French woman kidnapped by Somali militants dies

Marie Dedieu, who was believed to have been kidnapped by Somali al-Shabab militants. Photograph: Reuters
A Frenchwoman kidnapped from her beach house on Kenya's northern coast by Somali gunmen nearly three weeks ago has died, the French government said on Wednesday.

The French authorities said they heard Marie Dedieu, 66, had died via intelligence officers dispatched by Paris to the region to seek her release. However, they said they had no information as to when she died or in what circumstances.

Police call off hunt for wild animals released in Ohio

Dead animals lie near Terry Thompson's Ohio game reserve after being shot by police. Photograph: Matt
Police in the US have called off a big game hunt for more than 50 exotic animals freed from an Ohio game reserve and said they were confident that the last animal unaccounted for, a snow monkey, had been eaten by one of the freed big cats before they were shot or captured.
Eighteen rare Bengal tigers, 17 lions, six black bears and three grizzlies were among the animals let loose from cages at the private Muskingum County exotic animal farm in Zanesville by its owner, Terry Thompson, before he shot himself on Tuesday.

Pakistan must boost anti-terror fight: Hillary

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Thursday demanded that Pakistan step up the fight against terrorists within its borders, delivering a blunt message that Pakistanis “must be part of the solution” to the ongoing conflict in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Using unusually stern language, Ms. Clinton said while visiting the Afghan capital of Kabul that the Obama administration expects the Pakistani government, military and intelligence services to “take the lead” in not only fighting insurgents based in Pakistan but also in encouraging Afghan militants to reconcile with Afghan society.

Berlusconi: Libya war over

The war in Libya is over, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday, using a famous Latin quote to mark the reported death of long-time Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.

"Sic transit gloria mundi (Thus passes the glory of the world)," Berlusconi was quoted as saying, referring to Gaddafi's demise. "Now the war is over."

Meanwhile, the European Union urged Libya's interim rulers on Thursday to push for a broad-based reconciliation in the country following the death of deposed leader Gaddafi.

U.S. officials fear additional Quds plots may be under way

The United States believes Iran’s shadowy Quds Force is becoming increasingly aggressive overseas and may be working on other international plots beyond the alleged plan to kill Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to Washington, three U.S. officials told Reuters.
U.S. allegations last week of a foiled plot in Washington have escalated tensions between the United States and Iran.

Muammar Gaddafi 'killed' in gun battle

A senior NTC official has said that Muammar Gaddafi has died of his wounds after being captured near Sirte.

Another NTC commander said that Moussa Ibrahim, former spokesman for Muammar Gaddafi's fallen government, was also captured near the Sirte.

Abdul Hakim Al Jalil, commander of the 11th brigade, also said he had seen the body of the chief of Gaddafi's armed forces, Abu Bakr Younus Jabr.

Clinton talks tough on militants ahead of Pakistan trip

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton delivered a tough warning to Pakistan on the eve of a visit to the country Thursday, saying it was time for Islamabad to decide whether it would help or hinder the U.S.-led war on militants.
Clinton, in Kabul for meetings with Afghan President Hamid Karzai, used a news conference to announce her visit to Islamabad, where she will be accompanied by the new U.S. top military officer and new CIA chief to deliver what amounts to an ultimatum.
"We must send a clear, unequivocal message to the government and people of Pakistan that they must be part of the solution and that means ridding their own country of terrorists who kill their own people and cross the border to kill in Afghanistan," Clinton said

Eighteen endangered Bengal tigers among 50 animals shot by Ohio police

Sheriff's deputies shot nearly 50 wild animals — including 18 rare Bengal tigers and 17 lions — in a big-game hunt across the Ohio countryside Wednesday after the owner of an exotic-animal park threw their cages open and committed suicide in what may have been one last act of spite against his neighbours and police.
Exotic animals set free, owner kills himself, police say
As homeowners nervously hid indoors, officers armed with high-powered rifles and shoot-to-kill orders fanned out through fields and woods to hunt down about 56 animals that had been set loose from the Muskingum County Animal Farm by its owner, Terry Thompson, before he shot himself to death Tuesday

Turkey launches incursion across Iraq border

ANKARA, Turkey — Turkish soldiers, air force bombers and helicopter gunships launched an incursion into northern Iraq on Wednesday, hours after Kurdish rebels killed 24 soldiers and wounded 18 in attacks along the border.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan cancelled a visit to Kazakhstan and held a nationally televised news conference to announce that Turkey had launched the "hot pursuit" operation, wording that officials often use to describe cross-border offensives in northern Iraq.

