In Brief

* PRAISED – Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei praised the Lebanese Shi’ite movement Hezbollah for its fight against the “infected tumour” of Zionism.

* CONDEMNED – Pope Benedict XVI condemned both “terrorist acts” and the “reprisals” carried out by the parties to the Middle East conflict, lamenting the “violations of law and justice” in the region. * CANCELLED – India has put off peace talks with Pakistan due this week after suspicion over the Mumbai train bombings fell on Islamist militants based in that country, a top Indian foreign ministry official said * OIL – Record high oil prices pose a serious challenge for the world as global energy demand rises for limited supplies, G8 leaders said here.* NUCLEAR – Iran said that it was still counting on support from Russia and China over its disputed nuclear programme, and warned the referral of the issue back to the UN Security Council would derail any possible negotiations.* SHUTTLE – Discovery’s six astronauts waited to learn whether they have the final all-clear to fly home as analysts examined the space shuttle’s heat shield for potential micrometeorite impacts.* KIDNAP – Five of the 29 people seized in a daylight raid on a Baghdad club where the Iraqi Olympic Committee was holding a meeting were freed, the office manager of the committee said.* SWOOPED – About 50 gunmen swooped down on a Baghdad club and kidnapped Iraq’s Olympic committee chief and dozens of others as parliament extended the state of emergency across most parts of the country.* SAILORS – The Israeli army said it had recovered the remains of three sailors missing after a naval warship was hit by Hezbollah fire off the coast of Lebanon last week.Israel had reported four seamen missing after the Lebanese guerrilla group fired a missile at the ship, deployed off the coast of Beirut, on Friday.The body of another of the four was recovered on Saturday.* IMMIGRANTS – Britain is considering plans to strike off company directors and seize the assets of firms caught employing illegal immigrants, newspapers reported.- Nampa-AFP-Reuters* CANCELLED – India has put off peace talks with Pakistan due this week after suspicion over the Mumbai train bombings fell on Islamist militants based in that country, a top Indian foreign ministry official said * OIL – Record high oil prices pose a serious challenge for the world as global energy demand rises for limited supplies, G8 leaders said here.* NUCLEAR – Iran said that it was still counting on support from Russia and China over its disputed nuclear programme, and warned the referral of the issue back to the UN Security Council would derail any possible negotiations.* SHUTTLE – Discovery’s six astronauts waited to learn whether they have the final all-clear to fly home as analysts examined the space shuttle’s heat shield for potential micrometeorite impacts.* KIDNAP – Five of the 29 people seized in a daylight raid on a Baghdad club where the Iraqi Olympic Committee was holding a meeting were freed, the office manager of the committee said.* SWOOPED – About 50 gunmen swooped down on a Baghdad club and kidnapped Iraq’s Olympic committee chief and dozens of others as parliament extended the state of emergency across most parts of the country.* SAILORS – The Israeli army said it had recovered the remains of three sailors missing after a naval warship was hit by Hezbollah fire off the coast of Lebanon last week.Israel had reported four seamen missing after the Lebanese guerrilla group fired a missile at the ship, deployed off the coast of Beirut, on Friday.The body of another of the four was recovered on Saturday. * IMMIGRANTS – Britain is considering plans to strike off company directors and seize the assets of firms caught employing illegal immigrants, newspapers reported.- Nampa-AFP-Reuters