Weekly Round Up: George Gets Bush-Whacked, Phoney Tony Answers To His Masters And Americans Get Convicted Of Terrorism

It’s been another crazy week in the world of politics. The midterm election in the US dominated the week, both the senate and congress going to the Democrats, George W definitely got bush-whacked! Phoney Tony Blair of the UK gets asked by his master, into congressional investigations into the war in Iraq. Blair opposed a similar investigation in the UK. We also had Vietnam convicting three US based terrorists who tried to cause an uprising against the Vietnamese government.
An Al-Qaeda plotter who planned to kill thousands of people in the UK and US had also been sentenced to life in the same week as Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller, head of MI5 stated that some 1,600 suspects in 200 terrorist cells were under surveillance. Where did she get those numbers from and why are they not arrested? Apart from US politics, the main news was the massacre in Palestine where the Israel’s armed forces shelled in Beit Hanun that killed 20 Palestinians who were asleep. The US vetoed a UN resolution condemning the attach. The UK abstained from the vote. Apart from the shelling of innocent people there was also the shenanigans of a Gay pride march in Jerusalem. After various protest (some of them violent by orthodox Jews), with even the major of Israel getting threatened, the march was abandoned and replaced by a rally.

Here is all the other news from around the world….

North America
US envoy to UN set to lose job
John Bolton, the United States ambassador to the United Nations, looks likely to lose his job after the Democrats election triumph. Democrats and rebel-Republicans said on Friday that they would oppose Bolton's second nomination as UN ambassador, which was submitted by Bush on Thursday.

Bolton's position expires when the new Congress convenes in January, and he would need to be confirmed to carry on in the post. Democrats have been united in opposing Bolton, who is close to Dick Cheney, the vice president, and there is no chance he could be approved when they take control of the upper chamber.

Al Qaeda gloats over Rumsfeld
A purported audio recording by the leader of Iraq's al Qaeda wing gloated over the resignation of Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, as a top U.S. general said the military was preparing to recommend strategy changes.

Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, said in the recording posted on the Internet on Friday that the group had 12,000 armed fighters and 10,000 others waiting to be equipped to fight U.S. troops in Iraq.

"I tell the lame duck (U.S. administration) do not rush to escape as did your defense minister...stay on the battle ground," he said. He said his group would not rest until it had blown up the presidential mansion in Washington.

"I swear by God we shall not rest from jihad until we...blow up the filthiest house known as the White House," the voice on the recording said.

Rights Group Seeks Charges Against Rumsfeld
The U.S.-based Center for Constitutional Rights again will seek criminal charges against outgoing Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a German court over detainee treatment at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo prisons.

The complaint also will name Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez, former CIA director George Tenet, high-ranking military officers and others.

The center hopes German prosecutors will take up the case under Germany's universal jurisdiction law, which allows them to pursue certain cases originating anywhere in the world, a spokeswoman said on Friday.

The Center for Constitutional Rights is challenging what it considers U.S. torture and indefinite detention of detainees in several court cases. In 2004, the center had asked German prosecutors to file a criminal case against Rumsfeld over the U.S. military abuse of detainees at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

German prosecutors dropped that case. Now the center will try again, this time adding a plaintiff who was detained at the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, the spokeswoman said. The complaint will be forwarded to German federal prosecutors on Tuesday, she said.

Private citizens can file criminal complaints in Germany but it is up to prosecutors to decide whether to pursue charges, the center said. A Pentagon spokesman declined to comment.

Comrades who killed football star Tillman were visually impaired, says latest report
When Pat Tillman, an American football hero, joined up in the wake of the September 11 terror attacks, the Pentagon rushed to praise him. "It is a proud and patriotic thing you are doing," said the Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld. In investigating his "friendly-fire" death in 2004, however, America's brass has been fumbling and evasive.

At last, however, the veil that has shrouded what is surely the most iconic of all the losses taken by the American military since 9/11 is about to be lifted. And what the American public is about to find out is not pretty - at least two of the American soldiers involved were visually impaired.

These and other shocking revelations are contained in what will be the fourth investigation by the American military into what exactly occurred in a remote canyon in eastern Afghanistan in April 2004, when Mr Tillman died after being fired on by members of his own unit.

While the findings of the newest investigation have yet to be published, some of its contents were reported yesterday by the Associated Press, which gained access to a draft copy. The report clearly indicates that all four of those who fired their guns that day had failed to identify their target first. Tragically, it turned out to be Mr Tillman and an Afghan ally.

