IRAN
Diplomats: Iran Working on Underground Uranium Plant
Iran has begun putting down piping and electric cables for its underground uranium enrichment plant, diplomats said Friday, enlisting hundreds of workers in an effort to move ahead quickly with a program that can be misused to make nuclear arms. (AP)
IRAQ
Iraqi Government Figures Show 1,990 Civilians Killed In January, Its Highly Monthly Toll to Date
Iraqi government tallies showed that 1,990 civilians were killed in January, officials said Thursday, providing its highest official monthly toll in a year that has seen a sharp rise in sectarian violence. (AP)
Iraq Suicide Bombers Kill 60 and Wound 150 in Market in Southern City
Twin suicide bombers struck a market jammed with people in the southern Iraqi town of Hilla on Thursday, killing at least 60, wounding 150 and spraying body parts so far that the police were still scouring rooftops for them late in the night. (NY Times)
U.S. Reconfigures the Way Casualty Totals Are Given
Statistics on a Pentagon Web site have been reorganized in a way that lowers the published totals of American nonfatal casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. (NY Times)
Iraq at Risk of Further Strife, Intelligence Warns
A long-awaited National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq, presented to President Bush by the intelligence community yesterday, outlines an increasingly perilous situation in which the United States has little control and there is a strong possibility of further deterioration, according to sources familiar with the document. (Washington Post)
U.S. Troops Say They Kill 18 Insurgents in Iraq
U.S. troops said they killed 18 insurgents in clashes in the volatile Iraqi city of Ramadi, and launched an air strike on Friday against an al Qaeda-linked insurgent cell in Baghdad responsible for suicide car bombings. (Reuters)
US Military Has Reports of Copter Down
The military said it was investigating reports that a U.S. helicopter went down Friday north of Baghdad, while U.S. forces said they killed 18 insurgents after coming under attack in a volatile city west of the capital. (AP)
AFGHANISTAN
An Afghan's Path from Ally of U.S. to Drug Suspect
In April 2005, federal law enforcement officials summoned reporters to a Manhattan news conference to announce the capture of an Afghan drug lord and Taliban ally. (NY Times)
Taliban Forces Retake Afghan Town
Taliban forces in southern Afghanistan have taken control of a town which British troops had pulled out of after a peace deal with local elders. (BBC)
Afghan's Arrest Shines Light On Dark Side of U.S. Terror Fight
In April 2005, federal law enforcement officials summoned reporters to a Manhattan news conference to announce the capture of an Afghan drug lord and Taliban ally. While boasting that he was a big catch — the Asian counterpart of Pablo Escobar, the Colombian cocaine legend, the officials left out some puzzling details, including why the Afghan, Haji Bashir Noorzai, had risked arrest by coming to New York. (International Herald Tribune)
TURKEY
Turkey Probes Dink Suspect Video
A probe has begun in Turkey after a man charged with killing a Turkish Armenian journalist appeared in a video posing with police and the national flag. (BBC)
PHILIPPINES
Muslim Rebels Storm Philippine Jail; 46 Escape