Baghdad turns to Tehran
Ahead of a regional meeting on Iraq's internal security, Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki has sought the help of Iranian foreign minister Manouchehr Mottaki in mediating the ongoing dispute between the autonomous Kurdish north of Iraq and Turkey.
Washington has upped the amount of intelligence it provides Turkey about the north of Iraq, where Kurdish rebels have long maintained bases and hidden redoubts.
Ankara plans "targeted sanctions" against those individuals and political and business entities in northern Iraq affiliated with the Kurdistan Workers' Party.
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In the left-of-centre US weekly The Nation, Robert Scheer examines how American arms manufacturers have profited immensely from the 9/11 attacks and the ongoing "war on terrorism".
India matters more than Pakistan
On a visit to South Asia, a US defence department official has suggested that in the long-term, Washington's relations with New Delhi far outstrip its long-standing closeness with Islamabad in terms of strategic importance. Though Pakistan is a key player in the hunt for Osama bin Laden and the prosecution of the "war on terrorism", India remains a potential global power that the United States feels must be better accommodated in the international political architecture.
Indian intelligence on Pakistan's military capabilities has cast serious doubt on Islamabad's ability to tackle the growing problem of militancy in its rugged and lawless northwestern provinces.
Pakistani forces claim to have killed 70 militants in the valley of Swat, where the army has besieged the camp of the influential "Mullah Radio".
Bloodshed in Sri Lanka Countries mentioned in today's security brief:
- Turkey
- Iraq
- Iran
- USA
- Russia
- UK
- France
- Germany
- China
- Japan
- Afghanistan
- India
- Pakistan
- Sri Lanka
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Djibouti
Sri Lankan military sources claim that 31 Tamil Tiger rebels have been killed in fighting in the northwest of Sri Lanka.
Japan curtails military involvement in Afghanistan
Bowing to pressure from opposition parties, Japan has withdrawn refuelling ships from the Indian Ocean that were supporting coalition and NATO efforts in Afghanistan.
Tasked with changing hearts and minds, Hughes resigns
Karen Hughes, the State Department's public diplomacy chief and a close aide to President George W Bush, has resigned her post. She was tasked with wooing Arab and Muslim civil society around the world, an admittedly tough job given the plummeting popularity of the United States in much of the Arab and Muslim world.
Met guilty in 2005 shooting
London's Metropolitan police service has been found guilty of endangering the public in the shooting of the Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in July 2005. A "catastrophic series of errors" in the build up to the electrician's shooting has the Met now facing a stiff fine.
Powers meet on Iran
Representatives of France, the UK, Germany, the US, China and Russia will meet tomorrow in London to discuss the ongoing diplomatic stalemate with Iran over its nuclear ambitions.
Rebellion in Eritrea
According to sources in Ethiopia, a rebel group in neighbouring Eritrea calling itself the Red Sea Afar Democratic Organisation has claimed responsibility for the killings of 23 Eritrean soldiers in the remote region of Afar. Afar is a barren region that stretches into Ethiopia, Eritrea and Djibouti.
