"Sudan’s president and the leader of southern rebels met for the first time yesterday, a week after the government and rebels agreed on a framework for talks next month to draft a final peace deal to end the 19-year civil war, an official said. Officials have said the talks will focus on integrating the rebel leaders into the national government," reported the AP news agency.
"The US House of Representatives voted on Friday to create a giant department to protect Americans against terrorism. The White House and Congress have adopted the first anniversary of the Sept 11 attacks as a target date for enactment of a homeland security Bill. Critics complain Bush wants authority to strip labour protections from all workers deemed vital to national security - even if their duties remain the same in the new department," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A woman who says she was pulled off an airplane and asked to take a sex toy out of her luggage after it started vibrating is suing Delta Air Lines, saying she was publicly humiliated," reported the AP news agency.
"US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s peace mission to South Asia got off to an uncertain start yesterday with India saying it was not prepared to resume talks with Pakistan. Powell had said he was not counting on any breakthrough on his trip and his gloomy assessment appeared to be proved right in his first meeting, with Indian Foreign Minister Yashwant Sinha ruling out early dialogue with Pakistan," reported the AFP news service.
"Authorities here said yesterday DNA tests carried out locally showed that a decapitated body found in the southern Pakistani city in May was that of murdered Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider told reporters in the southern port city that separate DNA tests carried out by the United States and provided to Pakistan had been inconclusive," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has ordered the army to ease restrictions on Palestinians amid increasing signs of popular resistance to Israel's five-week occupation of major West Bank towns. Israel was also scheduled to turn over dlrs 15 million to the Palestinian finance minister on Monday, the first of three installments of tax revenues it has withheld for much of the past 22 months of fighting, both sides said. In addition, a statement from Sharon's office said Sharon ordered the army and security services to ease restrictions on Palestinian civilians, including shortening curfews, lifting some roadblocks, and allowing 12,000 Palestinians enter Israel for work," reported the AP news agency.
"Their six-month counterterrorism training exercise has helped the Philippine army weaken the Abu Sayyaf rebels, but American troops are ending their mission this week with the war against the al-Qaida-linked extremists far from finished," reported the AP news agency.
"While the US Government encourages Malaysians to visit the country, it wants all visa applicants to appreciate that vetting procedures have been made stricter. US Ambassador to Malaysia Marie T. Huhtala said all travellers must understand the need for the United States to remain vigilant following the Sept 11 terrorist attacks. Huhtala rejected talks that the United States was off limits to Muslims or that such visitors would be hassled by US authorities," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday ordered an investigation into allegations that a US soldier joined a Filipino military raid and shot an Abu Sayyaf suspect in violation of rules banning them from combat operations. House of Representatives member Satur Ocampo, who is in the south to investigate alleged military abuses during counter-terrorism operations, earlier yesterday said the US soldier should be made to face a congressional probe. He identified the American as one Reggie Lane, who allegedly shot suspect Buyong Isnijal in the leg during a military raid on his home in Basilan last Thursday," reported the AFP news service.
"Pakistan’s two-time former prime minister Benazir Bhutto emerged undisputed leader of her party in time to contest national polls in October, setting the scene for a showdown with the military government of President Pervez Musharraf," reported the AFP news service.
"Sri Lanka is now more optimistic about ending its two decades of civil war than ever before, its Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando said yesterday. He said that since the signing of a ceasefire accord with the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in February, the people of Sri Lanka had seen the dividends of peace, giving realistic hopes for optimism for the first time in the conflict which has claimed some 65,000 lives," reported the Malaysian Bernama news agency.
"A thriving trade in illegal weapons centred on Thailand’s southern coastline and islands is arming rebel groups across Asia and posing a serious security threat to the region, analysts say. Thailand’s status as the best place in Asia to shop for everything from bullets to plastic explosives has been highlighted by a series of weapons seizures over the past year, including one on this popular resort island in early July," reported the AFP news service.