South America
Panama wins U.N. Security Council seat
Panama won a seat on the U.N. Security Council with the 48th ballot Tuesday after U.S.-backed Guatemala and Venezuela, led by leftist anti-American President Hugo Chavez, dropped out to end a deadlock.

Panama got 164 votes in the 192-member U.N. General Assembly, more than the 120 needed to win a two-year term starting Jan. 1 on the U.N.'s most powerful body. Venezuela got 11 votes, Guatemala 4 votes, and Barbados 1 vote.

The race for the council seat, which began Oct. 16, became highly political because of the U.S. support for Guatemala and Chavez' speech at the General Assembly in September in which he called President Bush "the devil." A number of countries said Chavez' anti-Bush comments hurt Venezuela's chances.

Chile arrests suspected computer hackers
Police in Chile arrested four suspected computer hackers for allegedly belonging to a group accused of breaking into thousands of government Web sites around the globe, including NASA's.

The "Byond" team has been under investigation for eight months with the cooperation of authorities in the United States, Israel and several South American countries, police chief Gerardo Raventos said.

He said the group infiltrated more than 8,000 sites, including that of the U.S. space agency. "These people did not act seeking money, but just for fun," Raventos said.

The four were arrested Monday in the capital of Santiago and the nearby cities of San Bernardo and Rancagua. Prosecutor Mario Schilling said they could be charged with "electronic sabotage" and face prison terms of up to five years. The court gave prosecutors 90 days to file charges.

Fan gives coach advice in ad
A fan of relegation-threatened Brazilian club Fluminense spent around $25,000 (13,000 pounds) on Wednesday to give advice to coach Paulo Cesar Gusmao on team selection.

The fan, who gave her name as Sheila Candiogo, took out paid advertising space on the inside back page of the Rio de Janeiro daily O Globo to send her tips to Gusmao, who is Fluminense's sixth coach this year and has yet to win a game.

"The appeal I'm making is simple," she wrote. "Please field a real forward alongside Tuta...If possible Alex. Or Beto. But don't field Lenny. You'll be doing him a favour. Against Botafogo, Lenny tripped over the ball again.

"Please help Fluminense not to go down. Millions of fans will be eternally grateful to you. Many of them are children, who don't deserve this long agony." Fluminense are 16th in the 20-team Brazilian championship with 36 points.

A spokesman for O Globo's marketing department said such an advertisement would generally cost around 55,000 Real ($25,700).

Europe
'UK must share Iraq blame'
A former member of the Bush administration has told Britain that it cannot avoid its share of responsibility for the mistakes made in Iraq since the 2003 war.

Kenneth Adelman, the former US assistant defence secretary and United Nations ambassador, criticised Britain for not raising the alarm when problems emerged after Saddam Hussein was ousted.

He told UK Channel 4 News: "I think the British should have raised alarms. And the way to deal with Americans is to really be very frank and very tough. They knew what was happening."

Mr Adelman, an ally of Donald Rumsfeld, said that British administrators in Iraq should have told Tony Blair to raise their concerns with President George Bush. He said: "The British certainly did not confront the Americans enough to say: 'This is all falling apart ... we are really doing stupid things here'."

Madrid bombers 'were inspired by Bin Laden address'
The seven suspects accused of masterminding the Madrid train bombings of 11 March 2004 could face jail sentences of 38,000 years each.

The state prosecutor, Olga Sanchez, said the suspected ringleaders should face prison terms of 30 years for each of the 191 victims who died in the tragedy, and 18 years for each of the 1,820 who were injured in the multiple blasts. The combined sentence requested amounts to 38,490 years for each suspect.

Her report says the attacks were inspired by a televised message by the al-Qa'ida leader Osama bin Laden in October 2003, in which he threatened prompt and severe actions against the countries that participated in the war in Iraq, including Spain and Britain. In the speech transmitted by al-Jazeera television Bin Laden said: "We reserve the right to respond at the opportune time and place in all the countries that are participating in this unjust war, in particular United Kingdom, Spain [and other countries]".

The idea of mounting an attack on Spanish soil was formed in November 2001 when the man considered to be al-Qa'ida's leader in Europe, Eddin Barakat Yarkas, alias Abu Dahdah, and other al-Qa'ida members were detained in Spain after the 11 September attacks, the prosecution argues.

Keen support for the invasion of Iraq by the conservative government of Jose Maria Aznar further highlighted Spain as possible target. Bin Laden's televised message accelerated efforts to obtain explosives, vehicles and safe houses for the attack, prosecution sources say.

