest Islamic militant group.

U.S. ambassador Kristie Kenney handed over briefcases containing crisp 1,000-peso bills to the men on the southern island of Jolo, the bastion of the Abu Sayyaf militants. They wore black hoods during the ceremony to conceal their identities.

Two of the men were former Abu Sayyaf rebels who turned themselves in and led Philippine soldiers to the grave of their leader. They shared $5 million.

Two Muslim farmers who tipped off army commandos about another militant leader who was then killed in a gunbattle in January shared another $5 million bounty.

'I will be proud to give another $10 million to any citizen who will step forward to keep the rest of us safe,' Kenney said. The briefcases contained only a symbolic amount of money, and each man would receive $2.5 million, officials said." Read complete post here.

Saudi Arabia says detains 11 suspected militants | International | Reuters

Saudi Arabia says detains 11 suspected militants | International | Reuters: "RIYADH (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia has detained 11 suspected Islamist militants over the past 48 hours including one involved in an attack on a major Saudi oil installation, the state news agency said on Thursday.

SPA quoted an interior ministry official as saying that all 11 detainees were Saudi nationals who spread and financed Islamist militancy and that one was involved in an attack on the Abqaiq facility in February 2006.

The suspects' assets had been confiscated, it added, giving no more details.

'The Interior Ministry announces this to affirm its determination to confront those that belong to the deviant group,' it said." Read complete post here.

British soldier killed, three wounded in Iraq | International | Reuters

British soldier killed, three wounded in Iraq | International | Reuters: "BASRA, Iraq (Reuters) - One British soldier was killed and three wounded on Thursday when they came under machinegun and rocket-propelled grenade fire during a raid near the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the British military said.

A British spokesman in Basra, Major David Gell, said the dead soldier, from 4th Battalion The Rifles, was killed during an early morning search and detention operation in which five men were detained and a large arms cache uncovered.

The incident took place in the al-Atiya district northwest of Basra, he said.

April was the bloodiest month for British forces in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. A total of 150 soldiers have now been killed." Read complete post here.

Suicide bomber kills 9 in Iraq attack on police HQ | International | Reuters

Suicide bomber kills 9 in Iraq attack on police HQ | International | Reuters: "MOSUL, Iraq (Reuters) - A suicide truck bomber killed nine people and wounded 22, including five British civilian contractors, in an attack in an Iraqi town near the Syrian border on Thursday, police said.

The bomber rammed the police headquarters and adjacent municipal building in the town of Rabea, northwest of Mosul in northern Iraq, police said.

The truck was packed with a large quantity of explosives and bodies were buried in the rubble of the destroyed buildings. Four policemen were among the dead.

Police said five Britons were among the wounded and had been evacuated for treatment. It was not immediately clear why they had been in the area, but many Britons are employed in Iraq as security contractors." Read complete post here.

Iraq's Sadr says Arab states must help for own sake | International | Reuters

Iraq's Sadr says Arab states must help for own sake | International | Reuters: "BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose feared Mehdi Army militia is accused of receiving arms and training from Iran, called on Arab states on Thursday to help end Iraq's suffering.

In his first interview since reappearing in public two weeks ago, Sadr rejected outside interference in Iraq, including from Iran, repeated his description of U.S. forces as 'occupiers' and blamed Washington for Iraq's violence and political instability.

In a rare interview aired late on Thursday on Iraq's al-Iraqiya television, Sadr called on Arab states to cooperate and to help 'put an end to the suffering of Iraqis'.

'We are not in need of anyone. The Arab states are in need of Iraq because security in Iraq is a part of their security,' the charismatic young cleric said." Read complete post here.

Gunmen kill journalist in Iraq's Mosul | International | Reuters

Gunmen kill journalist in Iraq's Mosul | International | Reuters: "BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A journalist working with the independent Aswat al-Iraq news agency in the northern Iraqi city of Mosul was killed by gunmen on Thursday, the agency said.

Sahar al-Haideri was married with three daughters, the agency said. Her body was found in the al-Hadbaa neighborhood of northeastern Mosul.

'Unknown armed people killed her today at noon,' Aswat al-Iraq (Voice of Iraq) said in a statement.

New York-based media watchdog the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemned the killing and said the gunmen who murdered her had answered her cell phone afterwards and told the caller 'she went to hell.'" Read complete post here.

