Deadly blast hits Afghan market

A suicide attack in south Afghanistan has killed at least 21 people, many of them children, police say.

The bomb was detonated in a market in the Deh Rawud district of Uruzgan province at about 1030 local time.

Provincial police chief Jumma Gul told the BBC that a suicide bomber on a motorbike had struck a police vehicle.

Militants in Kunar province attacked a Nato outpost, leading to clashes and casualties on both sides, said a statement by the alliance.

It said insurgents had been using shops and the mosque in the village of Wanat for cover.

"There have been casualties on both sides of the fight, but accurate numbers could not be confirmed as the fighting is ongoing," the announcement by the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said.

And US forces said 40 insurgents had been killed in Helmand province in the past 24 hours.

There is no confirmation.

BY-BBC NEWS

Sudan: Genocide charges a big mistake

KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) -- Facing a possible arrest warrant for genocide, Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir got a show of support Sunday as he arrived for an emergency meeting of his cabinet.

Al-Bashir would be the first sitting president indicted by ICC for genocide.

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A crowd of about 2,000 people, some chanting "Down, down, USA," greeted the president with rousing cheers when he appeared on his way to the council of ministers meeting.

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court may seek an arrest warrant for al-Bashir on Monday, charging him with genocide for a five-year campaign of violence in the country's Darfur region, the Sudanese ambassador to the United Nations told CNN Friday.

The warrant from Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo would make al-Bashir the first sitting president to be indicted by the ICC for genocide.

"We have been hearing that this prosecutor is going to announce some names, possibly the leadership of the country, that will be indicted," said Sudanese Ambassador Adbalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad. "It is a criminal move that

should be resisted by all."

When he saw the crowd Sunday, al-Bashir climbed onto a pickup truck and pumped his fist in the air, whipping the group into a frenzy.

Some held signs saying, "You are joking... Ocamp-who?" and "Death to America."

A high-ranking ambassador at the presidential palace called the possible prosecution stupid and malicious, and warned that the Sudanese people would see it as proof of a larger conspiracy

against the country.

Doctor: Angelina Jolie gives birth to twins

PARIS, France (AP) -- The Brangelina twins are here: Angelina Jolie has given birth to a girl and a boy.

Angelina Jolie and her partner, Brad Pitt, are welcoming the arrival of twins.

The obstetrician who delivered the twins, Dr. Michel Sussmann, told The Associated Press that the actress, the babies and Jolie's partner, actor Brad Pitt, "are doing marvelously well."

Sussmann said Jolie gave birth to a boy, Knox Leon, and a girl, Vivienne Marcheline, by Cesarian section on Saturday night.

He told the AP on Sunday morning that the boy weighed 5.03 pounds and the girl 5 pounds.

Pitt was there during the operation, said the doctor, who delivered the twins at the seaside Lenval hospital in Nice in southern France.

"Everything is going well," said Sussmann. "The mother, the babies, the father are doing marvelously well."

He said the Cesarian was moved forward from its originally planned date "for medical reasons" so that the babies could be born "in the best conditions." Sussman did not give details.

He said Jolie is expected to stay in the hospital for a few more days.

Jolie and Pitt already have four children: Maddox, 6; Pax, 4; Zahara, 3, and Shiloh, 2.

Jolie had checked into the hospital late last month to rest and be monitored by her doctor before the birth.

Before that, she, Pitt and their children had moved into a large estate, Miraval, in the French hamlet of Correns, which is just a short helicopter ride from the hospital. Correns is about 60 miles from Nice, a resort on the Mediterranean.

Though the lenses of the world's paparazzi had been trained on maternity wards across the French Riviera, Jolie managed to slip unobserved into the clinic, reportedly arriving by helicopter on the hospital's rooftop helipad.

Pitt was seen coming and going after Jolie's hospitalization became public.

The first photos of the new twins are expected to fetch millions of dollars.

BY-CNN

France hosts Mediterranean summit

Leaders of EU and Mediterranean rim countries are gathering in Paris to launch a Union for the Mediterranean.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is hosting leaders from 42 nations, to discuss issues including regional unrest, immigration and pollution.

France says the new union could send a "wind of hope" through the region.

Progress has already been made. Mr Sarkozy announced on Saturday that Syria and Lebanon had agreed to set up embassies in each other's capitals.

Lebanon and Syria have not had fully-fledged embassies in each other's countries since both gained independence from colonial rule in the 1940s. Relations between the two have been strained since Lebanon's former PM Rafik Hariri was assassinated in 2005 - an attack which Lebanon claims Syria was involved in.

But after Mr Sarkozy held talks with Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman and then Syria's leader Bashar Assad, he announced the establishment of embassies and hailed the moment as an "historic step forward".

FROM-BBC NEWS

Obama, McCain agree on many once-divisive issues

Their similar stances on immigration, nuclear weapons, global warming and stem-cell research are evidence of a centrist shift in the political landscape.
By Janet Hook,, Peter Wallsten and Peter Nicholas, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers July 13, 2008
WASHINGTON -- For Amy Rick, the 2008 presidential election is a win-win situation. Both Barack Obama and John McCain support an expansion of stem-cell research that she has battled for in vain under President Bush. "Both are very solid," said Rick, president of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research. "We are definitely looking forward with optimism to a change in policy in 2009."

John Isaacs, an arms control advocate, feels the same way, because both candidates have made nuclear nonproliferation a priority. "We'll have major progress on nuclear issues no matter who is elected," said Isaacs, executive director of the Council for a Livable World.

Stem-cell research and nuclear weapons are just two examples of a surprising but little-noticed aspect of the 2008 campaign: Democrat Obama and Republican McCain agree on a range of issues that have divided the parties under Bush.

On immigration, faith-based social services, expanded government wiretapping, global warming and more, Obama and McCain have arrived at similar stances -- even as they have spent weeks trying to amplify the differences between them on other issues, such as healthcare and taxes.

Even on Iraq, a signature issue for both candidates, McCain and Obama have edged toward each other.

The result is that in many areas of policy, the general direction of the next White House seems already set, even if the details are not.

SOURCE-LOS ANGELES TIMES

Pope says to apologize for Australian sex scandal

Benedict, due to attend the Church's World Day of Youth, told reporters on his plane everything possible would be done to prevent a recurrence and to promote healing among the victims.

Broken Rites, a group which represents abuse victims in Australia, has a list of 107 convictions but says the real figure is higher because only a small number go to court.

"It is essential for the Church to reconcile, to prevent, to help and also to see (its) guilt," said Benedict.

"It must be clear being a priest is incompatible with this behavior because priests are in the service of our Lord," he said.

"We have to reflect on what was insufficient and our education and our teaching (of priests). This is the essential content of what we will say (as we) apologize."

Source: Reuters