In Brief

MOLESTATION – The jury could begin deliberating in the Michael Jackson child molestation trial by the end of the week, a judge said on Tuesday, following instructions on the law and closing arguments by attorneys for both sides.

Superior Court Judge Rodney Melville, who spent the day working on jury instructions with prosecutors and defence lawyers with jurors and Jackson absent, said he wanted to hand the case over to the eight-woman, four-man panel by Friday afternoon. * TRIAL – Saddam Hussein could be on trial within two months, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said, but a London lawyer representing the former Iraqi dictator warned several legal steps must be taken first.* VOWED – Iraq’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari vowed to beef up security in the war-weary country, as US President George W.Bush said Washington and its Iraqi allies were making progress against the insurgency.* DELAYED – Palestinian officials delayed partial re-elections in the Gaza Strip to stave off a new crisis between Hamas and Fatah, sparked when the fundamentalist group threatened to boycott the polls.* TERROR – President Pervez Musharraf said that a top al Qaeda operative arrested in Pakistan was being handed over to the United States, which regards the country a key ally in the war against terror.* UNREST – A French counsel was badly wounded by gunshots in the Haitian capital as the UN renewed its mandate for a brief period in the troubled state a year after sending 6 000 troops and 1 400 police to the Caribbean country to stabilise security.* FREED – Two senior Medecins Sans Frontieres officials, arrested by the Sudanese authorities after the publication of a damning report on rape by pro-government forces in Darfur, have been released on bail, MSF said.* SURVEILLANCE – China’s secretive state security police have stepped up surveillance of political dissidents and activists ahead of the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests, an activist said.* ACQUITTED – Thailand’s criminal court acquitted four Thai Muslims accused of belonging to the regional extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and plotting to bomb foreign embassies, citing lack of evidence.- Nampa-AFP* TRIAL – Saddam Hussein could be on trial within two months, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani said, but a London lawyer representing the former Iraqi dictator warned several legal steps must be taken first.* VOWED – Iraq’s Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari vowed to beef up security in the war-weary country, as US President George W.Bush said Washington and its Iraqi allies were making progress against the insurgency.* DELAYED – Palestinian officials delayed partial re-elections in the Gaza Strip to stave off a new crisis between Hamas and Fatah, sparked when the fundamentalist group threatened to boycott the polls.* TERROR – President Pervez Musharraf said that a top al Qaeda operative arrested in Pakistan was being handed over to the United States, which regards the country a key ally in the war against terror.* UNREST – A French counsel was badly wounded by gunshots in the Haitian capital as the UN renewed its mandate for a brief period in the troubled state a year after sending 6 000 troops and 1 400 police to the Caribbean country to stabilise security.* FREED – Two senior Medecins Sans Frontieres officials, arrested by the Sudanese authorities after the publication of a damning report on rape by pro-government forces in Darfur, have been released on bail, MSF said.* SURVEILLANCE – China’s secretive state security police have stepped up surveillance of political dissidents and activists ahead of the anniversary of the June 4, 1989 Tiananmen democracy protests, an activist said.* ACQUITTED – Thailand’s criminal court acquitted four Thai Muslims accused of belonging to the regional extremist group Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) and plotting to bomb foreign embassies, citing lack of evidence.- Nampa-AFP