World Crises | Reuters.com | Plans ready for UN Darfur force but not deployment

World Crises | Reuters.com | Plans ready for UN Darfur force but not deployment: "UNITED NATIONS, June 6 (Reuters) - The United Nations and the African Union were close to a deal on Wednesday on fielding 23,000 peacekeepers in Sudan's violent Darfur region, but full deployment is not expected until next year at the earliest.

The so-called 'hybrid' U.N.-A.U. force is the culmination of two earlier stages allowing the United Nations to bolster 7,000 beleaguered African Union troops.

Sudan has still to agree to the large force, after it refused to have an operation controlled solely by the United Nations. Top U.N. and AU officials approved a revised plan, which the AU's Peace and Security Committee and the U.N. Security Council are expected to endorse.

Should Sudan delay approval, the United States and Britain want to push for sanctions, including a no-fly zone over Darfur to help put an end to fighting that has uprooted more than 2 million people. Experts estimate 200,000 people have died." Read complete post here.

Italian, UK police break up Islamic militant cell | International | Reuters

Italian, UK police break up Islamic militant cell | International | Reuters: "MILAN (Reuters) - Italian and British police arrested nine suspected members of a North African Islamic militant group linked to al Qaeda, which had the potential to strike targets in Europe, Italian police said on Thursday.

The arrests targeted a cell of the al Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb, previously known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, or GSPC, police in Milan said. The nine arrested were Tunisians.

Police said the cell was a financial and logistical base sending money to camps in Afghanistan, but also recruited fighters and had links to attacks in Tunisia and Algeria this year." Read complete post here.

Bombers in Iraq kill 19, reporter shot dead | International | Reuters

Bombers in Iraq kill 19, reporter shot dead | International | Reuters: "BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Bombers struck in Baghdad and at a police headquarters in a northern Iraqi border town on Thursday, killing 19 people, and gunmen shot a reporter in the latest attack targeting Iraqi journalists.

In the worst violence, a suicide bomber driving a truck packed with explosives rammed a police headquarters and adjoining municipal building in the northern town of Rabea, near the Syrian border, killing nine people, police said.

The attack, which also wounded 22 people, including five British civilian contractors, largely destroyed both buildings, police said." Read complete post here.

Rival Palestinians factions clash in Gaza | International | Reuters

Rival Palestinians factions clash in Gaza | International | Reuters: "GAZA (Reuters) - Rival Hamas and Fatah forces clashed in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, killing at least one person and injuring 12 others, in the worst flare-up of factional fighting in almost three weeks.

The fighting spread across the southern Gaza town of Rafah as Hamas and Fatah gunmen set up checkpoints and took up positions on rooftops, two days after President Mahmoud Abbas of Fatah said Palestinians were standing on the brink of civil war.

Israel is considering a new request from secular Fatah to allow shipments of arms and ammunition into Gaza from Egypt and other Arab states, Israeli and Western security sources said. Palestinian officials had no immediate comment." Read complete post here.

U.S. hopes Pakistan will not move to emergency rule | International | Reuters

U.S. hopes Pakistan will not move to emergency rule | International | Reuters: "WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Imposition of emergency rule would be a step backward for Pakistan and the United States hopes President Pervez Musharraf doesn't take such action, a senior U.S. official said on Thursday.

The official told Reuters the Bush administration was not aware of any plans by Musharraf to declare emergency rule but acknowledged fears among Pakistanis that this could happen.

'If he did that, it would be a significant step backward and ... of course we would not want it to happen,' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter." Read complete post here.

Turkish troops conduct exercises near Iraqi border | International | Reuters

Turkish troops conduct exercises near Iraqi border | International | Reuters: "CIZRE, Turkey (Reuters) - The rocky hills of Sirnak province echoed with the boom of tank shells fired by Turkish troops on Thursday in military exercises near the Iraqi border.

Reports of a cross-border operation against Kurdish rebels based in northern Iraq fuelled tensions in the area on Wednesday although Turkey denied it had launched a major incursion.

The army has since announced a ban on all land and air travel between Iraq and three Turkish provinces, including Sirnak, as part of its operations against rebels of the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).

A Turkish newspaper said the 'temporary security area', which will be locked down between June 9 and September 9, would also be used for air force training exercises." Read complete post here.