Turkey avenges Kurdish attacks

DOHA, Qatar - Turkish forces have launched an incursion into the mountains of northern Iraq following simultaneous attacks by Kurdish separatists in southeastern Turkey that killed at least 26 soldiers.

The Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which has waged a decades-long separatist struggle against Ankara, has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which occurred late on Tuesday and early on Wednesday.

A security source said the attacks targeted police and military installations in several locations in Cukurca and Yuksekova in Hakkari province near the border with northern Iraq's semi-autonomous Kurdish region

Start of 2-day general strike shuts down Greece

ATHENS, Greece – A two-day general strike that unions vow will be the largest in years grounded flights, disrupted public transport and shut down everything from shops to schools in Greece on Wednesday, as at least 50,000 protesters converged in central Athens.
A man throws his fishing line in front of a docked ship during a strike in the port of Piraeus, near Athens, on Wednesday.

Greece erupts as police clash with thousands marching on parliament

Greeces great economic crisis turned into a massive showdown between the little man on the street and lawmakers in Athens's 300-seat parliament when tens of thousands of protesters marched on parliament in a day marked by fury, defiance and ultimately violence.

A demonstration that will be remembered as one of the biggest in modern times – with around 100,000 Greeks taking to the streets ahead of a crucial vote on stinging austerity – ended in ferocious street fighting on Wednesday after riot police fired teargas into the crowd and youths responded with a volley of rocks and petrol bombs

Turkey launches incursion into Iraq after Kurdish attacks

Turkish soldiers, air force bombers and helicopter gunships launched an incursion into northern Iraq on Wednesday, hours after Kurdish rebels killed 24 soldiers and wounded 18 in attacks along the border.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan canceled a visit to Kazakhstan and held a nationally televised news conference to announce that Turkey had launched the “hot pursuit” operation, wording that officials often use to describe cross-border offensives in northern Iraq.

Libyans bulldoze Gadhafi's Tripoli compound

Libyan bulldozers began knocking down the green walls surrounding Moammar Gadhafi's main Tripoli compound known as Bab al-Aziziya on Sunday, as the new leaders said it was time “to tear down this symbol of tyranny.”

The sprawling, fortress-like compound has long been hated by Libyans who feared to even walk

Somali militants threaten suicide attacks in Kenya

MOGADISHU, – Somali militants threatened to bring down Nairobi skyscrapers after Kenya sent hundreds of troops into Somalia. The threat emanated from the same lawless country in which the al-Qaida masterminds behind 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies sought refuge.
Ali Mohamud Rage, spokesman for Somalia's most dangerous militant group, holds a news conference in Mogadishu.
The Kenyan invasion comes at a time when al-Shabab has been weakened by famine in its strongholds, has been pushed from the capital of Mogadishu by African Union troops and finds itself increasingly challenged by clan militias.
The U.S. has also launched airstrikes against al-Shabab leaders amid concerns over terrorist training camps in the failed state of Somalia. The men who masterminded the 1998 bombings of U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania found shelter in the chaos of its 20-year-old conflict.
Al-Shabab lashed out in a news conference and an eloquent English statement on Monday, saying that the "bloody battles that will ensue as a result of this incursion will most likely disrupt the social equilibrium and imperil the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians."

At Bani Walid party, Libya fighters look to future

"I used to drive a 1990 Mazda," the young Libyan revolutionary says through child-like giggles, hurtling into the heart of battle at the wheel of a new 4-by-4 looted from slain soldiers of Muammar Gaddafi. "Look at me now."

But there was to be no more fighting for Ali that day. Bani Walid, one of only two towns in Libya that had still been resisting the men who toppled one of the world's most recognisable leaders, had fallen.

Libyan forces searching Gadhafi stronghold

Libyan rebels finally in control of a key stronghold of ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi's backers dug up yards in searches for hidden weapons Tuesday, a concrete sign that the months-long battle for Bani Walid was virtually over.
On another similar front, revolutionary forces launched another assault on Gadhafi's hometown of Sirte, hoping to dislodge his dug-in loyalists.

Libya's new rulers are holding up declaring victory and setting a timetable for elections until both centers are under their control. Gadhafi himself remains in hiding.

In the capital Tripoli, visiting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the U.S. wanted to see Gadhafi killed or captured.