While the bombers may have been inspired by Bin Laden, a two-year investigation into the attacks has found no evidence that al-Qa'ida helped plan, finance or carry out the bombings, or even knew about them in advance. Those who invented the new kind of rucksack bomb used in the attacks are said to have been taught in training camps in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, under instruction from members of Morocco's radical Islamist Combat Group.

Two Italians in European Parliament campaign for Israel to enter EU
Italian members of the European Parliament intend to embark on an international campaign to further a proposal to include Israel in the European Union after peace agreements are signed in accordance with international law.

Behind the initiative are the two MEPs of a small party, the Group of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, one of whom, Marco Cappato, arrived in Israel to further the idea.

The Italian MEP says Israel is threatened, both as a national minority in the Middle East and also because of the dangers posed by Iran and Hezbollah.

"The sense of fear is real," Cappato says, "and one of the ways through which the Israelis could overcome the fear and reach settlements with the Palestinians and the Syrians is through joining a large block like Europe."

If Israel joins Europe, the Italian MEP explained, it will be safer because an attack on Israel will constitute an attack against Europe, "an attack against London or Rome."

The European representative also said an Israeli application for European Union membership will bolster those in the country supporting concessions because peace accords will not only be based on a deal with Arab states but will be backed by 450 million Europeans.

Cappato is a proponent of the idea that Europe should "reach from one to the other side of the Mediterranean." As such, any country along the Mediterranean coast that meets the necessary criteria on human rights and international law could join the EU.

Italy court sentences terror suspect
An Egyptian man who is one of the chief suspects in the 2004 Madrid train bombings was sentenced to 10 years in jail by an Italian court on Monday.

The court in Milan convicted Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, 35, and a co-defendant, Yahia Ragheh, 23, of subversive association aimed at international terrorism, a charge introduced in Italy after the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The younger man was sentenced to five years.

Prosecutor Maurizio Romanelli had sought a 14-year sentence for Ahmed, who was accused of having ties with the terror cell that carried out the March 11, 2004 bombings on the Madrid commuter rail system that killed 191 people and of trying to indoctrinate the younger man with a radical form of Islam after arriving in Italy in December 2003.

Romanelli identified Ragheh as a would-be suicide bomber, and demanded a seven-year sentence.

Ahmed said that if the accusations were true, Egyptian authorities would not have granted him a new passport when he made the request at a consulate in Spain in 2001.

"The prosecutor said I am a member of the Islamic Jihad. If this was true they would never have allowed me to depart from Alexandria airport," Ahmed said, speaking to the court through a translator.

BNP leader cleared of race hate
BNP leader Nick Griffin and party activist Mark Collett have been cleared of inciting racial hatred after a retrial at Leeds Crown Court.

Mr Griffin, 46, from Powys, Wales, had denied two charges of using words or behaviour intended to stir up racial hatred in a speech in Keighley. Mr Collett, 26, of Leicestershire, was cleared of four similar charges.

Mr Griffin and Mr Collett were charged in April 2005 after the BBC showed a secretly-filmed documentary The Secret Agent in 2004. The party leader smiled and nodded as the foreman of the jury read out the unanimous not guilty verdict.

During the trial, the jury heard extracts from a speech Mr Griffin made in the Reservoir Tavern in Keighley, on 19 January 2004, in which he described Islam as a "wicked, vicious faith" and said Muslims were turning Britain into a "multi-racial hell hole".

At the same event, Mr Collett addressed the audience by saying: "Let's show these ethnics the door in 2004." Chancellor Gordon Brown has told the BBC race laws may have to be revised in light of the acquittal.

New Srebrenica mass grave found
A new mass grave containing more than 100 victims of the Srebrenica massacre of 1995 has been found in north-eastern Bosnia, a forensic team has said. An anonymous tip-off led the experts to the site in Snagovo, about 50km (30 miles) north of Srebrenica.

The head of the forensic team said the bodies were probably buried elsewhere and moved to the site with bulldozers.

Nearly 8,000 Muslim men and boys were killed by Serb forces who overran Srebrenica in July 1995.

The new site is the seventh mass grave to be found in Snagovo. The remains of thousands of victims have been recovered there. The head of the forensic team, Murat Hurtic, said the skeletons were crushed and compressed, indicating they had been moved.

The regional prosecutor in charge of genocide crimes, Alma Dzaferovic, said the grave held many clues about the identities of the bodies inside. Nineteen whole skeletons had been exhumed already, she said.

