| 1 | Suspected Islamist rebels have fired mortar shells at the palace used by Somalia's interim President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmad. [p00d0030] |
| 2 | It was not immediately clear if the president was in the palace in Mogadishu when the attack occurred or if anyone was hurt. [p00d0030] |
| 3 | Local news reports said at least five mortar shells hit the palace compound and other mortars were fired elsewhere in Mogadishu Wednesday. [p00d0030] |
| 4 | The attacks occurred after the government said it will go ahead with a reconciliation conference to which more than 1,300 Somali elders, warlords and politicians are invited. [p00d0030] |
| 5 | Pakistani officials say unidentified gunmen have killed three people, including a former government minister, in a semi-autonomous tribal region bordering Afghanistan. [p00d0060] |
| 6 | The officials say prominent tribal leader Malik Faridullah Khan was traveling in South Waziristan Sunday when his vehicle was ambushed in the Kani Wam area. [p00d0060] |
| 7 | His driver and a tribal elder were also killed. [p00d0060] |
| 8 | No one has claimed responsibility for the killings. [p00d0060] |
| 9 | The ambush came a day after a commander of Pakistani troops said the army has almost completely eliminated militants in South Waziristan. [p00d0060] |
| 10 | The area became a refuge for many al-Qaida and Taleban fighters after the Taleban government was ousted in Afghanistan in 2001. [p00d0060] |
| 11 | U.S. Army officials said Wednesday that they will not renew a controversial multi-billion dollar contract with the Halliburton company to provide logistical support to U.S. troops in Iraq and elsewhere. [p00d0086] |
| 12 | Halliburton has been providing a long list of services, from meals to communication, for the military for several years. [p00d0086] |
| 13 | Critics of Halliburton include auditors and congressional Democrats. [p00d0086] |
| 14 | They say the company has produced some shoddy work and charges too much money. [p00d0086] |
| 15 | The company strongly denies the allegations. [p00d0086] |
| 16 | When the huge contract is put out for re-bidding, several companies will get a chance to compete for portions of the work. [p00d0086] |
| 17 | Indonesian police have arrested three men in connection with the October 1 Bali bombings that left 23 people dead. [p00d0100] |
| 18 | Indonesian police said Wednesday the men were flown to Bali from neighboring Java island for questioning at Bali police headquarters. [p00d0100] |
| 19 | Australian and French news agencies say at least one of the men arrested (Cholily) was captured during a series of counter-terrorism raids last week in Indonesia. [p00d0100] |
| 20 | The raids ended with the death of alleged extremist bombmaker Azahari bin Husin. [p00d0100] |
| 21 | Indonesian authorities blame Azahari bin Husin for orchestrating last month's attacks in Bali as well as the 2002 Bali bombings that killed more than 200 people. [p00d0100] |
| 22 | The American Diabetes Association reports the disease is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults. [p00d0184] |
| 23 | It is the leading cause of kidney failure. [p00d0184] |
| 24 | The rate of amputation is 10 times higher among those who suffer from the disease. [p00d0184] |
| 25 | Experts say those who learn how to manage the disease early, can live healthier and more normal lives. [p00d0184] |
| 26 | VOA's June Soh found camps that provide children with this chronic disease a positive approach to living with diabetes while letting them just be kids. [p00d0184] |
| 27 | Amy Katz Narrates. [p00d0184] |
| 28 | U.S. automaker Chrysler has opened a 570 million engine plant in northern Mexico. [p00d0190] |
| 29 | During the ceremonial startup of the Saltillo plant Friday, Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Chrysler's sixth plant in Mexico will create 700 jobs. [p00d0190] |
| 30 | Mr. Calderon said Mexico has become a worldwide leader in the auto industry. [p00d0190] |
| 31 | Chrysler plans to build its new fuel-efficient Pentastar V-6 engine for Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles. [p00d0190] |
| 32 | Mexican officials say the new plant will have the capacity to build 440,000 engines per year. [p00d0190] |
| 33 | The United Nations says December's Indian Ocean tsunami caused around 520 million in damage to fishing industries in seven of the worst hit countries. [p00d0215] |
| 34 | The U.N.'s Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said the tsunami destroyed or damaged more than 111,000 fishing vessels in the region. [p00d0215] |
| 35 | It said the loss was significant in a region where fishing provides a vital source of food. [p00d0215] |
| 36 | The FAO's estimate includes damage to fishing industries in Indonesia, Maldives, Somalia, Sri Lanka and Thailand. [p00d0215] |
| 37 | The agency says it has sent experts to help rebuild fishing industry infrastructure lost in the disaster and is developing strategies for long-term recovery in the region. [p00d0215] |
| 38 | China's giant pandas have been on endangered species lists for nearly 30 years. [p00d0252] |
| 39 | There are only about 1,600 pandas still living in the wild in China. [p00d0252] |
| 40 | One of the 2008 Olympic mascots is modeled on a panda called Jing Jing. [p00d0252] |
| 41 | Conservationists hope she will help draw attention to the threats facing the giant panda — one of China's national symbols. [p00d0252] |