Lebanese Islamists seek surrender of camp militants | U.S. | Reuters

Lebanese Islamists seek surrender of camp militants | U.S. | Reuters: "TRIPOLI, Lebanon (Reuters) - Lebanese Islamists on Thursday sought the surrender of al Qaeda-inspired militants locked in deadly battles with troops at a Palestinian refugee camp but the group said it would not give itself up.

Two members of Lebanon's Islamic Action Front, which includes Sunni politicians and clerics, went to the Nahr al-Bared camp for talks with Fatah al-Islam's military commander Shahin Shahin, the Front's leader Fathi Yakan said.

'(Fatah al-Islam) have reached a dead end. They can only surrender,' Yakan said in the city of Tripoli, just south of Nahr al-Bared. 'The only thing that will convince them is sharia (Islamic law), and religious reason.'" Read complete post here.

CIA agents go on trial in Italy before Bush visit | U.S. | Reuters

CIA agents go on trial in Italy before Bush visit | U.S. | Reuters: "MILAN (Reuters) - Hours before President George W. Bush visits Italy, 26 U.S. citizens go on trial in absentia in Milan on Friday accused of carrying out one of Washington's most controversial policies in its war on terrorism.

The U.S. citizens, almost all believed to be CIA agents, have been charged with kidnapping a Muslim in Milan in 2003 who was on Washington's list of terrorist suspects and flying him to Egypt where he says he was tortured under interrogation.

Italian spies, including the former head of the country's SISMI intelligence agency, are accused of helping the U.S. citizens carry out the so-called extraordinary rendition." Read complete post here.

Rights groups press U.S. on ‘ghost detainees’ - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com

Rights groups press U.S. on ‘ghost detainees’ - U.S. Security - MSNBC.com: "LONDON - A coalition of human rights groups is demanding the United States account for 39 terror suspects it believes have been secretly imprisoned and published their names in a report being released Thursday.

Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and four other groups have drawn up a list of 39 so-called “ghost detainees” — people they claim are held by U.S. authorities and are still missing.

“What we’re asking is where are these 39 people now, and what’s happened to them since they ’disappeared’?” Joanne Mariner of Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

CIA spokesman Paul Gimigliano said “there’s a lot of myth outside government when it comes to the CIA and the fight against terror.”

“The plain truth is that we act in strict accord with American law, and that our counterterror initiatives — which are subject to careful review and oversight — have been very effective in disrupting plots and saving lives,” Gimigliano said. “The United States does not conduct or condone torture.”

Information about the detainees was gleaned from interviews with former prisoners — such as Marwan Jabour, an Islamic militant who claims to have spent two years in CIA custody — and officials in the U.S., Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Yemen, she said." Read complete post here.

U.S. gives terror informants $10 million - International Terrorism - MSNBC.com

U.S. gives terror informants $10 million - International Terrorism - MSNBC.com: "MANILA, Philippines - The U.S. ambassador to the Philippines handed over a $10 million reward Thursday to four Filipino informants whose tip led to the killing of the country’s two top terror suspects, the U.S. Embassy said.

It was the largest reward given so far by Washington in a campaign to wipe out al-Qaida-linked militants in the southern Philippines, where the U.S. military has been training and advising Filipino troops.

The U.S. promised a reward of up to $5 million each for Abu Sayyaf chieftain Khadaffy Janjalani, who was slain in a September clash on southern Jolo island, and his presumed successor, Abu Sulaiman, who was killed on Jolo in January.

“Information provided by the brave Filipino citizens recognized today was instrumental in assisting the Armed Forces of the Philippines to track down and locate these two terrorist leaders,” the embassy said in a statement.

The four men, wearing masks to protect their identities, received the money in five black plastic suitcases at the Jolo provincial capitol complex from embassy officials." Read complete post here.

British soldier shot dead in southern Iraq - MSNBC Wire Services - MSNBC.com

British soldier shot dead in southern Iraq - MSNBC Wire Services - MSNBC.com: "LONDON - A British soldier has been shot dead while on a search and detention operation in the southern Iraqi city of Basra, the Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.

It said the dead soldier was with the 4th Battalion The Rifles, whose patrol came under small arms fire early on Thursday in the Al Atiyah district northwest of Basra City.

