August, 2006

• 3 August

  Iraq bombings, shootings kill 70

  BAGHDAD (AP) — Bombings and shootings killed at least 70 people Tuesday — including a US and a British soldier — in a surge of violence as US troops prepare to take back Baghdad’s streets from the gunmen. The dead included 20 Iraqi troops killed in a bus attack in …

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• 3 August

  Audit says USAID hid costs, failures of reconstruction

  DUBAI — Pentagon auditors peering into US reconstruction programmes in Iraq found an accountant’s nightmare of mistakes, cloaked expenses and financial juggling that hid costs and delays, according to US reports released over the past week.

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• 3 August

  Iran’s involvement to end conflict risky, but maybe inevitable

  PARIS — France’s idea of involving Iran directly in talks to end the conflict between Israel and Hizbollah is a risky venture but may well prove inevitable, French analysts said Tuesday.

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• 3 August

  Near-impossible job for Lebanese premier

  BEIRUT — Faced with the worst Israeli military onslaught in more than two decades, Prime Minister Fuad Saniora has a near-impossible job as the leader of Lebanon.

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• 3 August

  Annan seeks unity on Mideast

  UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) — UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan called together major powers on Tuesday in an effort to promote unity on the Middle East crisis and rescheduled a meeting of potential troop contributors for an international force.

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• 3 August

  A glimpse into Hizbollah’s secretive world

  SRIFA — They use three-digit numbers as code names, live off canned tuna, and tape over their jewelry so an accidental twinkle doesn’t give away their position to Israeli war planes.

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July, 2006

• 31 July

  Arab press: Israel guilty of new Holocaust in Qana

  Arab papers splashed gory pictures of Lebanese children killed in Israel’s strike on Qana on their front pages Monday and warned that what some branded “a new Holocaust” could mark a turning point in the region.  “The tragedies in Qana suggest to the Lebanese that the Israelis, who are

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• 31 July

  Top Iran general hopes to avenge Muslim deaths

  The head of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said Sunday he hoped the Islamic republic could one day “avenge the blood of innocent people in Palestine, Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan”.  “We have to keep this sacred hatred of the enemies of

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• 31 July

  Chavez, Vietnam eye energy deals

  Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, has arrived in Vietnam for talks on energy as part of a tour dominated by countries known for their often-hostile relations with the United States.

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• 31 July

  Rice: Lebanon truce this week

  Condoleezza Rice, the US secretary of state, has said she believes a cease-fire between Israel and Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon could be forged this week.  Rice, who has just ended a diplomatic mission to the region

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