"U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell yesterday urged India to take more steps to ease tensions in its military standoff with nuclear neighbour Pakistan over Kashmir before heading for Islamabad. Powell’s message to both India and Pakistan was to urge the two sides to open negotiations," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Officials and experts are sounding the alarm over a growing humanitarian crisis in Israeli-occupied Palestinian areas, including reports that malnutrition among children is widespread and increasing rapidly," reported the AFP news service.
"Some 300 Taliban prisoners, including the movement’s former foreign minister, are facing hunger and torture in a US military-run jail in southern Afghanistan, a released prisoner brought here for treatment here said at the weekend. The US-led military coalition is holding several hundred former Taliban fighters, captured after during the campaign against them late last year," reported the AFP news service.
"The United States and Southeast Asian nations were set to agree on an accord to prevent, disrupt and combat international terrorism' in the region, officials said Tuesday. U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was expected to arrive in the capital of this oil-rich sultanate later in the day to discuss the agreement with foreign ministers from the 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. A diplomat, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said concerns of nations such as Indonesia and Vietnam, which had objected to an arrangement that would encroach on their national sovereignty, had been fully addressed," reported the AP news agency.
"Mother and son are among about 100 cases of World Trade Center attack survivors whose residency in the United States is in question because their visas were dependent on the work visas of their loved ones. The new law, which also broadens the government's powers to investigate the attack, is of limited use to survivors wishing to remain in the United States permanently. At that point, the legal status of at least some survivors could lapse, leaving them vulnerable to deportation, said Freddi Weintraub, a lawyer helping survivors of 20 foreigners employed by Cantor Fitzgerald who were killed on Sept. 11," reported the AP news agency.
"Congressional investigators are examining now-bankrupt Enron Corp.'s ties with Merrill Lynch & Co., saying the biggest U.S. brokerage firm knowingly participated in deals that Enron used to mask its true financial condition. The Justice Department is investigating one of the transactions in question, in which Enron sold an interest in barges in Nigeria to an offshore company established by Merrill Lynch, according to the brokerage and Senate sources," reported the AP news agency.
"Osama ben Laden’s eldest son, Saad, has taken over the command of the al-Qaeda terror network blamed by Washington for the Sept 11 attacks, the Saudi pan-Arab daily Asharq Al-Awsat reported yesterday. Speculation about Osama’s fate has abounded since the US-led bombardment of al-Qaeda hideouts began," reported the AFP news service.
"A leading member of Britain’s opposition Conservative Party, Alan Duncan, has revealed that he is a homosexual in an interview with a newspaper published yesterday. The Times said Duncan’s declaration received the support of Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith, who is seeking to modernise his party’s image," reported the AFP news service.
"Forget terrorism, announces Osama bin Laden on the front cover of Private Eye, the British satirical magazine. I'm going to be an accountant.Jokes about accountants used to revolve around how boring they are. Now, after the spectacular bankruptcies of Enron and WorldCom and the collapse of their auditor Andersen, many in the profession only wish they were still thought of as dull. Damian Wild, editor of the London-based trade magazine Accountancy Age, said the disgrace of Andersen has brought about a sea change in the way accountants want to be seen," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The United States is exploring the concept of taking Baghdad and one or two key command centres and weapons depots first in the hope of prompting a quick collapse of Saddam Hussein’s government, the New York Times reported yesterday.
"The aim would be to kill or isolate Saddam and pre-empt Iraq’s use of weapons of mass destruction, whether against an incoming force, front-line allies or Israel. The Baghdad-first or inside-out approach would capitalise on the American military’s ability to strike over long distances, manoeuvring forces to envelop a large target," reported the Reuters news agency.
"FBI agents have broken up an Asian prostitution and money-laundering ring spanning several US states, according to press reports on Sunday," reported the AFP news service.