Three other members of the Multi National Forces were injured in the operation, but their injuries are not believed to be life-threatening, the ministry said.

The death brings to 150 the number of British soldiers killed in Iraq since the U.S-led invasion of March 2003." Read complete post here.

Big Turkey incursion in Iraq would be US nightmare - MSNBC Wire Services - MSNBC.com

Big Turkey incursion in Iraq would be US nightmare - MSNBC Wire Services - MSNBC.com: "WASHINGTON - A large-scale invasion of Northern Iraq by Turkish forces would be a nightmare for the United States and could destabilize the one part of the country that is relatively calm, analysts said Thursday.

A Web site report Wednesday that 50,000 Turkish troops poured into Northern Iraq to fight Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) guerrillas set off alarms in Washington, where U.S. officials scurried to try to find out what, if anything, had happened.

While Turkish, U.S. and Iraqi officials denied any major incursion had taken place, a military source said Turkish troops conducted a limited raid across the mountainous border." Read complete post here.

3 Turk Soldiers Killed in Security Zone - MSNBC Wire Services - MSNBC.com

3 Turk Soldiers Killed in Security Zone - MSNBC Wire Services - MSNBC.com: "ISTANBUL, Turkey - Turkey's military command declared its 'unshakable determination' early Friday to defeat Kurdish separatists hours after a roadside bomb killed three Turkish soldiers and wounded six.

The attack Thursday evening occurred in one of several 'temporary security zones' that the military had just declared along the Iraq border during its campaign against the guerrillas.

Authorities blamed the Kurdish rebels for the blast, which came amid increasing activity by Turkish troops along the frontier that has fed concerns the army might stage a large-scale offensive against rebel bases in the predominantly Kurdish region of northern Iraq." Read complete post here.

Turkey sets ’security zones’ near Iraq - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

Turkey sets ’security zones’ near Iraq - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com: "ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey has declared several areas near the border with Iraq to be “temporary security zones” in a sign of increasing activity by the military in its campaign against Kurdish rebels.

The declaration Wednesday came amid a Turkish military buildup on the border, and on the same day as Turkish security officials and an Iraqi Kurdish official said hundreds of Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish guerrillas who launch raids into Turkey. Turkey’s foreign minister denied there was a cross-border operation.

The military did not clarify what it meant by “temporary security zones,” but some Turkish media reports Thursday said the areas would be off-limits to civilian flights. Others said the zones meant that additional security measures would be implemented, and entry into the regions would be restricted and tightly controlled." Read complete post here.

Bush nominee worries Iraq can't do more - Politics - MSNBC.com

Bush nominee worries Iraq can't do more - Politics - MSNBC.com: "WASHINGTON - The Army general picked by President George W. Bush to become his war adviser said Thursday he has serious misgivings about the Iraqi government's ability to take control of the country, no matter how much pressure the United States applies.

'The question in my mind is not to what extent can we force them or lever them to a particular outcome but rather to what degree do they actually have the capacity themselves to produce that outcome,' Lt. Gen. Douglas Lute said during his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

'And if produced or if pressed too hard will we, in turn, end up with an outcome that isn't really worth the paper it's written on?' he added." Read complete post here.

NBC: ‘Al-Qaida franchises' spreading - International Terrorism - MSNBC.com

NBC: ‘Al-Qaida franchises' spreading - International Terrorism - MSNBC.com: "BEIRUT, Lebanon — One Palestinian refugee camp here in northern Lebanon is today a smoldering, sniper-infested, booby-trapped battlefield where a few hundred al-Qaida inspired fighters have been making an Alamo-like last stand against the Lebanese army.

Another refugee camp in the south seems to be heading in the same direction, and there are more, many more, al-Qaida-inspired time bombs like these slowly ticking away in Lebanon and throughout the Middle East.

The jihad-inspired militants fighting Lebanese troops today in what’s left of the shelled, scorched and bullet-strafed Nahr al-Barid camp are from a small cell called Fatah al-Islam, “Islamic victory,” but the name isn’t important. There are other groups here too, Jund al-Sham, “Soldiers of the Levant,” Esbat al-Ansar, “League of Partisans,” and Al-Qaeda fi Bilad al-Sham, “al-Qaida in the Levant.”

