'Lone Wolf' Charged with Plotting Attack During Christmas Rush

December 8, 2006 -- U.S.

'Lone Wolf' Charged with Plotting Attack During Christmas Rush

ABC News has learned a Chicago-area man has been charged with plotting a terrorist attack. (ABC News)

Dual Missile Test Fails off Hawaii

A drill planned to demonstrate the Navy's ability to knock down two incoming missiles at once from the same ship failed off Hawaii's coast on Thursday, the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said. (AP)

IRAQ NEWS

Saudis Reportedly Funding Iraqi Sunnis

Private Saudi citizens are giving millions of dollars to Sunni insurgents in Iraq and much of the money is used to buy weapons, including shoulder fired anti-aircraft missiles, according to key Iraqi officials and others familiar with the flow of cash. (AP)

Iraq 'Al Qaeda Militants' Killed

The US military says it has killed 20 suspected al-Qaeda militants in a ground and air assault in central Iraq. (BBC)

Iraqis Dispute Raid, at Least 17 Killed

Iraqi and U.S. officials gave sharply differing accounts of an overnight raid and air strike on Friday in which up to 20 people were killed, with a town mayor accusing American troops of killing five children. (Reuters)

British, Danish Forces Detain 5 Iraqis

More than 1,000 British and Danish troops stormed five houses Friday in southern Iraq, using ground forces, boats, helicopters and jets in a raid that detained five Iraqis and confiscated a large cache of weapons, a spokesman said. (AP)

GUANTANAMO BAY

Guantanamo Detainees Going to New Prison

The U.S. military transferred the first group of detainees on Thursday to a new maximum-security prison at Guantanamo Bay designed to restrict contact among the prisoners and prevent attacks on guards. (AP)

LITVINENKO INVESTIGATION

Probe into Ex-KGB Spy's Death Continues

Detectives investigating the death of an ex-KGB spy Alexander Litvinenko turned their attention Friday to a meeting at a London hotel bar where at least 10 people may have been exposed to radioactive polonium-210. (AP)

PRINCESS DIANA INQUEST

Hearings in Diana Inquest to Be Open

Preliminary hearings in the coroner's inquest into the 1997 death of Princess Diana and her friend Dodi Fayed will be open to the public, officials said Thursday. (AP)

U.S./AFRICA

Officials Weigh Need for Africa Command

Defense Department officials continue to examine the idea of establishing a U.S. Africa Command, a top DOD official said here this week. (Armed Forces Press Service)

LEBANON

Hezbollah Chief 'Plotting Coup'

Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora has accused the leader of the Hezbollah militant movement of plotting a coup. (BBC)

NORTH KOREA

Seoul Charges North Korea 'Spies'

South Korean prosecutors have indicted five people on charges of spying for North Korea. (BBC)

EGYPT

'Isolated Incidents'

Recently circulated footage of policemen torturing suspects has forced the Interior Ministry on the back foot. (Al Ahram Weekly)

SOMALIA

'Heavy Fighting' In Somali Town

Somali government fighters, backed up by Ethiopian troops, have attacked Islamist positions sparking heavy fighting, an Islamist leader says. (BBC)

U.K.

U.K. Firms 'Exploiting Bangladesh'

Textile workers in Bangladesh get paid as little as five pence an hour to make cheap clothes for UK companies Tesco, Asda and Primark, a report says. (BBC)

PAKISTAN/U.K.

Pakistan Wants Proof From U.K. About Agency's Al-Qaeda Claims

Pakistan's government wants proof that al-Qaeda operatives are planning terror attacks from the South Asian nation after the head of the U.K.'s intelligence agency said it's a center for extremists. (Bloomberg)

AIDS

Malaria 'Speeds Spread Of Aids'

There may be a link between malaria and the spread of the Aids virus across Africa, research by scientists working in Kenya suggests. (BBC)

ON THE WEB

ABC News Extremist Website Monitoring

This is a daily update of some of what can be found on militant Islamist websites that are often used by al Qaeda and its sympathizers, insurgent groups in Iraq and other groups for propaganda, recruiting and communication purposes. (ABC News)

ANALYSIS & OPINION

Uneasy Havens Await Those Who Flee Iraq

By Hassan M. Fattah

Iraqis fleeing the chaos of their country now threaten the social and economic fabric of Jordan and Syria. (NY Times)

That Murder in London

By Charles Krauthammer

Alexander Litvinenko's death was a warning of what awaits those who go after the Russian government. (Washington Post)

Sectarian Issues

By Salama A Salama

Over the past few days, things flared up in three countries all at once: Lebanon, Palestine and Iraq. The power struggle among the ruling elites and the weakness of the current regimes were to blame in each case. And there is steady evidence that outsiders are stepping in to fill the political vacuum in the region. (Al Ahram Weekly)

The Neocons Have Finished What the Vietcong Starte
dBy Martin Jacques

Vietnam traumatised the US but left its power intact; Iraq, however, will be far more serious for the superpower. (The Guardian)

Emphatically Stating the Obvious On Iraq

By David Ignatius

The Iraq Study Group's report achieved the goal of any blue-ribbon commission: It stated the obvious, emphatically. "The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating.'' Of various proposals for fixing Iraq, "all have flaws.'' A "precipitate'' withdrawal would be a mistake, but so would a big increase in US troops. America should set "milestones'' for the Iraqi government to control all provinces by next September. The US military should shift to a training and advising mission so that most American troops can leave by early 2008. But there is no "magic formula,'' and even if this approach fails, the US "must not make an open-ended commitment to keep large numbers of American troops deployed in Iraq.'' (The 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, Hoda Osman and Elizabeth Sprague of the ABC News Investigative Unit. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ABCNEWS.