New U.S. Air Strike on Somalia

January 24, 2007 -- SOMALIA

U.S. Stages 2nd Airstrike in Somalia; Ethiopians Leaving Capital

A U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship staged an airstrike against suspected al-Qaeda operatives in southern Somalia on Monday, the second such attack this month, U.S. officials said Tuesday. (Washington Post)

IRAQ NEWS

Fatal Crash Claims 5 Civilians in Iraq

Five civilians died Tuesday in the Baghdad crash of a helicopter owned by the private security company Blackwater USA, according to a U.S. military official. (AP)

New Push to Control Baghdad Areas

Iraqi forces backed by US helicopter gunships have fought insurgents in two Sunni-dominated areas in the centre of the capital Baghdad. (BBC)

ISRAEL

Israeli President Facing Rape Charge

Israeli President Moshe Katsav was considering whether to step down after the attorney general said he faced indictment on charges of rape and abuse of power the most serious accusation against a top Israeli official in the country's history. (AP)

AFGHANISTAN

Three Suspected Taliban Killed In Afghanistan

Afghan police clashed with suspected Taliban militants in southern Afghanistan Wednesday, killings three fighters and detaining four, a police official said. (AP)

U.S.

Dumb, Dumber or Terrorist?

A 28-year-old Muslim from India has been taken into custody in Rhode Island after a truck driving school became suspicious of his efforts to obtain a license to drive trucks with hazardous material. (ABC News)

Arrest Made in 35-Year-Old Murder of San Francisco Police Officer

A suspected member of the Black Liberation Army (BLA) wanted for the murder of a San Francisco police officer 35 years ago was arrested in New York today, police sources said, as part of a national roundup of eight alleged members of the domestic terror group. (ABC News)

LEBANON

Lebanon Strike Ignites Old Feuds

There is a very real danger of a huge explosion of sectarian strife Opposition activists in Lebanon called off a strike late on Tuesday, after the imposed action paralysed the country and led to widespread violence in which at least three people died. (BBC)

U.K.

Dramatic Video: Bomb Aimed at Mother, Child

A dramatic surveillance video released today by Scotland Yard shows a suspected terrorist placing his explosive-laden backpack next to a mother and her child riding on a London subway car. (ABC News)

NORTH KOREA - IRAN

N Korea Helping Iran With Nuclear Testing

North Korea is helping Iran to prepare an underground nuclear test similar to the one Pyongyang carried out last year. (UK Telegraph)

CHAD

Chad Arrests Sudan Plane Hijacker

A lone gunman has been arrested after hijacking a Sudanese passenger jet and diverting it to N'Djamena, the capital of neighboring Chad. (BBC)

RUSSIA

Chechen Police Under Scrutiny in Journalist's Killing, Group Says

Some police officials in Chechnya are under criminal investigation for a possible role in the killing of Anna Politkovskaya, a prominent Russian journalist, a New York-based news media rights group said here on Tuesday. (NY Times)

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

The State of the Union

President Bush almost certainly didn't intend it, but his speech reinforced one vital political fact - that it's not just up to him anymore. (NY Times)

New Face on a Tough War

By David Ignatius

For a nation bitterly divided over Iraq, the one point of agreement seems to be that Lt. Gen. David Petraeus is the right commander for U.S. forces in Baghdad. (Washington Post)

Turkey Rises Above Its Ultra-nationalists

By Simon Tisdall

Not for the first time, the violence of extremists has achieved the exact opposite of what they intended. (The Guardian)

Ideas For The Secretary General Of The Disunited Nations

By Richard N. Haass

The good news for Ban Ki-moon is that he has become secretary general of the United Nations at a time when the prospects for conflict between or among the world's great powers - the United States, China, Japan, Russia, Europe, and India - are remote. The bad news is that the prospects for just about every other sort of conflict are high and the international agenda is both crowded and demanding. (Daily Star)

North Korea Bites a Golden Bullet

By Donald Kirk

North Korea, with a chunk of its international assets frozen as a result of US Treasury pressure, is also being shunned by the international banks that buy gold. (Asia Times)

Iraq: From Mistakes to Sins

By Turki al-Hamad

The fatal mistake the current US administration made in its 2003 invasion of Iraq was emptying the country of all its political institutions without an alternative ready to fill the ensuing vacuum. (Asharq al Awsat)

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.