While the names are unimportant (they change as the factions split off and meld into each other), don’t ignore the groups. It didn’t work for Lebanon, and won’t work for the rest of the Middle East and the United States." Read complete post here.

U.S. death toll in Iraq tops 3,500 - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com

U.S. death toll in Iraq tops 3,500 - Conflict in Iraq - MSNBC.com: "BAGHDAD - Another U.S. soldier was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq, the military said Thursday, pushing the four-year death toll for American forces to 3,501, according to an Associated Press tally.

The count includes 23 deaths in the first six days of June, an average of about four per day.

The soldier was killed Wednesday when a roadside bomb exploded during combat operations in a southwestern section of Baghdad, a military statement said. It added that two other soldiers were wounded in the attack and evacuated to a coalition medical facility.

The soldiers’ names were withheld pending notification of relatives.

The Bush administration has warned that the current troop buildup in and around Baghdad will result in more U.S. casualties as American troops increasingly come into contact with enemy forces.

Brig. Gen. Kevin J. Bergner told reporters Wednesday that the last of five brigades earmarked for the buildup will arrive in the “next couple of weeks,” but may take up to two months to establish itself as fully operational." Read complete post here.

Lebanon sees bombing, sniper killing - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com

Lebanon sees bombing, sniper killing - Mideast/N. Africa - MSNBC.com: "BEIRUT, Lebanon - Islamic militants killed a soldier Thursday in a Palestinian camp where violence has raged for three weeks, and a bombing in a Christian town killed at least one man in the latest in a string of explosions that has shaken Lebanon since the fighting erupted.

In eastern Lebanon, an army raid on a suspected militant hideout uncovered vehicles rigged with explosives that were hidden in a garage with several rockets.

Tensions have been high in Lebanon since fighting broke out May 20 between the army and Fatah Islam militants in the northern Nahr el-Bared refugee camp. There also have been clashes at the Ein el-Hilweh camp in the south and several bombings in the Beirut area, sparking fears of spreading chaos.

The soldier was shot by Fatah Islam snipers in the Nahr el-Bared camp, security officials said. Earlier, the al-Qaida-inspired militants attacked an armored personnel carrier, wounding three soldiers, and the army retaliated by firing artillery, tanks and machine guns.

The bomb exploded in an industrial area in Zouk Mousbeh, 12 miles north of Beirut and near the town of Jounieh in the country's Christian heartland, security officials said. It set off fires in several buildings.

Civil defense workers pulled a man's body from a gutted building. Three other men were wounded in the blast, officials said.

Lebanese Broadcasting Corp. television said the area targeted consisted of about 300 shops that sell paint and other flammable materials to industrial customers. Stored gas and oxygen containers swiftly caught fire in the blast." Read complete post here.

G-8 OKs 'substantial cuts' in carbon - Climate Change - MSNBC.com

G-8 OKs 'substantial cuts' in carbon - Climate Change - MSNBC.com: "HEILIGENDAMM, Germany - Group of Eight leaders on Thursday agreed on a plan calling for 'substantial cuts' to greenhouse gas emissions, but the compromise with President Bush left France's leader wishing a stronger stand had been taken.

The leaders failed to overcome U.S. resistance to committing to specific numerical targets to curb global warming, but did refer to the European Union goal of cutting emissions by 50 percent by 2050.

'In terms of targets, we agreed on clear language ... that recognizes that (rises in) CO2 emissions must first be stopped and then followed by substantial cuts,' German Chancellor and G-8 host Angela Merkel told reporters.

The summit text confirmed that the world's leading industrialized nations would act to stem the rise in global warming gases, followed by 'substantial' reductions — the most serious commitment to date by the United States, the world's largest carbon emitter.

Leaders also vowed to pursue a new global climate deal by 2009 that would extend and broaden the U.N.-brokered Kyoto Protocol." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Twenty killed by cyclone in Oman

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Twenty killed by cyclone in Oman: "At least 20 people were killed when Cyclone Gonu struck the Gulf country of Oman, emergency officials say.

The storm was the strongest to hit the Gulf for decades, damaging buildings and trees in Oman's capital, Muscat, and leaving many roads flooded.

High winds and heavy rain were also reported, and electricity and water supplies were interrupted.

The cyclone has carried on north-west, gradually weakening as it approaches the Iranian coast.

Residents along the coast of southern Iran have moved to higher ground and sought shelter in schools and mosques.

