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Bomb kills a Sunni deputy chief in Baghdad
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Published: August 18, 2008
BAGHDAD -- A suicide bomber dressed in a woman's robe detonated explosives yesterday in a heavily guarded Sunni area of Baghdad, killing the deputy leader of the neighborhood's U.S.-backed security volunteers who had turned against al-Qaida, Iraqi officials said.
Six bodyguards of Farooq al-Obeidi, deputy leader of the "awakening council" in Baghdad's Azamiyah district, also died in the blast.
Also yesterday, insurgents raided a police checkpoint in the northern city of Mosul, killing one policeman and wounding another, the provincial police command reported.
Gunman kills 13 in attack at family party in Mexico
MEXICO CITY -- Mexican authorities say that gunmen killed 13 people at a family party in the border state of Chihuahua.
A 1-year-old child is among the dead in Saturday's attack in the mountain town of Creel. State prosecutors said in a statement yesterday that most of the victims were members of a single family.
Witnesses told police that gunmen in three pickup trucks, wearing ski masks and dressed in black, fired on a crowd outside a dance hall.
Authorities did not give a motive for the attack.
Impeachment charges ready; Musharraf refuses to quit
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- Pakistan's ruling coalition completed impeachment charges against President Pervez Musharraf yesterday, and a government minister said they could be filed as early as this week if he does not resign first.
Musharraf is holding out against intense pressure to quit from political foes who swept February elections and relegated the stalwart U.S. ally to the sidelines.
Israeli Cabinet OKs release of 200 Palestinian prisoners
JERUSALEM -- Israel's Cabinet approved the release yesterday of about 200 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture to the government of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Earlier this month, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Abbas he would free some of the 9,000 Palestinians held by Israel to help energize peace talks between the two sides.
The prisoner issue is an emotional one for Palestinians, many of whom know somebody behind bars or have been imprisoned themselves.
Five killed when two planes collide in midair in England
LONDON -- Two small planes collided in midair and crashed in central England yesterday, killing five people, emergency workers said.
The planes slammed into each other near Coventry, about 90 miles northwest of London.
The crash involved a Cessna carrying four people, and a light aircraft, which had only the pilot onboard, police said. The debris from the collision stretched across several miles. No one on the ground was reported injured.
The light aircraft, described as a microlight, crashed into a field after the collision, and the Cessna came down in nearby woods, authorities said.
7,000 police on streets to guard Afghan leaders
KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan police ordered 7,000 officers onto the streets of Kabul to guard against attacks on senior leaders during Independence Day celebrations today. This is in response to signs of the Taliban's growing strength near the capital.
Even the location of the celebration of Afghanistan's 89th anniversary of independence from Britain was kept secret and will be closed to the public to try to minimize the risk insurgents could again disrupt a national commemoration.
Rebels sentenced in Sudan for attack three months ago
KHARTOUM, Sudan -- A Sudanese court convicted and sentenced to death two senior members of a Darfur rebel group and six others for their role in an attack near the capital three months ago, court officials and a lawyer said yesterday.
Defense lawyer Kamal al-Jazouli said that the eight convicted include Abdel Aziz Ushar, a senior commander in the Justice and Equality movement and half-brother of the group's leader, Khalil Ibrahim.
The daring May 10 attack by JEM on the outskirts of Khartoum killed more than 200 people.
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