In Bani Walid, field commander Said Younis said fighters were searching for high level Gadhafi loyalists who had escaped to the city, including Gadhafi's son Seif al-Islam, one of his closest political aides and spokesman.

"Seif was seen was on Thursday. He was eating in a desert village close to the city," Younis told The Associated Press.

Bani Walid is a valley city protected by many steep mountains and valleys, where Gadhafi loyalist snipers took positions during the fiercest battles. Younis said many loyalist fighters have fled to caves in the mountains to hide from the revolutionary forces.

Israeli soldier, Palestinians freed in captive swap

Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and hundreds of Palestinians have crossed Israel's borders in opposite directions as a thousand-for-one prisoner exchange brought joy to families but did little to ease decades of conflict.

In one of the biggest such exchanges between the two sides, Sergeant Shalit was flown to his parents' home in northern Israel after more than five years held incommunicado by Hamas in the Gaza Strip, while a first 477 of over 1,000 Palestinians in the deal left Israeli jails for Gaza, the West Bank and abroad.

Hundreds of flag-waving wellwishers lined the streets of Shalit's rural home town. Many danced as a ceremonial shofar horn was blown when he arrived at nightfall after a day that he began, as nearly 2,000 before, hidden away somewhere in Gaza.

In the Palestinian coastal enclave, Hamas's Islamist leaders claimed vindication for uncompromising hostility toward Israel that, on Tuesday at least, overshadowed the efforts of rivals led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank.

"I missed my family very much," a gaunt Shalit, his breathing laboured at times, said in an interview with Egyptian television as he was moved through Egypt from Gaza. "I hope this deal will promote peace between Israel and the Palestinians."

But there was no sign from Israel or Hamas, an Islamist group dedicated to its destruction, that the Egyptian-brokered deal could be a starting point for dialogue.

"The people want a new Gilad, the people want a new Gilad," tens of thousands of people chanted at a rally in Gaza for freed prisoners, urging that their fighters capture more soldiers to help free some of the 5,000 Palestinians still held by Israel.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, welcoming Shalit home, warned the former prisoners they would be "taking their life into their own hands" if they "returned to terror".

Captive Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit is set to return to Israel tonight in a complex prisoner exchange deal

ISRAELI soldier Gilad Shalit is set tonight to return to Israel after more than five years of captivity by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

His return, expected to be about 8pm (AEDT), will mark the first phase of one of the largest prisoner swaps in history  with 1027 Palestinian prisoners set to be released in return.

In a complicated series of exchanges, Sgt. Shalit, 25, is set to leave captivity in Gaza and be driven by Hamas to the Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt.

Hamas captured Sgt. Shalit in a cross-border raid in 2006.

There he is expected to be met by officials from Egypt and the International Red Cross. He will be given a medical check by the Red Cross. He has been denied any Red Cross access during five years of captivity.

Egyptian officials are likely to give him a telephone which he can use to call his parents, Noam and Aviva, who he has not spoken to since he was 19 and who will be waiting for him in Israel.

Saleh: Diplomats spreading falsehoods

Yemen's embattled President Ali Abdullah Saleh charged Sunday that foreign diplomats have been misled by the country's opposition and are conveying false information about the situation in Yemen.

Saleh's criticism came before a scheduled meeting this week at the UN Security Council to discuss a resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire and transfer of power.

Addressing military officials, Saleh said the foreign ambassadors, "move from one opposition to the other, collect information and consider the information they get from the opposition as they if they are the victim whom they should support." Saleh clings to power despite more than nine months of street protests, inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.

He has balked at signing a deal backed by his powerful neighbors and the US in hopes of providing a smooth transition of power. Under the agreement, Saleh would resign and hand power to his vice president in return for immunity from prosecution.

According to a Yemeni Foreign Ministry official, the Gulf Cooperation Council, which initiated the power transfer deal, has turned down a request by Saleh to make changes to the deal to enable him to stay in power until 2013. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter.

In his speech, Saleh described the opposition as "insane (people) who can't sleep and only want to take power." Saleh's remarks, broadcast on Yemeni state TV, came as his security forces fired at protesters marching through the capital and a southern city, killing at least five people, according to a medical official.

Mohammed Al-Qubati, the director of a field hospital at Sanaa's main protest site dubbed "Change Square,” also said four civilians and at least 37 people were wounded in the violence there.

Witnesses said snipers on rooftops opened fire on the crowd of tens of thousands of protesters, marching through the streets to call for Saleh's resignation.