There have been three reported fatalities, when a river in the southern port of Jask burst its banks and floodwater overturned a vehicle." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Fatah man shot dead in Gaza clash

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Fatah man shot dead in Gaza clash: "Hamas militants in Gaza have shot dead a member of the rival Fatah party, in the first eruption of Palestinian infighting after a two-week truce.

The man was killed when the home of his brother, a Fatah official, was surrounded by militants from Hamas.

Nine people were also hurt in the confrontation in the southern Gaza town of Rafah, hospital officials said.

Factional fighting between Hamas party and its Fatah rivals frequently erupts in the impoverished Gaza strip.

Recent truce deals between the two have been fragile.

More than 50 people were killed in the latest wave of fighting before a ceasefire deal came into effect.

Earlier this week, the Fatah leader and president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, warned that the factional violence could spill into civil war." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Europe | Italy police hold 10 'Islamists'

BBC NEWS | Europe | Italy police hold 10 'Islamists': "Italian police have arrested at least 10 suspected Islamist militants who are believed to be linked to the bombings that rocked Algiers in April.

The suspects, held in Milan, allegedly provided logistical and financial support for the militants in Algeria.

Two blasts killed at least 30 people and injured 160 in Algiers.

A group called the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat said it carried out the attacks. It later changed its name to al-Qaeda in the Maghreb.

Police said the suspects were also believed to be linked to Islamist activities in Tunisia in January.

The Milan suspects are reported to be Tunisians.

One of those targeted by police was named as Essid Sami Ben Khemais. He was about to leave jail after serving a sentence of six years and two months, but now a new detention warrant has been served for him, the Italian news website Il Giornale says.

The police raids followed a tip-off from Tlili Lazar, an Islamist extradited from France in November 2006, who is now co-operating with police, Il Giornale says." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US accused over 'ghost detainees'

BBC NEWS | Americas | US accused over 'ghost detainees': "Human rights groups have asked the US to reveal the whereabouts of 39 people who have allegedly been held in secret CIA-run prisons.

A report compiled by six human rights groups listed the names of people who remain unaccounted for after having passed through US custody.

The groups urged the US to stop using secret prisons for terror suspects.

The US last year admitted the existence of such prisons in its 'war on terror' but said they were no longer in use.

President George W Bush said last September that all secret prison sites were 'empty'." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Corruption 'damaging education'

BBC NEWS | UK | Education | Corruption 'damaging education': "Bribery and corruption damage universities and schools across the world, according to a report for the UN's education wing, Unesco.

The study says education is plagued by rigged tendering processes, academic fraud and bribes over places and posts.

Academic fraud, such as fake degrees, is more common in the United States than in developing countries, it says.

The study of more than 60 countries says that in some, illegal use of funds meant for schools can be very high.

This loss between ministries and schools - or 'leakage' as it is called - can be as much as 80% of the non-salary cash for schools.

Recent surveys have shown that ghost teachers on school payrolls represent 5% of the payroll in Honduras and 15% in Papua New Guinea, according to the survey." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi police round up militants

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Saudi police round up militants: "Saudi Arabia says it has detained 11 militants in the past two days, including one allegedly involved in an 2006 attack on a major oil facility.

The official news agency said the men, all Saudi nationals, were involved in inciting and financing the activities of what it called a deviant group.

It is the latest in a number of raids targeting suspected militants.

Saudi Arabia has been battling militants linked to al-Qaeda since a wave of bombings and shootings in 2003.

The attacks in 2003 and since have claimed the lives of nearly 300 security personnel, militants and Saudi and foreign civilians.

Saudi officials periodically claim to have crushed the insurgency but, although they have shut down part of the network, correspondents say the continuation of attacks suggests the problem is deep-rooted.

In April, the Saudi authorities announced the capture of 170 suspects, some of whom they said had been training as pilots for suicide missions." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Bomb kills one in Lebanese town

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Bomb kills one in Lebanese town: "A bomb has hit a Christian industrial area to the north of the Lebanese capital Beirut, killing one person and injuring several others, police say.

The explosion caused a fire in a factory in Zouk Mosbeh, near the town of Jounieh, police said.

There have been several bombings in and around Beirut since Lebanese troops began battling militants in a Palestinian refugee camp on 20 May.

