A leaked memo in the UK, detailing a conversation between U.S. President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair in 2003, has revealed that Blair intended to follow the US into Iraq even without a UN resolution, and that Bush considered provoking a response from Iraq using falsely marked Lockheed U-2 spy planes to provide an excuse for war. (Guardian)
India launched its 100 days job guarantee programmes in 200 district as per NREGA .This aims at providing 100 days of manual job to unskilled rural job seekers. Details can be seen at http://nrega.nic.in
The United StatesexpelsVenezuelan diplomat Jeny Figueredo Frias in retaliation for yesterday's expulsion of suspected US spy John Correa from Venezuela. A State Department spokesman described the move as part of "tit-for-tat diplomatic games". (VOA)
Queues build up at vendors as the EuroMillionslottery offers a jackpot of €180 million after 11 successive rollovers (statistically expected once in 25 years). Some British vendors report a 1200% increase in sales. EuroMillions tickets are sold in Austria, Belgium. France, Ireland, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. An Irish woman won €115,436,126 last July. (BBC), (Guardian). UPDATE: The winning numbers were 9 21 30 39 50 with Lucky Star numbers 01 and 03; the jackpot was shared between three winning tickets, two in France and one in Portugal. (UK National Lottery)
Two car bombs explode minutes apart in southern Baghdad, killing at least 16 people and wounding more than 90 others. (CNN)
A strong earthquake registering magnitude 5.9 shakes northeastern Japan, but there is no danger of a tsunami. (CNN)
Georgia, USA. 17 human rights activists sentenced to prison including one 81 year old retired World War II Veteran for protesting outside Fort Benning military camp. (Scoop, New Zealand)
Twenty-seven out of 35 countries on the IAEA's Board of Governors vote to refer the nuclear program of Iran to the United Nations Security Council out of concern over Iran's plans to enrich nuclear materials and to refuse IAEA inspection of the process. (BBC)
A stampede at a sports stadium in Pasig City, Metro Manila, Philippines, kills 73 and injures more than 320, mostly women. Tens of thousands of people had gathered to watch the anniversary presentation of the popular ABS-CBN early afternoon TV gameshow, Wowowee. (BBC)(CNN)
Israel bombs a sport club in Gaza. When people came to help the wounded they fired another missile. When they manage to get a badly injured into a car a third missile is fired at the car killing three persons. (SFT)
Mauritania denounces amendments to an oil contract made by former leader Maaouiya Ould Taya with Woodside Petroleum. The Mauritanian authorities declare that the amendments were signed "outside the legal framework of normal practice, to the great detriment of our country", and could cost Mauritania up to $200 million a year. (BBC)(Radio France International)
Isabelle Dinoire, the French woman who received the world's first partial face transplant appears before the media for the first time, saying she expects to resume a normal life. (CBC)
As the Danish embassy in Tehran is attacked by hundreds of protesters, five people are killed in Afghanistan as protests against European Muhammed cartoons sweep across the country. (BBC)
Japan urges North Korea to return to six-party talks on its nuclear program and halt missile development, but a Japanese official said Pyongyang insists that Washington drop sanctions first. (Reuters)
The number of people attempting to view illegal child pornography on the web has risen since 2004, according to British Telecommunications (BT). They use a system to block sites carrying the images of children, which has been getting some 35,000 hits a day for the past four months. (BBC)
Funeral of Henry Prendes was held near Russell Road and I-95
I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, US Vice PresidentCheney's former chief of staff tells federal grand jury that his superiors authorized him to give secret information to reporters as part of the Bush administration's defense of intelligence used to justify invading Iraq. (AP)
U.S. forces are searching for the USS Cole attacker who escaped from prison last Friday. According to Interpol, an al-Qaida operative who had been sentenced to death for plotting the bombing of the USS Cole in 2000 escaped with a group of convicts from their prison last week in Sanaá, Yemen. (BBC) This is not the first group to have escaped. 10 other chief suspects escaped from custody in Aden during April of 2003 (BBC)
In Turkey, Istanbul's police chief said a bomb blast at an Internet cafe in the city had wounded 14 people. (ABC)
A suicide bombing occurs during a ShiiteMuslim procession in Hangu, Pakistan, resulting in riots during the Muslim branch's most important holiday, Ashura. At least 27 people were killed and dozens injured in the result violence. (ABC)
A large-scale slaughter is planned at a Nigerian farm where thousands of chickens have died from bird flu. (BBC)
Finance chiefs of the G8 countries meet this weekend in Moscow with energy security at the top of their agenda. (BBC)
Israel has criticised Russia's decision to invite Hamas leaders to Moscow for talks, following the militant group's victory in Palestinian elections. (BBC)
