CIA Helped in Sting Operation Exposing Smuggling of Nuclear Material

January 25, 2007 -- RUSSIAN URANIUM SMUGGLING

Smuggler's Plot Highlights Fear Over Uranium

Last January, a Russian man with sunken cheeks and a wispy mustache crossed into Georgia and traveled to Tbilisi by car along a high mountain road. In two plastic bags in his leather jacket, Georgian authorities say, he carried 100 grams of uranium so refined that it could help fuel an atom bomb. (NY Times)

INDIA/RUSSIA

India and Russia in Nuclear Deal

Russia will build four nuclear power reactors in India under a draft deal signed by their two leaders in the Indian capital, Delhi. (BBC)

IRAQ NEWS

Baghdad Market Car Bomb Kills 20: Police Source

A car bomb that ripped through a market in the Karrada district in central Baghdad killed 20 people and wounded 18 more on Thursday, a police source said. (Reuters)

U.S. Contractors In Iraq Shot In Back Of Head

Four of five security contractors who died when helicopters were attacked had been shot in back of head. (The Guardian)

U.S./SOUTH AFIRCA

US to put South Africans on Qaeda list – diplomats

The United States is expected this week to place two South African Muslims on its list of al Qaeda suspects and will freeze their assets, diplomats in South Africa said on Thursday. (Reuters)

ECUADOR

Crash Kills Ecuador Defense Chief

Ecuador's Defence Minister Guadalupe Larriva has been killed in a crash involving two military helicopters, officials have said. (BBC)

LEBANON

Rival Students Clash in Lebanon

Clashes at a Beirut university between students from rival political factions have left at least one person dead and more than 20 injured, reports say. (BBC)

INDONEDIA

Indonesia Jet 'Black Boxes' Found

A US ship has located the "black box" flight recorders of the Indonesian plane that went missing on 1 January, the US embassy said. (BBC)

Key Bali Bomb Suspect 'Wounded'

A key Indonesian militant wanted for the 2002 Bali bombings was hurt in a gun battle in the Philippines last week, the Philippines military says. (BBC)

NORTH KOREA/ U.S.

North Korea Accuses U.S. Of Dirty Politics on U.N. Fund

North Korea accused the United States on Thursday of a ``smear campaign'' after Washington said U.N. Development Fund (UNDP) money may have been diverted to the North's leaders who used the cash to build nuclear weapons. (NY Times)

ATHENS U.S. EMBASSY BOMBING

Greek Militants Claim U.S. Embassy Attack

A militant group claimed responsibility for a rocket attack against the U.S. Embassy earlier this month, and said in a statement published Thursday the strike was in response to U.S. military involvement in Iraq, Afghanistan and Somalia. (AP)

U.S.

Senior Intel Officials Warn U.S. Has Lost Its Global Reach in Spy Network

The United States' spy network has lost its "global reach," its ability to monitor, gather and analyze developments around the world, according to two top officials from Office of the Director of National Intelligence. (ABC News)

State Farm Agrees to Settle With Angry Katrina Policyholders

Mississippi homeowners are claiming a "huge legal victory" over the country's biggest insurance company, which they say tried to cheat and defraud them over claims submitted in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. (ABC News)

Ray Gun Brings Some Zap To The Battlefield

The American military has unveiled its latest hi-tech weapon - a virtual flame-thrower on top of a Humvee that microwaves enemies at 500 paces. (The Guardian)

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

My Country Needs Help

By Saad Hariri

Today, the French capital plays host to an international donor conference whose aim is Lebanon's long-term economic stability. The conference, dubbed "Paris III," will be attended by representatives from approximately 40 countries as well as from international financial institutions. This is a critical moment for the international community to support the Lebanese people's choice for democracy, peace and stability. [Subscription Required] (The Wall Street Journal)

Paranoia in Turkey

There was a huge turnout in Istanbul on Tuesday for the funeral of the assassinated journalist Hrant Dink. Mourners held up placards saying, "We are all Armenians" and "We are all Hrant Dink." It was a heartening display of support for values that the slain editor of the bilingual paper Agos defended at the cost of his life: free speech, acknowledgment of the 1915 genocide of Armenians in Turkey, and reconciliation between Turks and the 60,000 Armenians who remain in Turkey. (The Boston Globe)

China's Missile Message

By Elizabeth Economy

China's successful anti-satellite missile test has sparked a political firestorm, as analysts have tried to ascertain who in China knew what when and to what end. Were China's diplomats in the dark about the missile strike? Was it all a gambit to force a reluctant United States to the negotiating table for a ban on space-based weapons? While interesting to China watchers and nonproliferation experts, this discussion risks obscuring the real message of the test: Chinese rhetoric notwithstanding, China's rise will be as disruptive and difficult as that of any other global power. (Washington Post)

Seek the Masters Not the Slaves

by Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed

Americans in Baghdad have stated that they will stop their forces pursuing political leaders implicated in violence and that the US will track the culprits of the militia soldiers directly. This policy is doomed to fail, if indeed the aim is to end the violence that has already spilled much blood. (Alsharq al Awsat)

Moment of Opportunity in Somalia

Thanks to an unusual and probably fleeting set of events, Somalia has a chance to return to the community of law-abiding and legitimate states. For a country that dissolved years ago into chronic clan warfare and became a way station for international terrorists, that would be an enormous gain — and an enormous gain for the rest of the world. (NY Times)

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.