"A draft UN report has found that the United States might have covered up evidence relating to the bombing of an Afghan wedding party earlier this month that killed about 50 people, the London Times reported yesterday. The newspaper said the preliminary report found no corroboration of US claims that its aircraft had launched a retaliatory attack after being fired upon. It had also found other discrepancies in US accounts of what happened. The Times quoted the report as saying that coalition forces had arrived on the scene very quickly after the air strikes and cleaned the area, removing evidence of shrapnel, bullets and traces of blood. US forces had also committed human rights violations by tying up the hands of women at the scene, the paper said. In a statement provided to the Times, a UN spokesman said the report contained judgments not sufficiently substantiated and a comprehensive report was being finalised to provide a more detailed and accurate information," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Over 400 students of Ntare School in Mbarara have pledged not to have sex until they finish their studies and get married," reported the New Vision news agency.
"Five people drowned in Moscow at the weekend as they jumped into rivers and lakes in an attempt to cool off in an ongoing heat wave, the city’s emergency services said yesterday. The report, carried by the Interfax news agency, took the total recorded number of such deaths to 188 since this year’s spate of hot weather began," reported the AFP news service.
"Philippine troops aided by US military advisers and intelligence data have rendered the Abu Sayyaf guerilla group inoperative for nine months, Filipino officials said yesterday. The officials hailed the success of the six-month US military operation in the southern Philippines as a success after American help led to the rescue of the Muslim rebels’ last hostages and the killing of one of their senior leaders, Abu Sabaya," reported the AFP news service.
"Kashmiri militants said yesterday they had closed down training camps in Pakistan-administered Kashmir on the orders of President Pervez Musharraf and the military. Independent analysts agreed that rebel activity on the Pakistan side of the disputed Himalayan region had been sharply curtailed, but added that camps would be mothballed rather than abandoned by a Pakistan army still nervous about the future," reported the Reuters news agency.
"For the second straight day, thousands of Palestinians defied the Israeli army’s around-the-clock curfew and took to the streets of this city as shops and banks opened to accommodate them. Standing at his felafel stand, Tamer Adnan said he resumed working not to fight Israel or its army, he's just fighting to get food for his kids," reported the AFP news service.
"Jewish settlers killed a Palestinian girl while Israeli troops shot dead a Palestinian man and reported capturing a top member of the Hamas Islamic militant group in Middle East violence on Sunday," reported the Reuters news agency.
"North Korea's foreign minister said Wednesday that he would be willing to meet U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell on the sidelines of a regional meeting of South East Asian nations. The U.S. and North Korea are looking to restore high level contacts after several months of uneasy relations since U.S. President George W. Bush referred to North Korea as part of an axis of evil that sponsors terrorism," reported the AP news agency.
"Leaders of three big telecom companies engulfed in accounting scandals faced Senate criticism Tuesday over the excesses of executives who cashed out millions in company stock, while the nation's biggest brokerage denied it knowingly helped Enron hide its true financial condition," reported the AP news agency.
"European stock markets closed lower Tuesday," reported the AP news agency.
"Share prices on the London Stock Exchange closed lower Tuesday," reported the AP news agency.
"An expected bout of profit-taking and a larger-than-expected decline in consumer confidence pressured stocks Tuesday, but the market still managed to hang on to most of its huge rally," reported the AP news agency.
"Osama bin Laden’s son Saad has become a rising star in his father’s terrorist network, gaining so much new authority that US counter-terrorism officials now consider him among their top two dozen targets in al-Qaeda. Saad bin Laden has provided financial and other logistical support for several al-Qaeda operations, said one official, speaking on the condition of anonymity. However, officials have no evidence that Saad is positioned to take over al-Qaeda in the event of his father’s death or capture," reported the AP news agency.
"Hoping to restore investor faith in US companies after a wave of boardroom scandals, President George W. Bush yesterday signed into law a Bill that increases penalties for accounting fraud and provides new grounds for prosecuting corporate corruption," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Afghan authorities have arrested a foreigner in connection with what could have been a devastating bomb attack here, Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah said yesterday. Authorities arrested a man driving a car packed with hundreds of kilogrammes of explosives which plotters planned to detonate in an attack on the president, top officials or Western targets like the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF)," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A giant asteroid that astronomers initially thought could crash into the Earth in about 17 years will instead pass harmlessly by, scientists at Nasa’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory said," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A six-year-old Muslim girl who was expelled from a Singapore school for refusing to remove her headscarf has been sent by her parents to Australia to attend a private religious school, her father said yesterday. Many Muslim women wear headscarves in Singapore, but the government refuses to allow the scarves in schools for fear they could be divisive. Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong has repeatedly defended the ban, saying Singapore can ill afford racial division especially in the wake of the Sept 11 terrorist attacks in New York and the arrest here in December of a group of alleged Islamic extremists involved in a plot to blow up the US Embassy and other western interests," reported the AP news agency.