| 42 | Sam Beattie reports from Jing Jing's home in Sichuan province. [p00d0252] |
| 43 | British defense officials say 14 British military personnel have been killed in a crash of a NATO aircraft in southern Afghanistan. [p00d0255] |
| 44 | A NATO spokesman says the aircraft went off the radar and crashed in an open area near Kandahar Saturday. [p00d0255] |
| 45 | Officials say the aircraft was supporting a NATO mission in the country's south, but there is no indication of enemy action causing the crash. [p00d0255] |
| 46 | The crash comes as NATO forces launched an offensive to drive Taleban remnants out of Kandahar. [p00d0255] |
| 47 | Officials say “Operation Medusa” is aimed at removing the Taleban threat so that stability, reconstruction and development can be achieved in the area. [p00d0255] |
| 48 | Sri Lankan authorities say a prominent Tamil journalist was found shot dead Friday in Colombo, hours after he was abducted by several attackers as he left a restaurant. [p00d0256] |
| 49 | Dharmeratnam Sivaram was a board member of the pro-rebel TamilNet Web site and a columnist for Sri Lanka's english newspaper, the Daily Mirror. [p00d0256] |
| 50 | Mr. Sivaram's Web site became popular for ongoing reports on the Sri Lankan civil war and was a prominent supporter of the Tamil Tiger rebel movement. [p00d0256] |
| 51 | Mr. Sivaram, who was also brutally attacked in 2001, was found near a lake gagged with gunshot wounds to the head. [p00d0256] |
| 52 | No one claimed responsibility for the killing. [p00d0256] |
| 53 | Japan and North Korea say they are considering a resumption of bilateral talks as part of efforts to normalize relations. [p00d0262] |
| 54 | Japanese media reported Monday that the two countries hope to arrange to hold the talks in Beijing in early November. [p00d0262] |
| 55 | The talks could come before six-party talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions resume. [p00d0262] |
| 56 | Japan and North Korea have not had formal bilateral talks for about a year. [p00d0262] |
| 57 | Tokyo and Pyongyang are at odds over North Korea's nuclear weapons program and the North's kidnapping of Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s. [p00d0262] |
| 58 | Egypt's government and the World Health Organization say three Egyptian children have been hospitalized with the deadly form of avian flu. [p00d0269] |
| 59 | The children come from different parts of the country. [p00d0269] |
| 60 | WHO says they are receiving treatment and are in stable condition. [p00d0269] |
| 61 | The organization says the children had a history of contact with dead birds. [p00d0269] |
| 62 | Thirty two Egyptians have contracted the H5N1 form of avian flu. [p00d0269] |
| 63 | Thirteen of them have died. [p00d0269] |
| 64 | Egypt has had the largest number of human bird flu cases outside of Asia. [p00d0269] |
| 65 | Kyrgyzstan's Justice Ministry says four people, including parliament member Tynychbek Akmatbayev, have been killed at a prison near Bishkek after inmates took them hostage. [p00d0283] |
| 66 | Interior Minister Murat Sutalinov is at the prison to head negotiations with the inmates. [p00d0283] |
| 67 | The ministry gave no other details. [p00d0283] |
| 68 | It is not clear if the hostage-takers made any demands. [p00d0283] |
| 69 | Mr. Akmatbayev was involved in negotiations on Wednesday at another Kyrgyz prison where a riot over poor living conditions forced the staff to evacuate earlier this week. [p00d0283] |
| 70 | That prison, also near Bishkek, remained surrounded by security forces on Thursday. [p00d0283] |
| 71 | A new government report shows U.S. businesses added a moderate 111,000 new jobs in January. [p00d0287] |
| 72 | The Labor Department Friday issued a report that also showed the U.S. unemployment rate increased for the first time in three months - to 4.6 percent. [p00d0287] |
| 73 | According to the report, American workers earned an average of 17.09 an hour in January - [p00d0287] |
| 74 | a slight increase from the previous month. [p00d0287] |
| 75 | Analysts say the Department of Labor report will help ease worries that a tight labor market will significantly inflate wages and costs. [p00d0287] |
| 76 | Earlier this week, the U.S. central bank decided to maintain a key interest rate, despite the risk of inflation. [p00d0287] |
| 77 | The European Space Agency says it has received the first images and scientific readings from the surface of Saturn's moon Titan. [p00d0309] |
| 78 | Officials at agency headquarters in Germany Friday say information taken from the Huygens space probe show what looks like drainage channels on the moon. [p00d0309] |
| 79 | They say the surface has canyons that were most likely caused by some type of liquid. [p00d0309] |
| 80 | The space probe began transmitting data to the Cassini spacecraft while landing on Saturn's largest moon earlier Friday. [p00d0309] |
| 81 | Scientists say the information from Huygens - operated jointly by the American, European and Italian space agencies - may provide clues about how primitive Earth evolved into a life-bearing planet. [p00d0309] |
| 82 | Indonesian officials say they have signed an initial agreement with Russia to build a space launch center on the remote island of Biak off the coast of Papua New Guinea. [p00d0356] |