"We have found blindfolds, wires and wallets of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre," Ms Dzaferovic said. The Muslim men and boys were killed after Bosnian Serbs overran a UN-designated safe area.

EU sets defiant Turkey a deadline on Cyprus
The European Commission set Turkey a mid-December deadline on Wednesday to open its ports to shipping from Cyprus or risk a new setback for its troubled bid to join the European Union.

But Ankara insisted it would not climb down on Cyprus, a move that could anger voters before next year's general election, and warned the EU it would hold it responsible for any breakdown in talks.

The EU executive issued a critical progress report on Turkey's candidacy, faulting freedom of expression, religion and minority rights, amid growing public skepticism in the 25-member bloc about further enlargement. "Failure to implement its obligations in full will affect the overall progress in the negotiations," it said.

The Commission said it would make "relevant recommendations" before a December 14-15 summit of the 25 EU leaders if Turkey did not comply. Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn declined to say if that might entail a partial or total suspension of the talks.

The Turkish government retorted that the Cyprus issue was "not an obligation in the context of our accession process," and said EU leaders had to live up to past promises to Turkey to ensure it had a fair chance of membership.

"At this juncture, the responsibility lies more on the EU than on Turkey," a statement issued by Ankara said.

Pay and sex bias rows hit Pope's TV station
An unholy row has broken out at the Pope's television station, with accusations flying that it paid derisory salaries, imposed demeaning conditions, victimised women employees - and even tried to hold a staff meeting to find out if some were virgins.

The director of Telepace (Peace TV), Monsignor Guido Todeschini, is to appear before the council of the Italian journalists' professional body in the next few days to answer claims by employees and the journalists' union.

Union representatives will be seeking to find out if he has fulfilled earlier undertakings, given in February, not to monitor employees' telephone calls and to end the practice of requiring journalists to stamp a card at the start and end of work.

The newspaper La Stampa reported last week that managers had once called a meeting to discuss the sex lives of its women journalists and establish whether they were virgins. A former employee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Guardian newspaper,UK, the initiative dated back "six or seven years" and was abandoned following an outcry by staff.

The source said women journalists working full-time were kept on part-time contracts with take-home pay of less than £11,000 a year. No one at Telepace was available for comment.

Middle East
Iran complains against Israel at UN
Iran has complained to the United Nations over a "series of threats" after Deputy Defense Minister Ephraim Sneh told the The Jerusalem Post on Friday that Israel refused to rule out a military strike against the Islamic republic.

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran's ambassador to the United Nations, submitted the complaint to Secretary General Kofi Annan and the Security Council on Friday following Sneh's comments.

'I prefer fewer declarations and more deeds'
"The letter, underlining threats from Sneh and other Israeli officials, regards these statements as illegal, ridiculous and a sign of the Zionist regime's criminal policies and terrorist intentions," the state agency said.

Sanctions against Iran are unlikely to work, so Israel must be prepared to thwart Teheran's drive for a nuclear capability "at all costs," Sneh has told thePost.

"I am not advocating an Israeli preemptive military action against Iran, and I am aware of all of its possible repercussions," Sneh stressed. "I consider it a last resort. But even the last resort is sometimes the only resort."

IAF negotiates purchase of 100 F-35 fighter jets in $5 billion deal
Israel Air Force is considering ordering 100 of Lockheed Martins' F-35 fighter jets at a cost of some 5 billion dollars to be delivered as of 2014.

In recent months, senior IAF officers and defense ministry officials have visited the U.S. in order to sign an advanced deal which would allow the aircraft to be with fitted with electronic and communication systems according to their specific requirements.

Sources report negotiations have been progressing despite the troubled relationship between the American and Israel defense industries which has been on edge since U.S. opposition caused the cancellation of a deal Israel signed to deliver China with four surveillance aircraft last year.

The F-35 project, funded jointly by the U.S., Canada and the U.K., is still in the developmental stage and is scheduled to fly for the first time in late 2006.

Hamas: U.S. veto of UN draft resolution backs further 'massacres'
The Hamas-led Palestinian government said on Saturday that the United States' veto of a UN Security Council resolution condemning the Israel Defense Forces shelling in Beit Hanun that killed 20 Palestinians on Wednesday showed the U.S. backed Israel's action.

Ghazi Hamad, the Palestinian cabinet spokesman, said the veto was "a signal that the U.S. had given legitimacy to the massacres and a green light to (Israel) to ... carry out more massacres."

