Hariri Court Approved by UN

May 31, 2007 -- HARIRI INVESTIGATION

UN Approves Hariri Court

The United Nations Security Council invoked Chapter 7 of the UN Charter on Wednesday in approving the creation of a special international court to try suspects in the 2005 assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Gunfire and fireworks broke out in several parts of Lebanon within minutes of the decision on Resolution 1757, which passed by a vote of 10-0 with five abstentions. (Daily Star)

U.N. Tribunal Condemned by Syria, Others

Both Syria and the Lebanese opposition that it supports criticized the United Nations on Thursday for its decision to establish a tribunal to prosecute the killers of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. (AP)

Editorial: The Hariri Court is Out of Lebanon's Hands - but a Healthy Debate is Not

With the passage of the United Nations Security Council resolution on the creation of an international tribunal to try suspects in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, the decision of whether or not to create the court is now officially out of Lebanese hands. Although last-minute revisions to the draft resolution will allow Lebanese parties a few days to make additional minor changes to the shape of the tribunal, no one will be able to stop the court from coming into being. (Daily Star)

IRAQ

At Least 25 Killed In Police Recruiting Station Bombing In Iraq

A suicide bomber hit a police recruiting center in Fallujah on Thursday, killing at least 25 people and wounding 50, police said. (AP)

MRAPs Can't Stop Newest Weapon

New military vehicles that are supposed to better protect troops from roadside explosions in Iraq aren't strong enough to withstand the latest type of bombs used by insurgents, according to Pentagon documents and military officials. (USA Today)

AFGHANISTAN

Helicopter 'Shot Down By Taleban'

NATO says that one of its helicopters that crashed in the southern Afghan province of Helmand on Wednesday may have been shot down by the Taleban. (BBC)

35 Taliban Killed in Afghanistan Claim Coalition Forces

Afghan and NATO forces launched an operation Thursday, killing at least 35 suspected Taliban, in clashes while a clash in the volatile south and in the west left, Afghan officials said. (Daily Jang)

TURKEY

Turkey Seizes Syria-Bound Weapons

Turkish authorities seized weapons hidden among construction materials on a Syria-bound train from Iran after Kurdish guerrillas bombed and derailed the train, a prosecutor said Wednesday.(AP)

PAKISTAN

Book Shines Light On Pakistan Military's '£10bn Empire'

The Pakistani military's private business empire could be worth as much as £10bn, according to a ground-breaking study. Retired and serving officers run secretive industrial conglomerates, manufacture everything from cement to cornflakes, and own 12m acres [4.8m hectares] of public land, says Dr Ayesha Siddiqa, author of Military Inc: Inside Pakistan's Military Economy. (The Guardian)

Thirteen Killed in Raid near Troubled Pakistan Town

Suspected Islamist militants attacked the house of a senior government official in a village in northwestern Pakistan and killed 13 people, police said on Thursday. (Reuters)

GUANTANAMO PRISONER

Guantanamo Saudi 'Kills Himself'

A Saudi Arabian prisoner has died in an apparent suicide at the US detention facility at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, the US military has said. (BBC)

SWITZERLAND

Islamic Terror Groups Using Swiss Base: Government

Islamic militants are using Switzerland as a base because of its strategic location and different legal system from surrounding European Union countries, a government report published on Thursday said. (Reuters)

INDONESIA

7 Foreigners Sentenced To Death in Indonesia

Five Chinese nationals, a Dutchman and a Frenchman who appealed against the length of their convictions on drug charges were sentenced to death by Indonesia's Supreme Court on Wednesday. (Dawn)

LITVINENKO INVESTIGATION

Accused Murderer of Former Russian Spy Says The Brits Did It...Or Know Who Did

The man who British authorities want to charge in the poisoning death of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko robustly denied all allegations he was in any way responsible for the killing, and he offered several versions as to who may be the culprit. (ABC News)

TRAVELER WITH TB INFECTION

TB On a Plane? Sign of The Times

Sars on a plane. Mumps on a plane. And now a rare and deadly form of tuberculosis, on at least two planes. Commercial air travel's potential for spreading infection continues to cause handwringing among public health officials, as news of a jet-setting man with a rare and deadly form of TB demonstrates. (AP)

U.S.