On Monday a bomb exploded on an empty bus in Beirut, injuring seven people.

A police source told AFP news agency that a car bomb hit a warehouse used to fill oxygen cylinders.

A Lebanese foreman was killed and three Syrian workers were injured, the police source said. Most other workers had left the area for the day.

Firefighters and police rushed to the scene of the explosion and cordoned off the area.

Lebanese television pictures showed a badly damaged building and several destroyed cars.

The fighting at the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp near Tripoli in northern Lebanon, is the country's worst violence since the end of its civil war 17 years ago." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US army holds 32 in Iraqi raids

BBC NEWS | Middle East | US army holds 32 in Iraqi raids: "The US military in Iraq says it has detained 32 suspected militants in a series of overnight raids.

Some 16 were seized in Sadr City in Baghdad, a stronghold of Shia militias where US and Iraqi troops have been searching for five abducted Britons.

In north-western Iraq, at least nine people died in a suicide truck bomb attack on a police post in Rabia.

The new spokesman for the US military in Iraq has defended the recent 'surge' in troops aimed at tightening security.

The US military said the men detained overnight were suspected members of a network involved in bringing sophisticated bomb components into Iraq from Iran." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq Shias 'attack' Sunni mosques

BBC NEWS | Middle East | Iraq Shias 'attack' Sunni mosques: "A prominent Iraqi Sunni party says Shia militiamen have attacked two Sunni mosques in Baghdad.

The Iraqi Islamic Party says the militiamen, backed by commando troops, raised their banners over the Rahman and Fataah Basha mosques.

The party says many Sunnis have been forced to flee the area. The mosques are in the Bayaa district, an area with a mix of Sunni and Shia residents.

The Shia-dominated government has not commented on the latest accusations.

It has said in the past that it is working to reduce sectarian tensions.

Sunni leaders have repeatedly complained that their community's mosques in Baghdad are under threat but the government is doing nothing about it." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Americas | US 'war tsar' had doubts on surge

BBC NEWS | Americas | US 'war tsar' had doubts on surge: "The general nominated to be the first US 'war tsar' has said he had initial doubts about the US troop surge in Iraq but that it should be given time.

Lt Gen Douglas Lute, picked last month by President Bush to oversee the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was speaking at his Senate confirmation hearing.

He said he had warned that pouring more troops into Iraq would only work if the Iraqi authorities also made efforts.

The Senate committee is expected to confirm Gen Lute in the post.

Once confirmed, he will report directly to President George W Bush as deputy national security adviser.

Gen Lute, 55, was appointed after a lengthy search in which several candidates apparently turned down the position. He is currently serving as director of operations at the Pentagon." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Afghan woman radio head shot dead

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Afghan woman radio head shot dead: "A female owner of a radio station in Afghanistan has been shot dead.

Zakia Zaki was shot seven times, including in the chest and head, as she slept with her 20-month-old son at her home north of Kabul, officials say.

The governor of Parvan province, where the attack took place, told the BBC he did not know who killed her. No one has admitted carrying out the attack.

Her murder came just days after a woman newsreader was killed for reasons which were described as 'family-related'." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan complainant goes missing

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Pakistan complainant goes missing: "A man who went to court in Pakistan blaming senior administration and police officials for last month's Karachi riots has gone missing.

Iqbal Kazmi's wife, Sadia, says she has not heard from him since Wednesday.

Mr Kazmi allegedly blamed Sindh chief minister Arbab Rahim, MQM party chief Altaf Hussain and other senior officials for the 12 May riots.

At least 41 people died in street clashes aimed at stopping the country's chief justice from visiting Karachi.

Suspended by President Pervez Musharraf in March, Pakistan's Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry has become the rallying point for the anti-government movement in the country." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Taleban handed commander's body

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Taleban handed commander's body: "The Taleban say Afghan officials have handed over to them the body of former senior commander Mullah Dadullah in exchange for the release of hostages.

Dadullah, who was killed last month in a battle, has been reburied in southern Kandahar province, the Taleban said.

Four hostages held by the Taleban have been freed, Afghan officials confirm. There is no news of a fifth hostage.

A Taleban spokesman said earlier the man was killed because the government delayed handing over Dadullah's body.

There was no immediate comment on the Taleban claim from the authorities.