The United States on Saturday vetoed a United Nations Security Council draft resolution condemning Israel for Wednesday's shelling of Beit Hanun, in which 20 Palestinian civilians were killed, and urging a quick withdrawal of Israel Defense Forces troops from the area.

10 of the council's 15 members voted for the measure, while Britain, Denmark, Japan and Slovakia abstained. U.S. Ambassador to the UN John Bolton said the draft resolution was "biased against Israel and politically motivated."

Study: 57 unarmed Palestinian minors killed by IDF since June
A third of unarmed Palestinians killed during IDF operations in the Gaza Strip since the abduction of Gilad Shalit have been minors, according to a new report prepared by Physicians for Human Rights, to be published Wednesday.

Between June 27 and October 28, 247 Palestinians, including 155 civilians (63 percent) were killed by the IDF. Among the civilians killed, 57 were minors. This figure does not include minors who were armed.

The report also claims that of the 996 Palestinians injured during the past four months, about a third, 337, are children.

In response, the IDF said that the report was based on incorrect and inaccurate data. According to the army, during the past four months, some 35 "uninvolved" Palestinians were killed.

According to the report, there is also a steep rise in the number of minors involved in the fighting in the territories. In 2005, 45 Palestinian minors were killed in fighting, as compared with the first 10 months of 2006, during which 98 lost their lives - an increase of more than 100 percent.

Hizbullah man killed in cluster blast
A cluster bomb exploded in south Lebanon on Friday, killing a member of Hizbullah and wounding another, Lebanese security officials said.

Mohammed Rizk, 20, was dismantling a cluster bomb in the village of Arnoun near the market town of Nabatiyeh when it exploded, killing him instantly. Another man, 18-year-old Mustafa Ajami, was wounded, said the officials on condition of anonymity because they were not allowed to speak to the press. Ajami was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment.

A Hizbullah official in southern Lebanon confirmed that Rizk was a member of the guerrilla group, which fought a 34-day war against Israeli troops this summer.

The United Nations and human rights groups have accused Israel of firing as many as 4 million cluster bombs into Lebanon during the war that ended in a UN-brokered cease-fire on Aug. 14.

UN de-mining experts say up to 1 million of the cluster bombs failed to explode and continue to threaten civilians, especially children who can mistake the ordnance for batteries or other small objects. Friday's death brings to at least 24 the number of people who have died in cluster bomb explosions in Lebanon since the war ended. More than 100 people have been wounded.

Syria hints at armed struggle for Golan
Syria could resort to armed resistance if peace negotiations fail to make Israel give back the Golan Heights, the Syrian Information Minister said last Sunday.

Mohsen Bilal said international negotiations should lead to Israel restituting the occupied Golan Heights territory it took from Syria during the 1967 Six Day War and later annexed.

He warned that Syria could otherwise resolve to "other means, which struggling people have used at various points in history, beginning with legitimate resistance."

But Bilal stated that Syrians were nonetheless eager to resume talks. "The road for peace and stability in the region and the world goes through ending occupation" of the Golan Heights, he said, opening a three-day media forum geared at highlighting Syria's right to the Golan.

On Sunday, Syrian President Bashar Assad, who was meeting with Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa, called for a comprehensive peace in the Middle East.

Assad and Moussa stressed the need to "establish security and stability in the region by reaching a comprehensive and just peace," Syria's official news agency SANA reported.

Israel has brushed off Assad's previous calls to restart peace talks, saying Syria must first clamp down on the radical Palestinian groups it hosts.

57 officers in Iraq charged with torture
In an unprecedented move, Iraqi authorities charged 57 members of the Shiite-dominated Iraqi police force, including a general, in the alleged torture of hundreds of detainees at a prison in east Baghdad, the Interior Ministry announced Tuesday.

Torture is considered widespread among the poorly trained police force, which has suffered heavy losses at the hands of Sunni insurgents and criminal gangs, but Tuesday's announcement marked the first time the government has pressed charges. Iraqi police are accused of close ties to the Shiite death squads, whose daily abductions and killings fuel sectarian violence convulsing the country.

Some officers were accused of abetting the violence by allowing the gunmen to violate curfews and pass through checkpoints.

The concerns were underscored by the discovery of a police torture chamber in Baghdad last year, and by the apparent complicity of police in a mass kidnapping of Sunni workers that prompted authorities to take an entire police brigade out of service for retraining.

