9 Americans killed in attack in Afghanistan

The Associated Press Published: July 14, 2008

KABUL, Afghanistan: More than 100 militants firing machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars fought their way into a remote base built last week, killing nine American soldiers in the deadliest attack on U.S. forces in Afghanistan in three years.

The assault was launched at about 4:30 a.m. Sunday in the village of Wanat in the mountainous northeatern province of Kunar near the Pakistan border. The attack came from multiple sides, with insurgents firing from homes and a mosque.

It was a "concerted attempt" to overrun the small base that was built only about three days ago, said an official with NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The official who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to release the information.

The insurgent force was described as being in the "low three figures," meaning low hundreds, the official said.

An unknown number of militants got inside the outpost, the reason the fighters were able to inflict such high casualties, a second military official, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

BY-Herald Tribune

'World's oldest blogger' dies at 108

By Saeed Ahmed
CNN

(CNN) -- An Australian woman often described as the world's oldest blogger has died at the age of 108 after posting a final message about her ailing health but how she sang "a happy song, as I do every day."

Olive Riley posted more than 70 entries on her blog -- or "blob" as she jokingly called it -- since February 2007

Olive Riley died Saturday at a nursing home in New South Wales.

Riley posted more than 70 entries on her blog -- or "blob" as she jokingly called it -- since February 2007.

On the site, The Life of Riley, and in a series of videos post on YouTube, Riley mused on her day-to-day life. She also recounted living through two world wars and raising three children on her own while working as a cook and a bar maid.

"She had a wonderful memory, and an amazing zest for life," said her friend Eric Shackle, who met Riley at a nursing home while visiting his wife, who has since passed. "Just two weeks ago, she recalled the words of a song that was popular before World War II, and sang the chorus with me."

In a post titled "Washing Day," Riley wrote: "You 21st Century people live a different life than the one I lived as a youngster in the early 1900s. Take washing day, for instance. These days you just toss your dirty clothes into a washing machine, press a few switches, and it's done."

She then described how she helped do laundry as a youngster, starting with finding "a few pieces of wood to fire the copper for Mum."

"When the water in the copper began to boil, Mum would add a cupful of soap chips, and throw in a cube of Reckitt's Blue wrapped in a muslin bag to whiten the clothes," she wrote. "Then she put in all the dirty clothes, first rubbing out the stains with a bar of Sunlight soap. ... that was jolly hard work."

Mandela to spend birthday quietly

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa (AP) -- He wore a trendy black shirt just like many of the kids in the crowd. But Nelson Mandela moved slowly, leaning on his wife and on a white cane, as he crossed the stage to adoring cheers.

Nelson Mandela celebrates his 90th birthday on Friday; he jokes he has "retired from retirement."

Public appearances like the one at the London rock concert in honor of his birthday are rare these days for the anti-apartheid icon. Mandela jokes he has "retired from retirement," but this time it sounds serious. The tall, majestic figure the world saw walking out of prison to freedom 18 years ago is now gray-haired, frail and for the most part silent as he reaches his 90th birthday Friday.

When he turned 89 on July 18, 2007, Mandela celebrated by announcing the founding of a "council of elders" -- fellow Nobel peace laureates, politicians and development gurus pooling their wisdom and influence to tackle global crises. Elders have since jetted to Darfur and the Middle East -- but Mandela has stayed at home.

As South Africa's first black president -- he only ran for one term -- Mandela ushered in a democratic, multiracial society that is still going peaceful and strong.

There are occasional bumps, some sharp. But overall, the Mandela era has confounded doomsayers at home and abroad who doubted South Africa's races could live together under black rule.

After changing his country so profoundly, then turning his energies during his first "retirement" to tackling problems like AIDS, Mandela has left the stage to younger leaders. But South Africa and the world seem reluctant to let him fade into retirement.

When crises break out -- the collapse of neighboring Zimbabwe, a crime wave at home, or violence against African immigrants over jobs and housing -- South Africans expect to hear from Mandela.

Sudan leader faces Darfur charges

KHARTOUM, Sudan (CNN) -- The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court was expected by diplomats to seek the arrest on Monday of the Sudanese president on charges of genocide in a five-year campaign of violence in the country's Darfur region.

About 1,000 Sudanese rallied in Khartoum Sunday against the possible charges.

But the ruling National Congress Party of Omar Hassan al-Bashir has warned of "more violence and blood" in the huge western region of Darfur if the president is charged, state TV reported.

Al-Bashir, who seized power in a 1989 coup, got a show of support Sunday as he arrived for an emergency meeting of his cabinet.

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

Others held signs ridiculing the ICC and its prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo of Argentina. "Ocampo is a plotter against Sudan's people," one banner read, according to The Associated Press.

Moreno-Ocampo has refused to comment, saying only that he will present his evidence to judges on Monday.

A three-judge panel at the court, based at The Hague in The Netherlands, will study the case before deciding whether to issue an arrest warrant.

The ICC warrant would make al-Bashir the first sitting president to be indicted 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," Sudanese Ambassador to the United Nations Adbalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad told CNN Friday. "It is a criminal move that should be resisted by all."

'Breakthrough' in malaria fight

By Phil Mercer
BBC News, Sydney

A sticky substance allows infected blood cells to stick to the blood vessels

Australian scientists have identified a potential treatment to combat malaria by pinpointing the process that helps the disease hijack red blood cells.

They have found the key to an adhesive that stops the parasite being flushed out of the body by the immune system.

The removal of just one of these compounds is enough to bring the process to a halt.

Researchers in Melbourne believe their discovery could be a major breakthrough in the fight against the disease.

They have identified eight proteins that allow this glue-like substance onto the surface of a hijacked cell.

Proteins are nature's building blocks. They are large molecules that are essential for the function of cells in the body.

Professor Alan Cowman, a member of the research team at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, said targeting those proteins could be a key to fighting malaria.

"We essentially block the virulence or the capacity of the parasite to cause disease," he said.

Malaria is preventable and curable, but can be fatal if not treated promptly.

The disease kills more than a million people each year. Many of the victims are young children in sub-Saharan Africa.

US moves to bolster lending firms

The US government has announced sweeping measures to shore up the nation's two largest mortgage finance companies, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.

The plan calls on Congress to expand the companies' access to credit and allow the Treasury to buy shares in the companies if needed.

The two firms own or guarantee almost half of all US home loans - more than $5 trillion (£2.5 trillion) of debt.

Their share prices sank last week on fears they may struggle to raise funds.

The BBC's Greg Wood in New York says the emergency measures are meant to allay fears that the two companies are about to run out of money.

BY-BBC NEWS

Turkey charges 86 for 'coup plot'

A top Turkish prosecutor has brought charges against 86 people allegedly involved in a coup plot.

Aykut Cengiz Engin did not name those charged, but the indictment follows the arrest of two retired senior generals, leading businessmen and journalists.

The charges follow years of speculation about a shadowy group of hardline nationalists determined to defend the country's secular values.

Tensions have been rising in Turkey amid efforts to close the ruling party.

The Constitutional Court is considering a case against the AK Party, in which it is accused of aiming to introduce Sharia law in Turkey, in contravention of the strictly secular constitution.

The Turkish prime minister and president - both AKP members - are both named in that case and could be barred from office. They and the party reject the charges and say they are part of a campaign against the party.

On Monday prosecutor Mr Engin filed charges at an Istanbul court against 86 people, 48 of whom are already in custody.

"The indictment covers crimes such as forming an armed terror group... and attempting to overthrow the government by force," Mr Engin said.

BY-BBC NEWS