IRAQ: Iraqi police say a suicide car bomber struck a Shi'ite district in Baghdad today, killing at least 11 people and wounding more than 20 others. The attack comes a day after a wave of bombings in mostly Shi'ite areas of the Iraqi capital killed 190 people and wounded more than 200 others . Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki condemned Wednesday's carnage, calling the attackers "soldiers of satan."
IRAN NUCLEAR: The United Nations nuclear agency says Iran has started enriching uranium at an underground facility. The International Atomic Energy Agency also says Iran has set up more than one-thousand centrifuges for enrichment at the plant at Natanz. The IAEA made the claim in a confidential document. The enrichment process can be used to create fuel for nuclear reactors or in the creation of nuclear weapons.
US - UNIVERSITY SHOOTINGS: NBC News in New York said Wednesday it received a package that was apparently sent by the young Virginia Tech student who killed 32 people before killing himself. NBC News officials said the network has turned the package containing photographs, drawings, writings and a videotape over to the FBI. The envelope's postmark indicates it was sent Monday morning at 9:01 a.m. local time, between the two attacks.
KOREAS - TALKS: North and South Korean officials have opened talks in Pyongyang regarding food aid and other joint-projects. News reports from Pyongyang say the North Korean delegation delayed today's talks for hours after demanding to see a text of the South's keynote speech, which Seoul refused. South Korean delegates are to discuss Pyongyang's request for a resumption of rice shipments.
CHINA - ECONOMY: China's sizzling economy has grown 11-point- one percent in the first quarter, raising concerns that it could overheat. A spokesman for China's National Bureau of Statistics said today that the government needs to strengthen macro-economic controls to slow the rapid growth. He said fixed-asset investment nationwide has continued to grow rapidly, reaching a robust 23-point-seven percent in the first quarter.
CHINA - US YAHOO: A human rights group is suing the U.S.-based Yahoo Internet company for allegedly providing information to Chinese authorities that led to the arrest and torture of a democracy activist. The World Organization for Human Rights USA filed the lawsuit Wednesday in a U.S. court (in the state of California) on behalf of a jailed Chinese dissident and his wife. The group says Yahoo turned over details to Chinese authorities after activist Wang Xiaoning published pro-democracy articles on the Web.
AFGHANISTAN: U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan say troops killed 24 Taleban fighters in a seven-hour battle in the country's restive south. A coalition statement said say the fight happened Wednesday in the Sangin district of Helmand province. Two coalition soldiers were wounded. Meanwwhile, Amnesty International said Taleban insurgents are deliberately targeting civilians in Afghanistan to instill fear and exert control over the population.
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