The BBC's Charles Haviland in Kabul says government figures have tended to distance themselves from any link between the two issues." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Bangladesh pressed over UN expert

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Bangladesh pressed over UN expert: "UN officials are urging the authorities in Bangladesh to clarify the fate of a UN human rights expert prevented from leaving the country since mid-May.

Sigma Huda, a UN special rapporteur on people trafficking, faces charges under the military-backed caretaker government's anti-corruption drive.

Mrs Huda said the Supreme Court had withdrawn her permission to travel because she was a 'security threat'.

She was due to address the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva next week." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Police evict Tamils from Colombo

BBC NEWS | South Asia | Police evict Tamils from Colombo: "Police in Sri Lanka have forced hundreds of the minority Tamil community out of the capital Colombo for what they say are security reasons.

They launched overnight raids in Tamil areas of the city and forced guests staying in budget hotels onto buses.

Police said that Tamils who were in the capital 'without valid reasons' were made to board buses bound for the north and east of the island.

Police said that the move was necessary amid fears of renewed civil war." Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Business | Saudi prince 'received arms cash'

BBC NEWS | Business | Saudi prince 'received arms cash': "A Saudi prince who negotiated a £40bn arms deal between Britain and Saudi Arabia received secret payments for over a decade, a BBC probe has found.

The UK's biggest arms dealer, BAE Systems, paid hundreds of millions of pounds to the ex-Saudi ambassador to the US, Prince Bandar bin Sultan.

The payments were made with the full knowledge of the Ministry of Defence.

Prince Bandar 'categorically' denied receiving any improper payments and BAE said it acted lawfully at all times.

The MoD said information about the Al Yamamah deal was confidential.

Sir Raymond Lygo, a former chief executive of BAE, told the BBC's World Business Report that there had been 'nothing untoward' about the arms deal.

'I was the one who won the contract,' he said. 'I don't know anything about him (the prince) at all. I would have remembered that name.'" Read complete post here.

BBC NEWS | Africa | Kenya police shoot sect suspects

BBC NEWS | Africa | Kenya police shoot sect suspects: "Police in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, have shot 12 Mungiki suspects during a major crackdown on followers of the banned sect, a commander says.

The police and paramilitaries have sealed off Mathare slum for a third day in a search for guns and sect members.

The BBC's Karen Allen at the scene says she saw several dead bodies being brought out of slum dwellings.

Twenty-one people were killed by police in a shoot-out on Tuesday following the killing of two policemen on patrol.

'When we were arresting, some of them came out shooting. As we fired back, 12 were killed,' police commander Paul Ruto told AP news agency." Read complete post here.

Johann Hari: Iraq's mercenaries - with a licence to kill - Independent Online Edition > Johann Hari

Johann Hari: Iraq's mercenaries - with a licence to kill - Independent Online Edition > Johann Hari: "'These private contractors can get away with murder... They aren't subject to any laws at all'

Iraq is rapidly vanishing into the mists of uncollectable, unknowable news, with information travelling only as far as an Iraqi scream can be heard. But sometimes, if you peer closely, you can glimpse reality. Last week, Shia militiamen seized four 'security contractors' working for the Canadian company Gardaworld. Buried in the story of this small horror is the bigger tale of a vast shift in how Western wars will be fought in the 21st century if the American right has its way - and one of the great lost scandals of this war.

These men are not 'security contractors', nor are they 'civilian operatives', nor 'reconstruction workers'. There are now more of them in Iraq than there are professional soldiers: Britain alone has 21,000 in the country, raking in $1.6bn a year.

As he scurried out the door in 2004, Paul Bremer - the first US viceroy to Iraq - issued Order 17, which exempted all mercenaries operating in the country from having to obey the law. He in effect gave these men a licence to kill - and they are using it, every day.

Yas Ali Mohammed Yassiri was a peaceful 19-year-old Iraqi trying to get on with an ordinary life in a deeply unordinary Baghdad when he boarded a taxi on his street in the Masbah neighbourhood. The mercenaries guarding the US embassy spokesman in Baghdad drove around the corner, so Ali's taxi slowed down - but the convoy opened fire anyway, to clear their path. Ali was hit in the throat and died immediately. Although the US embassy now admits the convoy 'opened fire prematurely', the mercenaries were merely sent home; they are free, happy men." Read complete post here.