| 83 | An Indonesian foreign ministry spokesman says senior officials from both countries reached the preliminary agreement last week. [p00d0356] |
| 84 | They say the island is well-suited for the project because of its proximity to the equator, which makes it easier to launch satellites into some Earth orbits. [p00d0356] |
| 85 | The spokesman says a formal agreement on the project will be signed in June when Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is scheduled to visit Moscow. [p00d0356] |
| 86 | Police in Japan say a teacher stabbed to death a 12 - year - old girl Saturday in the country's third killing of a school girl in less than three weeks. [p00d0402] |
| 87 | Yu Hagino, 23, was arrested at the murder scene, a school in the western city of Uji. [p00d0402] |
| 88 | Police say the suspect confessed to stabbing the girl with a knife after arguing with her. [p00d0402] |
| 89 | The killing follows the recent murders of two school girls in the space of just over a week. [p00d0402] |
| 90 | The two were killed in separate incidents as they walked home alone from elementary school along deserted roads. [p00d0402] |
| 91 | The British Embassy in Sudan's capital has re-opened to the public, four days after it was closed because of a possible terrorist threat. [p00d0443] |
| 92 | The embassy said in a statement Thursday that “additional security” has allowed it to resume normal consular and visa services. [p00d0443] |
| 93 | The statement also thanked the Sudanese government for its cooperation. [p00d0443] |
| 94 | Earlier this week, the government said it had broken up a plot to attack several Western diplomatic missions in the capital, Khartoum. [p00d0443] |
| 95 | The state news agency reported that police had arrested eight Sudanese men and confiscated arms and explosives. [p00d0443] |
| 96 | The British Embassy has advised British citizens to avoid travel to Khartoum. [p00d0443] |
| 97 | The death toll from a coal mining accident in northwestern China rose to 32 Wednesday after searchers recovered the body of the last missing miner. [p00d0457] |
| 98 | China's state-run media say 39 people were working at the privately-owned coal mine in Shaanxi province on Saturday when a gas explosion occurred. [p00d0457] |
| 99 | Seven miners managed to reach the surface, but the others were trapped. [p00d0457] |
| 100 | The Xinhua news agency says police have detained the owner and managers of the mine, but provided no other details. [p00d0457] |
| 101 | Chinese mines are among the most dangerous in the world. [p00d0457] |
| 102 | Thousands of people are killed every year in explosions, cave-ins and floods, despite government crackdowns on safety violations. [p00d0457] |
| 103 | Latvia's President Vaira Vike-Freiberga [p00d0498] |
| 104 | Latvia's parliament has extended the stay of the country's troops serving in Iraq until the end of the year. [p00d0498] |
| 105 | Sixty seven of the 100 lawmakers Thursday in Riga voted in favor of extending the mission by six months. [p00d0498] |
| 106 | Latvia, which joined NATO last year, has more than 100 troops in Iraq supporting the U.S efforts there. [p00d0498] |
| 107 | Latvia has also contributed troops to multinational forces in Afghanistan and the Balkans. [p00d0498] |
| 108 | A landmine blast in southern Afghanistan has killed nine Afghan soldiers. [p00d0606] |
| 109 | The Taleban later claimed responsibility for the blast in Kandahar province. [p00d0606] |
| 110 | An Afghan Army spokesman said the troops were traveling towards the nearby Pakistani border when their vehicle hit the mine. [p00d0606] |
| 111 | U.S. - led forces are hunting down remnants of Afghanistan's ousted Taleban regime who frequently carry out hit and run attacks on coalition and Afghan government forces, mainly in the country's eastern and southern regions. [p00d0606] |
| 112 | The U.S. military says the Iraqi army has captured three suspected al-Qaida in Iraq leaders involved in roadside bomb attacks. [p00d0630] |
| 113 | Statements Wednesday say the suspects were detained in separate operations north of Baghdad in Kirkuk province, and in the towns of Tarmiyah and Judaidah. [p00d0630] |
| 114 | The military says U.S. Special Forces advised the Iraqi army in all three operations. [p00d0630] |
| 115 | The U.S. military also says Iraqi special operations forces detained seven suspected criminals in and around Baghdad's Sadr City district, a stronghold of radical Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr. [p00d0630] |
| 116 | U.S. and Iraqi soldiers have been fighting Shi'ite militants in Sadr City in recent weeks as part of a crackdown on illegal militias. [p00d0630] |
| 117 | A U.S. immigration judge has denied bail for Luis Posada Carriles, an asylum-seeking former CIA operative from Cuba. [p00d0653] |
| 118 | U.S. authorities arrested the 77 - year - old Posada Carriles in May after he illegally entered the country through Mexico. [p00d0653] |
| 119 | Posada Carriles is wanted in Venezuela for his alleged role in a 1976 Cuban airliner bombing that killed 73 people. [p00d0653] |
| 120 | Some 20 years ago, a Venezuelan court acquitted him of a role in the bombing. [p00d0653] |
| 121 | He later escaped from prison while awaiting a new trial. [p00d0653] |
| 122 | In May, U.S. officials rejected a Venezuelan request for his arrest, citing a lack of evidence against the Cuban exile who holds Venezuelan citizenship. [p00d0653] |