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US 'kills' key Iraq shrine bomber
US troops in Iraq say they have killed an al-Qaeda leader who masterminded the attacks on a Shia shrine that led to a major escalation in sectarian violence. Officials say Haitham al-Badri was behind the 2006 and 2007 attacks on the al-Askari shrine in Samarra, which destroyed its golden dome and minarets. The US said al-Badri was the leader of al-Qaeda in Salahuddin province. The US claim came as mortar attacks killed at least 11 people in the eastern part of the capital, Baghdad.

US Muslim sect suspected of 'executing' newspaper editor
For Chauncey Bailey, one of the most respected black journalists in America, last Thursday morning's trip to work should have been like any other. The editor of the Oakland Post was strolling down the pavement in Oakland, a mostly black city next to San Francisco. It was 7.30am and Bailey, 57, lived just a few blocks away. Suddenly, a man dressed in black and wearing a mask appeared. Shots rang out and Bailey collapsed from three bullet wounds. He was dead before an ambulance arrived; the apparent victim of an assassination.

US soldier sentenced to 110 years
A US soldier has been sentenced to 110 years in prison for his role in the rape and murder of a 14-year-old Iraqi girl and the killing of her family. Private Jesse Spielman was convicted of conspiracy to rape and murder. He said he acted as a lookout for four other soldiers who carried out the attack in Mahmudiya in March 2006. Pfc Spielman was given the longest sentence of the group. Three other soldiers pleaded guilty and received sentences between five and 100 years.

Mass escape from detention centre
Police are looking for 16 asylum seekers who escaped from a detention centre after a fire was started there. A total of 26 people broke out of Campsfield House, near Kidlington in Oxford, but 10 have been caught. Officers in riot gear were brought in to deal with a disturbance at the centre on Saturday night, when a fire was lit in the building. A helicopter, police dogs and a large number of officers are searching for the escapees.

Science lab suspected in foot and mouth outbreak
An accidental leak of an experimental vaccine from a private research site was being investigated urgently last night as the likely source of Britain's new foot and mouth disease outbreak. The news came as the government attempted to avert a full-scale crisis in farming and the tourism industry. Movement of all livestock has been banned, exports to Europe stopped and country fairs cancelled to minimise the risk of the country suffering a disastrous rerun of the 2001 foot and mouth epidemic which cost the nation £8.5bn.

Iran to fund Nicaraguan projects
Daniel Ortega, the Nicaraguan president, has signed a series of agreements with Iran defying pressure from the United States. Iranian officials promised to help fund a new ocean port and build 10,000 houses for the cash-strapped Nicaraguan government during a visit to the capital Managua on Saturday. Tehran also said it would help to choose a site for a $120m hydroelectric project to help Nicaragua overcome a power crisis which is causing daily blackouts in the Central American nation.

LA holds anti-gangster protests
Thousands of people in the US city of Los Angeles have staged a protest against a rise in gang-related crime. Many of the demonstrators were former members of some of the city's estimated 30,000 street gangs - criminal groups with links to drugs and prostitution. The protesters heard calls for intervention in the inner cities to curb the spiral of gang violence. Officials announced an anti-gang drive earlier this year, but half the city's murders are believed to be gang-linked.

Israelis are up in arms at celebrity draft dodgers
For decades, Israel's heroes were its soldiers and pioneers who fought to build and protect the state, but now its cultural icons are models and singers likely to have dodged military service. The new trend was graphically demonstrated last week when it emerged that five out of eight contestants in A Star is Born, a talent contest on the lines of Pop Idol, had not served in the army. In Israel, military service for men and women is compulsory, but increasing numbers of young people are opting out by claiming to be religious or feigning mental illness.

Venezuela 'Oil Socialism' Boosts Income $5.8 Billion
Once upon a time, Venezuela received 1% royalties from oil companies. Now Venezuela receives 33%. Taxation has also increased by 16%, giving Hugo Chavez an additional $5.8 billion to fund state health, education, community programs, infrastructure, other industry development and defense. This additional revenue adds an extra 11% to the country’s official 2007 budget. It is incredible that international oil companies can afford to share this much more money and still see Venezuela as a viable, profitable place to do business.

Stock Market Meltdown
On Friday the Dow Jones took a 280 point nosedive on fears that that losses in the subprime market will spill over into the broader economy and cut into GDP. Ever since the two Bears Sterns hedge funds folded a couple weeks ago the stock market has been writhing like a drug-addict in a detox-cell. Yesterday’s sell-off added to last week’s plunge that wiped out $2.1 trillion in value from global equity markets. New York investment guru, Jim Rogers said that the real market is 'one of the biggest bubbles we’ve ever had in credit' and that the subprime rout 'has a long way to go.'

Briton held without charge in Pakistan jail
Is Reingzeb Ahmed an extremely unfortunate traveller? Or is there another reason why the British citizen has spent more than eight years in south Asian jails - detained but not charged by the authorities? The 32-year-old is being held in Rawalpindi's Adiala jail in Pakistan, where his family and campaigners are fighting for his release. The Pakistani authorities – who have allegedly refused to allow British consular staff to visit Mr Ahmed – say he is being held for security reasons, though they refuse to provide details and have not charged him.

Labour's 'plastic bobbies' replace full-time police
Labour is replacing full-time police officers with cheaper 'plastic bobbies', official figures have revealed. The biggest forces are taking on significantly more police community support officers, or PCSOs, while employing fewer better-trained staff.
Figures released to The Mail on Sunday under the Freedom of Information Act disclose that over the next 12 months the number of PCSOs is set to soar. Support officers cost the taxpayer at least £10,000 a year less than full-time police and their training lasts just three weeks instead of six months.

1,800 Chinese officials admit corruption
In the latest news surrounding the tainted exports scandal currently engulfing China, nearly eighteen hundred Communist Party officials have confessed to acts of misconduct - all part of an inquiry led by the country’s Central Commission for Discipline and Inspection (CCDI). This purge is only the latest hint at the increasing anxiety of China’s ruling class, who are worried about the prospect of international sanctions being leveled against China’s national exports - a frightening scenario that could potentially lead to multinational companies abandoning China’s massive manufacturing base in search of a new source of cheap labor.

Now Labour want to shrink our wheelie bins
Families will be forced to squeeze their rubbish into new extra-small wheelie bins or risk a £1,000 fine under the latest Labour plans to crack down on household waste. A Government report calls for the nationwide introduction of 'bonsai bins', a little more than half the size of the current 240-litre models, to encourage households to separate their rubbish for recycling. People who fail to cram all their non-recyclable waste into the 140-litre European-style wheelie bins will face criminal prosecution if they leave extra rubbish on the street in bags.

Football triumph brings a brief moment of Iraqi unity
The wild celebrations that rippled out from Baghdad last Sunday after Iraq had won the Asia Cup were a brief moment of joy for the beleaguered people of a benighted country. The sudden fusion of Kurd, Sunni and Shia into the non-denominational category of "football fan" gave hope for a communal future. But what are we to make of the mysterious power of football to defy wretched circumstances and enchant a nation in a way that no play, concert or film could?