Among those charged in the torture at Site No. 4, the prison in eastern Baghdad, were a general, 19 officers, 20 non-commissioned officers and 17 patrolmen or civilian employees.

Asia
Report: U.S., N.Korea may meet in N.Y.
The U.S. and North Korea may hold talks in New York as early as next week aimed at working toward the resumption of six-country discussions on Pyongyang's nuclear program, a newspaper reported Saturday.

Citing unnamed sources familiar with U.S.-North Korea affairs, Japan's Mainichi newspaper reported that officials from the two countries will discuss, among other issues, financial sanctions imposed on North Korea.

Last year, Washington claimed that Banco Delta Asia SARL — a bank in the Chinese territory of Macau — was being used by North Korea for money-laundering. The U.S. banned transactions between the bank and American financial institutions.

Earlier this month, the U.S. State Department said North Korea will get a chance to seek access to its frozen overseas bank accounts when six-nation negotiations are resumed. North Korea agreed to return to the talks — involving the two Koreas, the U.S., China, Japan and Russia — following its test of a nuclear weapon on Oct. 9, a move that triggered international outrage and economic sanctions. No date has yet been set for their resumption.

North Korea, which claims its nuclear ambitions are aimed at deterring U.S. attacks, has boycotted the nuclear talks since November 2005 since the U.S. imposed economic sanctions on the country.

Nepal rebels agree to join government
Nepal's prime minister praised an agreement with communist rebels as a victory for the country, saying he was confident a decade-long insurgency was nearing its end.

After more than 16 hours of negotiations Wednesday, the rebels agreed to lock up their weapons, confine their fighters to camps and join an interim government.

"I believe this is a new revolutionary solution to the country's problems," Prime Minister Prasad Koirala said. "Now I believe the Maoists will leave their arms behind permanently and join peaceful politics."

Maoist rebel leader Prachanda also applauded the deal, though he warned, "the road ahead is tough." "We have reached a historic agreement which has drawn a roadmap for a new Nepal," Prachanda, whose real name is Pushpa Kamal Dahal, told a news conference.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed the agreement as an opportunity for Nepal "to build sustainable peace within an inclusive and democratic state," said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The decade-old Maoist insurgency has killed more than 13,000 people. The two sides reached a cease-fire and began peace talks in April, but negotiations stalled for months when the rebels refused to part with their weapons. The government insisted that they give up their arms before joining an interim government.

Five killed in Kashmir mosque blast
Five people were killed and at least 50 wounded on Friday when a grenade was thrown at worshippers in a crowded mosque in Indian Kashmir, police said.

Imtiaz Ahmed, a police officer, said: "Two men and three women have died and at least 50 were wounded, some seriously." The attack took place in Tahab village in the southern Pulwama district, some 40 kilometres south of Srinagar, the capital.

Ahmed said: "The mosque and its surroundings were full of worshippers when the grenade was hurled." Police said it was not immediately known who carried out Friday's attack but the region has been rocked by a series of grenade attacks in recent months.

The attack was the worst since July when eight tourists were killed and 40 people wounded in Srinagar. Abdul Jabbar, who witnessed the attack, said the grenade exploded inside the mosque, causing "chaos and panic" among those who had gathered for Friday prayers and a sermon by Abdul Rashid Dawoodi, a leading south Kashmiri cleric. Another witness, Ashiq Hussain, said the blast occurred when Dawoodi and his followers were entering the mosque.

More than 44,000 people have died in insurgency-related violence in Kashmir, according to Indian records. Separatists say the toll is more than double that figure.

Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan. The two have fought two of their three wars over Kashmir, which they claim in full.

Tajikistan president wins new 7-yr. term
Tajikistan's authoritarian president won a new seven-year term in an election that foreign observers say lacked any genuine competition, according to a count of 91 percent of the vote officially announced Tuesday.

Victory had been widely expected for 54-year-old Emomali Rakhmonov, who has been in power since 1992 and led this impoverished Central Asian nation during a civil war in the 1990s.

Concerns have been growing over the repression of independent media and political dissent in the ex-Soviet republic, which has supported U.S. military operations in neighboring Afghanistan.

"This vote was illegitimate and a clear violation of electoral law," said Rakhmadturo Zohirov, leader of the opposition Social-Democratic Party — one of three parties that refused to participate in an election they said could not be free or fair, citing official pressure on government opponents before the vote.