"The Israeli Cabinet decided yesterday to expel to the Gaza Strip a relative of a West Bank militant who had attacked Israelis, political sources said. The man to be banished, who was not identified, would have 12 hours to appeal against the decision, the sources said. Israel has withheld an estimated US$600mil in tax money over the past 22 months of fighting, debilitating the Palestinian economy and plunging many Palestinians into poverty. Human rights groups say many Palestinian children are suffering from malnutrition and that unemployment is rampant," reported the AFP news service.
"Some of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden’s bodyguards have been captured and are among the prisoners at the US military base in Cuba, US officials said on Tuesday. The men were part of Osama’s entourage, assigned to personally protect the exiled Saudi millionaire. But how much information about Osama they can – or will – give to US authorities remains unclear," reported the AP news agency.
"The United Nations denied on Tuesday it was knuckling under to American pressure by squelching a report from a UN team in Afghanistan sent to the site of a US air strike that killed dozens of civilians celebrating a wedding. Instead of publicly releasing the report, as expected, the world body turned it over to the US and Afghan governments, which were conducting their own joint investigation of the raid," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Sept 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre cost New York US$ 3.2bil in lost tax revenue, according to a report out on Tuesday from the investigative arm of Congress. The report said New York was also hurt by the economic slowdown under way at the time of the attacks as well as economic fallout from the collapse of Enron and accounting firm improprieties," reported the AP news agency.
"Nine foreign terror suspects being held in Britain without trial won an appeal against their detention on Tuesday, in a major blow to the government’s new anti-terrorism laws. A panel of three senior judges ruled that the men’s detention under laws rushed through parliament after the Sept 11 attacks on New York and Washington was unlawful. But they are unlikely to be released immediately because the Home Office said it would challenge the decision," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US-Philippine military exercises in the volatile south of the country ended yesterday, hailed by both sides as a success despite failing to wipe out guerillas linked to the al-Qaeda network," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A judge in the United States has ruled that foreign nationals captured fighting with the Taleban in Afghanistan cannot be tried before a US court. Lawyers for the families of the men - Shafiq Rasul and Asif Iqbal from the UK, Australian David Hicks, and the Kuwaitis - had argued they should have the right to know why they were being held and have access to legal counsel," reported the BBC news agency.
"Seven people have been killed and at least 70 injured in a bomb attack at Jerusalem's Hebrew University. Five of the seven dead are foreigners. Many of the wounded are in a critical condition. Different Palestinian militant groups have vowed to retaliate for the Israeli attack on Gaza. On Tuesday, a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a food stand in Jerusalem, injuring several Israelis and killing himself," reported the BBC news agency.
"President Bush is supporting Senate passage of a $355.4 billion defense bill for next year, even though it falls short of the amount he's seeking for the war on terrorism and other military programs," reported the AP news agency.
"Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld defended the U.S. anti-terrorism war effort Wednesday under sharp criticism from Sen. Max Cleland, D-Ga. Cleland said he was frustrated that the United States has not found Osama bin Laden and his terrorist cadre, arguing that one of the things he learned in Vietnam is that if a terrorist doesn't lose, he wins," reported the AP news agency.
"Saying American companies ought to pay taxes and be good citizens, President Bush acknowledged Wednesday there is a growing problem with U.S. companies relocating to offshore tax havens — an issue Democrats are exploiting with an eye on the fall elections," reported the AP news agency.
