Iraqis bury dozens of bombings victims
BAGHDAD – Weeping relatives loaded simple wood coffins atop minivans Saturday in Baghdad as the city buried dozens of victims of the deadliest bombings since the U.S. flooded the capital with extra troops last spring.

Iraqi insurgents find female bombers can skirt security
BAGHDAD — With U.S. forces imposing tough security measures to thwart car bombings, Iraqi insurgents are increasingly using women and teenagers as suicide bombers, a trend that on Friday led to the worst daily death toll in Baghdad since August. At least 65 people were killed and nearly 150 were wounded when explosions ripped through two crowded Baghdad pet markets.

Hamas: Egypt to seal Gaza border Sunday
RAFAH, Gaza Strip – Egypt will close its breached border wall with Gaza on Sunday in coordination with Hamas, the Palestinian militant group that blew it up, a senior Hamas leader said Saturday after meeting with Egyptian officials.

Huge pro-secular protest in Turkey
ANKARA (AFP) – More than 100,000 Turks took to the streets on Saturday to protest against government plans to lift an Islamic headscarf ban at universities and to defend the country’s strong secular tradition.

Turkey must lift headscarf ban for EU: formin
ANKARA (Reuters) – Turkey must lift a ban on headscarves at university as part of democratic reforms aimed at European Union accession, Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said on Saturday.
Huh?  Why would the EU care about whether headscarves are banned?

Iranian FM: US should ‘be honest’
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Iran’s foreign minister on Saturday called the Bush administration cowardly for not saying it had made a mistake after a U.S. intelligence report concluded Iran had stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003.

China criticises Taiwan referendum as threat to peace: state media
BEIJING (AFP) – China warned Saturday that Taiwan’s decision to hold a referendum on trying to join the United Nations could threaten peace in the Asia Pacific region, state media said.

US envoy says he urged NKorea to fully declare nukes
BEIJING (AFP) – A senior US diplomat Saturday ended a three-day visit to North Korea, saying he urged the communist state to make a full and accurate declaration of its nuclear activities.

Canada army chief rejects noncombat Afghan mission
OTTAWA (Reuters) – Canada’s top soldier, in a move sure to be appreciated by the minority Conservative government, dismissed on Friday proposals made by the main opposition party that the military mission in Afghanistan refrain from combat operations next year.

Canadian native community bans alcohol
TORONTO (Reuters) – A Canadian aboriginal community has narrowly voted to ban alcohol in the village, a decision that comes just days after two toddlers on an Indian reserve froze to death in an incident in which alcohol is believed to have been a factor.

“BlackBerry blackouts” aim for life/work balance
OTTAWA (Reuters) – It may be wishful thinking, but a Canadian government ministry has sent out a directive to its employees urging them to relax and not to use their BlackBerry smartphones at night or on weekends and holidays.

Power politics confound US of Africa
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – The United States of Africa. It’s one of few concrete plans African leaders agreed on as they struggled with issues of peacekeeping and political disputes at this week’s continental summit.

Chad rebels fight gov’t force in capital
NAIROBI, Kenya – Hundreds of rebels penetrated the capital of Chad on Saturday, clashing with government troops and moving on the presidential palace after a three-day advance through the oil-producing central African nation, officials and witnesses said.

Deal fails to quell Kenya’s violence
ELDORET, Kenya – Young men from rival ethnic groups hunted each other through the streets of a western Kenyan town Saturday, burning houses and blocking roads a day after the country’s political foes agreed to try to end weeks of violence.