Long legs to remain fantasy for petite Chinese
China has banned the practice of leg-lengthening, a cosmetic surgery procedure popular among young professionals who believe height will help them to climb the career ladder, after a rash of botched operations has left patients disfigured.

Leg extension surgery looks like a procedure from the Middle Ages. A doctor breaks the patient's legs and inserts steel pins into the bones, just below the knees. The pins are attached to a metal frame and every day for months the patient tightens the knobs a small amount despite excruciating pain. By constantly forcing the ends of the broken bones apart before they can heal, more new bone comes to fill in the gaps.

"Leg-stretching surgery for the image conscious has been banned by China's health ministry after a spate of botched operations," the Xinhua news agency reported.

The operation costs some 100,000 yuan (£6,700) and it is often six months before the patient can walk without using a walking frame. Many can never run again.

From now on, leg extensions may be carried out by hospitals that conduct at least 400 orthopaedic operations a year and offer post-surgery care and rehabilitation, and only on strictly medical grounds, the ministry said.

The Chinese are generally not as tall as Europeans - the average Chinese woman is 5ft 2 in, while the average man is 5 ft 6 in. However, improved living standards mean Chinese people are getting taller - almost an inch taller than a decade ago - and one of the tallest basketball players in the world is China's NBA star, Yao Ming, at 7ft 5in.

Africa
UN eyes "hybrid" Darfur force to win Sudan backing
Frustrated by Sudan's strong opposition to U.N. peacekeepers in Darfur, the United Nations considered on Wednesday a hybrid African Union-U.N. force as a way to get around Khartoum's objections.

Such a force could bolster the under-financed and ill-equipped African Union force now in Darfur, which Sudan has accepted, with non-African troops, communications gear and logistical support channeled through the United Nations, U.N. officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

One way to win approval from Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir might be to put the force under an AU commander who would report to both the African Union and the U.N. special envoy for Sudan, they said.

With conditions on the ground deteriorating, there was a need for the United Nations "to work urgently with the Sudanese government and other parties concerned to find a way out of the impasse which exists today," U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told reporters on Wednesday.

Rwanda seeks genocide fugitives from Britain
Rwanda is seeking extradition of four suspected masterminds of the country's 1994 genocide, including a medical doctor, who are living and working in Britain, the Justice Minister told Reuters on Tuesday.

Rwanda says the wanted men have changed their identities which is hampering efforts to have them arrested and extradited to the tiny central African country to face charges related to the massacre of about 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus.

Rwanda said it was seeking Munyaneza Charles, Celestin Ugirasebuja and Emmanuel Ntezilyayo, all former mayors accused of genocide related crimes.

"All these fugitives are living a comfortable life in the United Kingdom but are surely key planners of the 1994 genocide," said Tharcisse Karugarama, Rwanda's Justice Minister.

Britain's Home Office said it would investigate any such allegations but would not comment on whether an extradition request had been received for a particular individual.

"No one suspected of genocide in Rwanda can expect to enjoy impunity or to find haven in the UK. Where such allegations are made, the government will establish the facts and, in the light of those, take whatever action is appropriate," a Home Office spokesperson said. A fourth suspect, Vincent Bajinya, worked for London-based charity Praxis until last month.

Morocco says Sahara state would be "terrorist den"
Morocco's king Mohammed, in an unprecedented warning to neighboring countries, said on Monday any future independent state in the disputed Western Sahara could harbor terrorists and bandits.

The king was addressing the nation on the 31st anniversary of the Green March when Morocco seized the former Spanish colony in 1975, claiming centuries-old rights over the territory rich in phosphates, fisheries and possibly offshore oil.

That triggered a low-intensity guerrilla war that ended in 1991, when the United Nations brokered a ceasefire and sent in peacekeepers in anticipation of a self-determination referendum.

The vote never took place and Morocco now insists the most it will offer is regional autonomy.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan urged the Security Council last month to push Morocco and the Polisario Front, which wants an independent Western Sahara, to agree to direct talks to end Africa's oldest territorial dispute.

Debts force Zimbabwe to cancel flights to London
Zimbabwe's state-run airline has cancelled all flights to London, fearing the aircraft would be impounded to cover unpaid debts. The decision to ground flights will come as a fresh blow to Zimbabwe's collapsing economy. The country relies on Air Zimbabwe, and the tourists it brings, for much of its foreign currency.

Air Zimbabwe announced the decision to stop the thrice-weekly flights after a European air safety agency won a court order allowing it to seize planes to cover a $2.8m (£1.5m) debt. Air Zimbabwe board chairman, Mike Bhima, said: "As a security measure, our lawyers have advised us to suspend flights pending discussions."