A New Low in ID Theft: Targeting Military Families

There is a new and extremely cruel identity theft scam targeting military families, the American Red Cross warned today. (ABC News)

'King of Spam' Arrested; Will It Mean Less Junk Mail For You?

A 27-year-old man described as one of the world's most prolific spammers was arrested Wednesday, and federal authorities said computer users across the Web could notice a decrease in the amount of junk e-mail. (AP)

RUSSIA

'Russian' Grenades Being Used to Kill U.S. Troops?

Weapons from another generation have become another tool in the arsenal of terror groups in Iraq. (ABC News)

IRAN

Iran Kills 10 Rebels in Border Clash

Send by e-mail Save Print Iranian security forces have killed 10 armed "counter-revolutionary" rebels in clashes in a Kurdish-populated area close to its borders with Iraq and Turkey, media said on Wednesday. (AFP)

PHILIPPINES

Four Kidnapped In Philippines Released

Gunmen freed four people, including a German and his Filipino wife, hours after they were seized in the southern Philippines, the military say. (The Age)

YEMEN

15 Killed When Army Strikes Yemen Petrol Station

Fifteen people were killed when the Yemeni army bombarded a village in an area at the heart of a rebellion by the Zaidi minority against government forces, a tribal source said on Thursday. (Daily Jang)

U.K.

Teachers Get Power to Search Pupils for Knives

Headteachers now have the power to authorise the search of pupils for knives and other offensive weapons without the child's consent, the government announced on Thursday. (Reuters)

ANALYSIS/OPINION

The Lessons of Vietnam

By Henry A. Kissinger

The Iraq war has reawakened memories of the Vietnam War, the most significant political experience of an entire American generation. But this has not produced clarity about its lessons.(LA Times)

Injustice 5, Justice 4

The Supreme Court struck a blow for discrimination this week by stripping a key civil rights law of much of its potency. The majority opinion, by Justice Samuel Alito, forced an unreasonable reading on the law, and tossed aside longstanding precedents to rule in favor of an Alabama employer that had underpaid a female employee for years. The ruling is the latest indication that a court that once proudly stood up for the disadvantaged is increasingly protective of the powerful. (NY Times)

After The Talks, Iran Starts Talking

By Kaveh L Afrasiabi

In the aftermath of the US-Iran dialogue on Iraq in Baghdad on Monday, Iran's media have been awash with commentaries by politicians, experts and editorials offering interpretations of the immediate and potential long-term significance of "breaking the big taboo" after nearly 28 years of non-dialogue. (Asia Times)

Gorbachev Lends Hand to Book by Putin Critic

By C. J. Chivers

Novaya Gazeta, an independent Russian newspaper, officially began sales on Wednesday of a bound collection of articles and commentary by Anna Politkovskaya, the paper's special correspondent who was murdered last year. (International Herald Tribune)

Exploiting Ali Larijani's Notable Idea

By Michael Young

In an interview with the French daily Le Figaro published on Saturday, the head of Iran's national security council, Ali Larijani, had some interesting things to say about Lebanon. After calling for Franco-Iranian cooperation to help resolve the Lebanese crisis, he proposed a four-point plan. In many respects the plan was a trap, an opening hardly worth considering in most of its details, but for one thing: For the first time, an Iranian official mentioned a mechanism for Hizbullah's disarmament. (Daily Star)

The Insider Daily Investigative Report (DIR) is a summary of major news articles and broadcasts relating to investigative news, including international terrorism and developments in Iraq. The DIR is edited daily from foreign and U.S. sources by Chris Isham and Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.