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Reuters - Tuesday, June 16

Abbas aide urges world to shun Netanyahu

RAMALLAH, West Bank - World powers should isolate Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after he unveiled tough terms for a Middle East peace accord, an aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said on Monday. In a policy speech on Sunday, Netanyahu responded to weeks of pressure from Washington by giving his endorsement for the first time -- with conditions -- to the establishment of a demilitarised Palestinian state.

Iran bans Mousavi protest rally

TEHRAN - Iranian authorities banned a planned protest rally by supporters of Mirhossein Mousavi in Tehran on Monday, but the defeated presidential candidate said he would attend anyway to calm the crowd. Protests marking the sharpest display of discontent in the Islamic Republic in years have rocked the capital since the Interior Ministry announced on Saturday that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had won Friday's election by a big margin.

Three German women captives killed in Yemen

SANAA - Three German women from a party of nine foreigners kidnapped have been found dead in north Yemen, a government and a tribal source said on Monday, a rare killing that comes as separatist and militant tensions intensify. The three women found near the Saada area were believed to have been shot, the two sources said, in a dramatic escalation of violence that comes one day after authorities arrested a man described as al Qaeda's top financer in Yemen and Saudi Arabia.

Pakistan steels for army assault on Waziristan

ISLAMABAD - Pakistan braced for militant reprisals on Monday as the army conducted softening-up operations ahead of an assault on the stronghold of Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, one of al Qaeda's main allies. Military experts see the showdown in remote South Waziristan as a possible Waterloo for al Qaeda and its allies as the government has demonstrated a fighting spirit hitherto lacking in Pakistan.

Less activity at North Korea nuclear sites - Russian agency

MOSCOW - Russian reconnaissance has registered a fall in activity around North Korea nuclear sites in recent days, state-run Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported on Monday, citing a senior military source. The fall in activity could either signify preparations for a new nuclear test or that North Korea's nuclear forces have taken a break after testing a bomb last month, the source said.

U.S. secret operations leader takes Afghan command

KABUL - A veteran commander of top-secret special operations took charge of the nearly 90,000 U.S. and NATO troops in Afghanistan on Monday, promising to shield Afghans from civilian casualties that have cost Western troops support. "The Afghan people are at the centre of our mission. In reality, they are the mission. We must protect them from violence, whatever its nature," U.S. General Stanley McChrystal said at a ceremony on the lawn of NATO's Kabul headquarters.

Police beat protesters in Georgian capital

TBILISI - Masked police beat dozens of opposition protesters in the Georgian capital Monday in the latest flare-up during a weeks-long street campaign against President Mikheil Saakashvili, witnesses said. Dozens of black-clad police officers armed with truncheons confronted a protest of about 50 people at Tbilisi's main police station demanding the release of six opposition activists detained since Friday, a Reuters photographer said.

U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan starts to close

MANAS, Kyrgyzstan - A U.S. air base in Kyrgyzstan, used as a hub for operations in Afghanistan, has started to shut down and will close by mid-August as ordered by the Central Asian state, its outgoing commander said on Monday. The ex-Soviet republic gave the United States six months from February to shut the Manas air base, but U.S. officials have expressed hope Kyrgyzstan could still change its mind.

Philippines seizes rebel bases

MANILA joining the fighting are confirmed, it would mark a dangerous expansion to the war.

Vietnam passengers cheat flu scan with fever reducers

HANOI daily as saying "a series of passengers" took fever reducers three hours before arrival.

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