Pyongyang test-fires missiles
North Korea has test-fired what appear to be short-range anti-ship missiles toward the Sea of Japan, South Korea's defence ministry has reported. The launches seem to be part of a routine military exercise.
US military support for Lebanon
In the wake of current events in Lebanon, the United States has sped up its commitment of military aid to the Lebanese army. Three out of a proposed eight military supply planes have arrived in Beirut thus far. The steps are designed to bolster efforts to dislodge Fatah al-Islam combatants from the Nahr al-Bared refugee camp.
Politicians, diplomats and refugees have warned that violence might spread throughout Lebanon in the wake of the heavy-handed tactics of Lebanese forces in combating Fatah al-Islam.
Israel air strike near Haniya residence
Israeli fighter jets carried out an air strike in close proximity to the Gaza residence of Palestinian Prime Minister Ismail Haniya on Thursday, yet Israeli officials have insisted that Haniya was not the intended target. Another strike leveled the premises of the Hamas-linked Executive Force paramilitary group, injuring five bystanders.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has implored militants to halt their "absurd" rocket attacks against Israel, which he says only serve to impede peace efforts; he also condemned retaliatory air strikes by Israel.
The European Union (EU) foreign policy chief, Javier Solana, has described the unity government led by Abbas as "non-functioning", and is non-committal as to whether the Fatah-Hamas coalition should remain in power given the recent factional clashes in Gaza.
Egypt is to host talks designed to cement a ceasefire between the rival Hamas and Fatah factions in the coming days.
Britain seeks UN involvement in Afghanistan
British officials lobbied the United Nations (UN) on Thursday, to consider developing a comprehensive "campaign plan" for securing peace in Afghanistan. British Defence Secretary Des Browne has said that the world body is better poised to coordinate peace-building efforts, which have hitherto fallen upon military commanders to enact.
Read Jean MacKenzie's Afghan blog piece, Sex, Wine, and Rock n' Roll, Kabul-Style, about the behaviour of foreign nationals in Afghanistan.
US Congress approves funding bill
A Democrat-controlled US Congress has approved a $95 bn funding bill for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, joining the House of Representatives' support for the measure. Attempts to insist that the Pentagon adhere to troop training, readiness and rest requirement provisos, were dropped.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) are still awaiting access to 20,000 prisoners held in Iraqi jails, which the ICRC are currently in talks with national officials to secure; the organisation's president is less than confident in any progress being made, however.
Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr delivered an anti-American sermon at a mosque in the Iraqi city of Kufa on Friday. It was his first public appearance since the Coalition troop surge was initiated. US officials say he has been in hiding in Iran. On Friday, the leader of al-Sadr's Mehdi Army militia in Basra was killed by Iraqi Special Forces.
Yushchenko takes charge of interior ministry force
Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko, has taken command of the 40,000-strong interior ministry force amid a bitter power struggle between himself and political rival, Prime Minister Victor Yanukovych. The interior ministry has described the measure as contravening national law.
The move follows the President's dismissal of chief prosecutor, Svyatoslav M. Piskun, on Thursday. Supporters, riot police officers, as well as an interior minister loyal to PM Yanukovych surrounded Piskun's office in protest.
Pakistan dismisses claims of illicit conduct in DRC
Pakistan has dismissed claims that its troops partook in gold and weapons sales with militias while serving as UN peacekeepers in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The UN has said that it will discipline any parties who may have undermined their operations.
DRC opposition lawmakers and human rights campaigners have described government findings into the deaths of 110 protesters in the western Bas-Congo province on 31 January and 1 February, as a whitewash.
The UN has reported that 110,000 people were displaced in Darfur during the first three months of 2007.
Nigerian gunmen seize oil workers
Gunmen have seized a group of oil workers, including four Britons and three Americans, working on a pipeline-laying boat off the Nigerian coast.
Somali dissidents reject peace conference
Anti-government leaders have issued a joint statement to call upon Somalis to boycott an upcoming peace conference, on the basis that those opposed to the Ethiopian-backed interim government are only able to take part as representatives of their clans, as opposed to as leaders of an anti-government movement.
Kenya: a national crisis?
The Kenyan National Commission on Human Rights has advised Nairobi to declare a national crisis, after an escalation in levels of crime, police shootings and violent clashes.
FARC seeks Sarkozy input
Left-wing insurgents, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), have sought the assistance of French president Nicolas Sarkozy in facilitating the exchange of 56 local and international hostages for 500 FARC members who are currently in jail.
