ISRAEL - PALESTINIANS: Palestinian medical officials say Israeli airstrikes on Hamas compounds
in the Gaza Strip have killed at least 140 people.
Officials say the assault wounded more than 100 other people today. They say Gaza police chief Tawfik Jabber was among those
killed.
The Israeli military confirmed the strikes on Hamas targets across
Gaza, and warned the operation could be expanded.
The Palestinian militant group vowed to avenge the attacks and said it
fired rockets into Israel after the airstrikes.
Tensions between Israel and Hamas have escalated since a six-month
cease-fire expired last week.
PAKISTAN - BHUTTO: More than 150-thousand Pakistanis have gathered in southern Pakistan to
mark the first anniversary of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's
assassination.
The charismatic, Oxford-educated leader was killed one year ago in a
suicide gun and bomb attack as she left a campaign rally in the
garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Supporters gathered today for ceremony Ms. Bhutto's tomb
(near Larkana) in southern Sindh province. Ms. Bhutto's husband,
President Asif Ali Zardari, said tyrants may have
managed to kill her, but they will never be able to kill her goal of
democratic reforms in Pakistan.
PAKISTAN - INDIA: Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has reiterated that his
country does not want war with neighboring India, as tensions remain
high following last month's terror attacks in Mumbai.
In a televised address today, Mr. Gilani said
Pakistan wants to have friendly relations with India. He said Pakistan
would not strike first, but would only react.
He spoke one day after U.S. officials urged India and Pakistan to avoid
escalating tensions after Pakistan began moving thousands of troops
toward its border with India.
India blames the Mumbai attacks on Pakistan-based militants.
IRAQ: Iraqi police say a car bomb has killed at least 22 people in Baghdad.
They say the explosion at a bus station in a mostly Shi'ite district wounded 54 others.
On Friday, police in the western province of al-Anbar imposed a curfew
and went door to door searching for escaped local al-Qaida leaders.
The three militants broke out of the al-Fursan police station in the
city of Ramadi earlier in the day, during a shootout that killed 13
people.
Anbar's police chief says the
clashes began when a prisoner told a guard he was ill and asked to be
escorted to a bathroom. The inmate overpowered the guard, stole his
weapon and killed him.
GUINEA - COUP: Soldiers in Guinea have fired shots into the air to enforce a nighttime
curfew, following the funeral of longtime president Lansana Conte.
Soldiers patrolled the streets in the capital, Conakry, making sure people stayed at home.
The soldiers are loyal to Army Captain Moussa Camara who seized power in a coup following President Conte's death Monday.
Tens of thousands of people gathered in Conakry Friday to pay their last respects to Mr. Conte.
SOUTH KOREA - ECONOMY: South Korea's president said Saturday that his country's economy could
shrink during the first half of 2009 for the first time since the Asian
financial crisis of 1997.
President Lee Myung-bak said that while South Korea's economy may see
positive economic growth for 2009 as a whole, it could contract during
the first two quarters of the year. He cited the global economic
slowdown and South Korea's dependence on external markets.
CHINA ACCIDENTS: Chinese state media report that two separate accidents Saturday killed at least 32 people.
The official Xinhua news agency said at least 17 people were killed and
one was seriously injured when an elevator suddenly plummeted to the
ground at a construction site in Changsha, the capital of central Hunan
province.
The news agency said the accident took place at the site of a real
estate project called "Shanghai City," which is being developed by the
Hunan-based Dongfanghong construction group.
BANGLADESH - POLITICS: Bangladesh's two main political leaders are holding rallies in the
final day of campaigning before Monday's parliamentary elections.
The vote is meant to restore democracy after two years of a
military-backed government.
Awami League leader Sheikh Hasina is in Dhaka today
and her rival Khaleda Zia of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party is
campaigning in the city of Chittagong. Both women are seen as
front-runners in the vote.
An estimated 600-thousand law enforcement officers and soldiers are
being deployed to keep the peace, after the government lifted a state
of emergency that was in effect for nearly two years.
Listen to our World News for details.