Rising costs of fuel and equipment last month forced Air Zimbabwe to raise airfares by 500 per cent. The cost of an economy return flight to London soared to £3,900. The same flight on British Airways is £450.

The cost of living in Zimbabwe has become increasingly expensive with the official inflation rate running at 1,200 per cent. Experts have put the real figure at 4,000 per cent. Prices for staples such as a loaf of bread rise daily, even by the hour.

President Robert Mugabe has pinned the blame for Zimbabwe's economic woes on Britain and the West, but aid agencies and ordinary Zimbabweans have pointed to an ill-fated land reform programme and a slum demolition scheme that made 700,000 people homeless.
Hundreds of thousands of tourists used to flock to Zimbabwe to see the Victoria Falls, but numbers have dwindled, with Zambia now benefiting. The grounding of Air Zimbabwe's London flights will damage tourism - and the wider economy - even further.

Australasia
Iraq policy could also sink Australia's PM: critics
Australian Prime Minister John Howard, a staunch supporter of President George Bush's Iraq policy, should take heed of U.S. voter backlash as he prepares for a 2007 election, local media and critics said on Friday.

Anger at the war in Iraq contributed to this week's crushing defeat of Bush's Republican party in mid-term elections for the House of Representatives and Congress.

Australia has about 1,500 troops in and around Iraq and, according to recent opinion polls, almost two in three Australians want these forces brought home.

Australia was one of the first nations to commit troops to the 2003 U.S.-led war that toppled Saddam Hussein. Howard wants the troops to stay until Iraq can handle its own security, but the Labor opposition says it will bring them home if elected.

Legislative elections are due to be held by the end of 2007.

While Bush is now offering words of conciliation over Iraq, Howard on the other hand is standing firm, saying he would urge Bush to stay the course in Iraq.

"They do recognize and accept that if the coalition leaves Iraq in circumstances which is seen as a defeat that would be incredibly bad for American authority and that in turn would be very bad for Australia," Howard said.

Unlike Bush or British Prime Minister Tony Blair, another staunch U.S. ally, Howard is the only leader seeking re-election.

Fiji army accuses Australia of sovereignty breach
Fiji's military, locked in a standoff with the government, accused Australia on last Sunday of breaching its sovereignty by sending an unspecified number of police it described as mercenaries into the country.

Land Force Commander Colonel Pita Driti said the Australian police arrived in Fiji last Friday on a flight from Sydney as part of "an inter-police force involvement" under Fiji Police Commissioner Andrew Hughes, an Australian.

Driti also said the officers were whisked through immigration in the western city of Nadi without going through proper channels and were accompanied by 400 kg of unspecified equipment "in strong silver boxes."

"We will not accept any foreign intervention," Driti told reporters in the military's Queen Elizabeth Barracks headquarters on the outskirts of the capital Suva.

No response was immediately available from Hughes or the police.

Australia and New Zealand have been rattled by the standoff between Fiji's military and government, which has raised fears of a fourth coup in 20 years.

Driti also said a handful of New Zealand police sent by Wellington to beef up security at its diplomatic offices in Fiji did not have a "mandate" to exercise authority in the country.

Australia was heavily criticised at the Pacific Islands Forum in Fiji last month and was accused of being a regional bully over a diplomatic row with the Solomon Islands and PNG. The row was sparked when the Solomons appointed as its chief legal officer a man wanted in Australia on child sex charges.

40 whales in New Zealand saved, 37 die
Oil refinery workers helped rescue 40 beached pilot whales in northern New Zealand Friday — but another 37 of the whale pod died on the sandy beach, a Department of Conservation spokeswoman said.

By early afternoon the rescued whales were less than a mile off the shore and "starting to swim strongly" out to sea, spokeswoman Sue Campbell told The Associated Press from the North Island city of Whangarei, near the stranding site.

Boats were patrolling near the whales to encourage them to continue heading out to sea rather than return to Ruakaka beach.

About 70 volunteers and 15 department staff were standing by in case the whales turn back toward shore or begin to swim into nearby Whangarei Harbor, she said.

The biggest recorded mass stranding on the New Zealand coast involved 1,000 pilot whales on the Chatham Islands in 1918, and the largest in recent years saw 450 of the same species beached on Great Barrier Island in 1985. Rescuers successfully refloated 324 of those mammals.
Whale experts have been unable to explain why the mammals a