"Israeli troops entered the narrow alleyways of the Old City of Nablus early Friday, residents said, after about 150 armored vehicles moved into the West Bank city after midnight. Tanks and armored personnel carriers took up positions in the middle of the city, residents said, and surrounded the Old City," reported the AP news agency.
"Two former WorldCom executives were arrested Thursday on charges of falsifying the books by dlrs 3.8 billion at the now-bankrupt long-distance company - the second time in a week that American business leaders were led away in handcuffs," reported the AP news agency.
"Attorney General John Ashcroft vowed Thursday that corporate executives who commit large-scale fraud will meet the judgment they fear and the punishment they deserve. The Bush administration has sought to fight off criticism by Democrats that officials are too soft on corporate crime because of ties to big business. Criticism from Democrats was immediate. Senate Majority leader Tom Daschle questioned whether the Bush administration was moving forward with its investigation into the fall of Enron," reported the AP news agency.
"Tokyo stocks declined in early trading Friday following sharp overnight falls on Wall Street. The U.S. dollar was lower against the yen," reported the AP news agency.
"European stock markets closed down Thursday, after a disappointing batch of corporate earnings and some gloomy U.S. economic data," reported the AP news agency.
"Share prices were lower on the London Stock Exchange Thursday," reported the AP news agency.
"A string of reminders that the economy is still struggling as well as disappointing earnings at Exxon Mobil irked investors Thursday, and pushed stocks sharply lower," reported the AP news agency.
"It would be a tremendous mistake if US officials ignored warnings from abroad against attacking Iraq, Jordan’s King Abdullah said in an interview published yesterday in The Washington Post. Speaking while the Senate Foreign Relations Committee held hearings on assessing the Iraqi threat, King Abdullah dismissed some US officials’ belief that a democratic Iraq would improve prospects for a Middle East peace. His foreign minister said Jordan had made it clear it refuses to be a launching pad. The king said US officials were mistaking reluctance on the part of US allies to confront the Bush administration over Iraq as support for an attack, adding that the allies may have believed the prospect of war was distant," reported the AFP news service.
"With a simple kiss of Pope John Paul’s ring, Mexican President Vicente Fox has shaken the country’s political system, showing open reverence to the Roman Catholic leader in a nation with a 150-year tradition of strict separation of church and state," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Cyprus police said yesterday they were looking for two men apparently of Arab origin after a Cypriot security guard was stabbed while patrolling a key US monitoring station. A spokesman for the US embassy here said they do not comment on security issues. Yesterday’s attack was the second security scare this year at the US Foreign Broadcasting Information Service," reported the AFP news service.
"The head of Indonesia’s best-known militant Muslim organisation went on trial yesterday over charges of inciting hatred, but the judge quickly postponed the hearing after deciding that the defendant was ill," reported the Reuters news agency. Four Americans, a Frenchman and two Israelis were killed in a Palestinian bomb attack which devastated a crowded cafeteria at Hebrew University here, US and French officials said yesterday. More than 80 people were hurt in the lunchtime blast on Wednesday, which tore through one of the few places in this city where Arabs and Israelis had still lived peacefully together after nearly two years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict," reported the Reuters news agency.
"With talk of U.S. action against Iraq escalating, the Iraqi government Thursday invited the chief U.N. weapons inspector to Baghdad, hinting that inspections could be renewed after nearly four years. Iraq's Foreign Minister Naji Sabri sent a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan saying the government would like chief inspector Hans Blix and U.N. weapons experts to come to Baghdad ``at the earliest agreed upon time'' for technical discussions," reported the AP news agency.
"FBI and Postal Service agents wearing protective gloves conducted a second search Thursday at the apartment of a former Army researcher considered a ``person of interest'' in the investigation of last year's deadly anthrax mailings. The FBI gained a search warrant to look inside Steven J. Hatfill's residence at Detrick Plaza Apartments in Frederick, Md., according to two U.S. government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. Hatfill consented to the first FBI search on June 25 and no warrant was needed," reported the AP news agency.
"Commentators in the Arab and Turkish press are voicing alarm at the possibility of large-scale US military action against Iraq," reported the BBC news agency.
