SOMALIA - RAID: U.S. military officials say American special forces staged an attack in southern Somalia Monday and killed a Kenyan-born terrorist suspect. Witnesses in the area said soldiers in at least two helicopters fired on a vehicle near the southern town of Barawe, killing at least two passengers and wounding two others. U.S. officials say the attack killed Saleh Ali Saleh Nabhan, whom authorities have linked to al-Qaida. Nabhan was wanted by U.S. intelligence for questioning about attacks against a hotel and a plane in Mombasa, Kenya, in 2002.
AFGHAN ELECTION: A top election official in Afghanistan says votes from 10 percent of
the country's polling stations must be recounted due to indications of
fraud in last month's presidential election.
The chairman of Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission said Tuesday officials will need to audit and recount votes at
about 2,500 polling sites.
Last week, the U.N.-backed ECC ordered Afghanistan's Independent
Election Commission to recount ballot boxes from stations with 100
percent turnout or sites where a candidate received more than 95
percent of the valid votes.
IRAQ - SHOE THROWER: An Iraqi journalist who threw his shoes at former U.S. President George W. Bush been released from an Iraqi prison. Iraqi authorities freed Muntazer al-Zaidi from a Baghdad prison Tuesday after he served nine months in prison. Family members and several Iraqi lawmakers greeted him outside the jail. In an act that made him a hero among many Arabs, Al-Zaidi threw his shoes at Mr. Bush and called him a "dog" last December in Baghdad as the U.S. leader gave a joint news conference with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Mr. Bush ducked and avoided being hit.
KOREAS - RELATIONS: North and South Korea exchanged lists Tuesday of families separated for
more than half a century by the Korean War, for a new round of
temporary reunions.
The two Koreas agreed last month to have 100 families reunite at the
North's scenic Mount Kumgang resort from September 26 to October 1.
The names will be chosen from lists of 200 candidates from each side that were exchanged on September 1.
Following their first-ever summit in 2000, the two countries regularly
held family reunions until late 2007, when the meetings were suspended
amid rising tensions.
THAILAND - US BRIBERY: China's ruling Communist Party elite opened an annual meeting Tuesday
during which Chinese President Hu Jintao's heir apparent is expected to
consolidate his power.
Vice President Xi Jinping is expected to be appointed to the party's
powerful military commission during the meeting. The appointment would
make him the front-runner to succeed Mr. Hu in 2012.
If the Central Committee does not appoint Xi to the commission during
their meeting this week, it could signal discord among the leadership
about who will succeed Mr. Hu.
CHINA - LEADERSHIP: A jury in Los Angeles has convicted two U.S. film producers of bribing
a former Thai government official to win a contract to run the Bangkok
International Film Festival.
Gerald and Patricia Green, who are married, could each receive 20 year prison terms when they are sentenced later this year.
Their lawyer says he will appeal.
The jury found the Greens guilty of paying bribes to the former head of
the Tourism Authority of Thailand in exchange for winning the film
festival contract.
The festival earned the Greens more than $13 million.
NY TERROR: A spokesman for the New York City Police Department says a terrorism
task force conducted raids on several residences in the borough of
Queens early Monday.
Police spokesman Paul Browne gave few details, but said the raids were
the result of cooperation between the city police and federal agents.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation briefed a group of U.S. lawmakers
on the events Monday. New York Representative Peter King said he was
told the FBI got an emergency warrant for the raids late Sunday, after
a person under surveillance for alleged links to al-Qaida visited a
group of people in New York City.
US - MIDEAST: U.S. Mideast envoy George Mitchell has met with Israel's prime minister
to urge him to curtail Jewish settlement building on land the
Palestinians want for a state.
Mitchell's meeting with Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem lasted for
about two hours. The Israeli prime minister's office described the
talks as "good" and said the two men would meet again Wednesday.
Ahead of the meeting, Mitchell said he hoped to bring his current phase
of talks with Israel to an "early conclusion" and move forward in the
search for a comprehensive Israeli-Arab peace.
IRAN - NUCLEAR: European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana says talks next month
between Iran and six world powers on global security and economic
issues "likely" will take place in Turkey.
Solana said Tuesday he is hopeful for progress at the October 1st
meeting because the United States will participate in a formal manner
for the first time. U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs
William Burns will represent Washington.
The talks will be Iran's first with world powers in more than a year.
Burns attended the last meeting in Geneva in July 2008 as an observer.
Listen to our World News for details.
