In Brief

CHAOS – Iraqi militia fired a mortar round into a US military base in Baghdad, triggering a thunderous series of explosions that destroyed an ammunition dump and rocked the entire city.

* INFERTILITY -Japan’s new first lady has revealed she went through fertility treatment and considered adoption but said she and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have accepted they will have no children. * MEETING – British and Irish leaders gathered outside this famed Scottish golfing town yesterday for a last-ditch bid to get the Northern Ireland self-rule process back on course.* NOT GOOD – Journalists and activists slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin after he said slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya had exerted little influence on Russian political life and implied that she had caused harm with her work.* ATTACK – Sri Lankan troops backed by war planes mounted a major attack against Tamil Tiger rebels, a day after the two sides conditionally agreed to resume peace talks.* NEW MANDATE – Austrian President Heinz Fischer yesterday gave Social Democrat leader Alfred Gusenbauer the mandate to form a new government after he won last week’s general elections.Nampa-AFP-AP-Reuters* MEETING – British and Irish leaders gathered outside this famed Scottish golfing town yesterday for a last-ditch bid to get the Northern Ireland self-rule process back on course.* NOT GOOD – Journalists and activists slammed Russian President Vladimir Putin after he said slain journalist Anna Politkovskaya had exerted little influence on Russian political life and implied that she had caused harm with her work.* ATTACK – Sri Lankan troops backed by war planes mounted a major attack against Tamil Tiger rebels, a day after the two sides conditionally agreed to resume peace talks.* NEW MANDATE – Austrian President Heinz Fischer yesterday gave Social Democrat leader Alfred Gusenbauer the mandate to form a new government after he won last week’s general elections.Nampa-AFP-AP-Reuters