CLINTON - ASIA: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denies the United States is
pressuring India to improve relations with Pakistan, even though India
believes Pakistan has not done enough to stop cross-border terrorism.
Clinton spoke to reporters Saturday in India's commercial city of
Mumbai, where Indian officials believe terrorists linked to Pakistan
killed 166 people during an attack in November.
Secretary Clinton indicated Pakistan has done much more in recent
months to deal with home-grown terrorism, and she suggested action may
soon be taken to bring those responsible for the Mumbai attacks to
justice.
PAKISTAN: Pakistani military officials say Pakistani fighters jets pounded militant hideouts run by a top Taliban warlord, killing six suspected insurgents Saturday. Authorities say the airstrikes destroyed a stronghold run by Hakim Ullah in (the Orakzai tribal agency) northwest Pakistan, but it is not clear if Ullah was present at the time. Ullah is a top deputy to Pakistani Taliban chief, Baitullah Mehsud, who is blamed for scores of attacks against government and civilian targets. Mehsud is also believed to be a key ally for al-Qaida fighters in Pakistan.
INDONESIA BLASTS: Indonesian investigators are working Saturday to identify the remains
of two suicide bombers who carried out twin attacks on luxury Jakarta
hotels early Friday.
Eight people were killed and at least 50 others were wounded by nearly
simultaneous bomb explosions inside the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott
hotels in the Indonesian capital of Jakarta. Casualties included
Americans, Australians, Canadians and a New Zealander. A third,
unexploded bomb was later found inside the Marriott Hotel.
HONDURAS: Ousted Honduran President Manuel Zelaya said Friday he plans to return
to his country and his post with or without a mediated agreement from
the U.S.-backed talks set to begin Saturday. The talks are aimed at
findind a peaceful end to the Honduras political crisis.
Mr. Zelaya set midnight Saturday as the deadline for the Costa
Rica-mediated talks to negotiate a solution that would restore him to
power.
He did not say when or how he would return to Honduras, or what he would do if talks collapse.
SOMALIA - KENYA KIDNAPPING: Somali gunmen have seized three foreign aid workers in northern Kenya.
The trio was kidnapped early Saturday morning in a raid in the border town of Mandera.
The nationalities of the humanitarian workers and the organizations they work for are not immediately clear.
Two French military advisers were kidnapped in Somalia earlier this
week. They are reportedly being held by the Islamist group al-Shabab.
The French Foreign Ministry says the kidnapped men were on an official mission to provide assistance to the Somali government.
MAURITANIA - ELECTION: Voters in Mauritania are casting ballots for a new president, less than
a year after the country's first freely-elected leader was ousted in a
coup.
General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz is a candidate in the election. General
Aziz overthrew President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi last August.
The general then changed the nation's constitution to allow retired
officers to run for political office before resigning his commission.
General Aziz now faces challengers that include opposition leader Ahmed
Ould Dadah. Mr. Dadah finished second in Mauritania's 2007 election.
US - SPACE SHUTTLE: Astronauts from the U.S. space shuttle Endeavour are preparing for the mission's first spacewalk to complete construction on the Japanese space lab. Dave Wolf and Tim Kopra will conduct the spacewalk to help the crew install an external platform that will allow scientists to conduct experiments in the vacuum of space. In order to cut down preparation time, Wolf and Kopra "camped out" in the airlock entrance of the space station Friday night. Theirs is the first of five planned spacewalks during Endeavour's 11-day mission.
WALTER CRONKITE OBIT: When important news happened around the world during the 1960s and
'70s, millions of Americans turned to their televisions to watch
anchorman Walter Cronkite tell them in his deep voice what was taking
place. For many Americans, Cronkite's emotional broadcast to the nation
in
November 1963 is the way they remember learning that President John F.
Kennedy had been assassinated. His gracious on-air manner also helped
make Cronkite's show (the CBS Evening News) the top-rated news program
from 1969 until he retired in 1981. Cronkite died in New York Friday
night. He was 92 years old. (News Updates)
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