"Tony Blair has tremendous concerns about the prospect of war with Iraq, King Abdullah of Jordan has claimed. The monarch said the British Prime Minister agrees with most international leaders that America's determination to topple Saddam Hussein at all costs is a mistake," reported the BBC news agency.
"American military pundits believe that next time around - if there is a next time - the Iraqis will have to contend with the military equivalent of a hurricane. But such a step would not change the outcome of such a struggle and would, at a stroke, prove one of America's reasons for engaging Saddam's regime in the first place. But such a step would not change the outcome of such a struggle and would, at a stroke, prove one of America's reasons for engaging Saddam's regime in the first place," reported the BBC news agency.
"Palestinian officials have rejected a United Nations report on Israel's assault on a West Bank refugee camp, after it said it found no evidence that Israeli troops had committed a massacre there. Chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat said mass killings of civilians had clearly happened when Israel attacked the Jenin camp in April, calling Israel's actions a war crime," reported the BBC news agency.
"Thousands of Uruguayans staged a four-hour general strike on Thursday to demand wage increases and public works projects, as anaemic banks remained shut in a financial crisis that triggered looting in one poor neighbourhood. Workers in most sectors except health, education and some bank employees walked off the job, shuttering this city of 1.5 million people, to protest against failed policies to end a recession since 1999 that have left one in four unable to meet basic food needs or pay bills," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Facing an increasing possibility of US military action, Iraq gave the first solid indication in nearly four years that it would allow UN weapons inspectors to return and invited the chief inspector to Baghdad for talks. The return of inspectors is a key demand of the UN Security Council and especially of the United States, which has accused Iraq of trying to rebuild its banned weapons programmes and of supporting terrorism," reported the news agencies.
"Israeli troops backed by more than 100 tanks poured into the centre of this West Bank city yesterday, killing three Palestinians as Israel hit back for a Jerusalem university bombing in which seven died. The Israeli army said it was launching a mission to root out a local terror network just two days after the militant Palestinian group Hamas detonated a bomb in a cafeteria at Hebrew University, killing five Americans and two Israelis," reported the Reuters news agency.
"With the help of Scottish soccer fans, Kemal Karic, who became an amputee as a baby during Bosnia’s war, came closer to his dream – to rebuild his house and enjoy soccer even more. At a ceremony on Thursday in the British Embassy here, the 10-year-old Kemal was handed a donation worth almost £4,800 collected by fans of the Scottish national team, the Tartan Army," reported the AFP news service.
"Lashing out at the judge and the lawyers appointed to represent him, Zacarias Moussaoui said he is being set up for conviction as a Sept 11 conspirator by the people duty-bound to protect his rights, according to court papers released on Thursday. There is more than one way to skin a pig, Moussaoui wrote in demanding a court hearing to delve into the preparations his court-appointed attorneys have taken for his defence. Calling his legal team a horde of blood suckers, Moussaoui said his lawyers had informed him this week that they didn’t have the information he was seeking," reported the AP news agency.
"Wrapping up a whirlwind Asian tour, US Secretary of State Colin Powell arrived in the Philippines yesterday to talk about further co-operation in fighting terrorism, but he also is likely to get an earful about tuna. Bomb-sniffing dogs went through news photographers’ gear as part of the tight security that began at the airport and involved putting the military on alert. Riot police kept pro- and anti-American demonstrators apart outside the US Embassy and guarded Powell’s hotel," reported the AP news agency.
"At least a dozen people, including two policemen, suffered minor injuries yesterday as left-wing protesters tried to force their way past police lines at the US Embassy ahead of a visit by Secretary of State Colin Powell. Photographers at the protest rallies near the embassy said about 10 demonstrators suffered bruises after a brief scuffle with anti-riot policemen who blocked their way. Police used their shields to prevent the demonstrators from going near the heavily-guarded embassy. About 200 US supporters, holding placards that said We love America, were allowed to hold a rally in front of the embassy, guarded by police special forces with assault rifles," reported the Reuters news agency.
