Mortars near US embassy in Yemen kill 1

* SAN’A, Yemen – Two mortar shells exploded yesterday near a high school next to the US embassy, killing a Yemeni guard and wounding three students and three other guards, an Interior Ministry official said.

McCain: Iran’s influence on the rise * AMMAN – Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential nominee-in-waiting, expressed fresh concern yesterday about Iran’s influence in Iraq and rising sway in Mideast. Merkel: Germans ashamed * JERUSALEM – German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Israel’s parliament yesterday that her countrymen are “filled with shame” over the Holocaust and that she bows before the victims of the Nazi genocide.Iraqi FM warns against quick US pullout * BAGHDAD – Iraq’s foreign minister said yesterday that he believed his country has averted a civil war after five years of “tears and blood,” and warned that an abrupt US troop withdrawal would be disastrous.Sunnis boycott reconciliation event * BAGHDAD – Iraq’s main Sunni bloc boycotted a conference yesterday aimed at reconciling the nation’s sectarian groups, a sign of the deep schisms still facing this country.Judge slams former Beatles’ wife * LONDON – A judge branded Paul McCartney’s estranged wife Heather Mills as “less than candid” yesterday and said she had made “wholly unrealistic” demands on the former Beatle in their bitter divorce battle.Nato tightens grip on north Kosovo * MITROVICA, Kosovo – Nato placed the Kosovo town of Mitrovica under de facto military law oyesterday after riots by a Serb population hostile to independence killed one UN policeman and forced the withdrawal of UN personnel.US says world watching China * WASHINGTON – A top United States official said yesterday that the world is watching as China confronts violent protests in Tibet and other human rights issues in the run-up to the Beijing Summer Olympics.Groups call for prisoner releases * HAVANA – International human rights and journalism advocacy groups called yesterday on President Raul Castro’s government to free critics still serving long sentences five years after a broad crackdown that landed 75 people behind bars.Four Belgian tourists released * PUERTO BARRIOS, Guatemala – Four Belgian tourists held hostage by protesting farmers were released late on Saturday after security forces in boats and helicopters located the group in Guatemala’s eastern jungle, officials said.UN appeals for funds for Burundi refugees * BUJUMBURA – The World Food Programme (WFP) made a six million dollar appeal yesterday to feed some 90 000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania who expect to return to the central African country in 2008.Tuareg rebels kill two in Niger * NIAMEY – Tuareg rebels in the west African nation of Niger have killed a police officer and a republican guard in an attack 200 kilometres north of the capital Niamey, the government said late on Monday.Ethiopia seeks peaceful outcome * PRETORIA – Ethiopia is determined to solve its border dispute with Eritrea peacefully, the country’s foreign minister Seyoum Mesfin said yesterday.Mubarak blames population for economic woes * CAIRO – Egypt’s uncontrolled population explosion is draining the state’s budget, President Hosni Mubarak was quoted as saying yesterday, amid rising public discontent at sky-rocketing food prices.Merkel: Germans ashamed * JERUSALEM – German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Israel’s parliament yesterday that her countrymen are “filled with shame” over the Holocaust and that she bows before the victims of the Nazi genocide.Iraqi FM warns against quick US pullout * BAGHDAD – Iraq’s foreign minister said yesterday that he believed his country has averted a civil war after five years of “tears and blood,” and warned that an abrupt US troop withdrawal would be disastrous.Sunnis boycott reconciliation event * BAGHDAD – Iraq’s main Sunni bloc boycotted a conference yesterday aimed at reconciling the nation’s sectarian groups, a sign of the deep schisms still facing this country.Judge slams former Beatles’ wife * LONDON – A judge branded Paul McCartney’s estranged wife Heather Mills as “less than candid” yesterday and said she had made “wholly unrealistic” demands on the former Beatle in their bitter divorce battle.Nato tightens grip on north Kosovo * MITROVICA, Kosovo – Nato placed the Kosovo town of Mitrovica under de facto military law oyesterday after riots by a Serb population hostile to independence killed one UN policeman and forced the withdrawal of UN personnel.US says world watching China * WASHINGTON – A top United States official said yesterday that the world is watching as China confronts violent protests in Tibet and other human rights issues in the run-up to the Beijing Summer Olympics.Groups call for prisoner releases * HAVANA – International human rights and journalism advocacy groups called yesterday on President Raul Castro’s government to free critics still serving long sentences five years after a broad crackdown that landed 75 people behind bars.Four Belgian tourists released * PUERTO BARRIOS, Guatemala – Four Belgian tourists held hostage by protesting farmers were released late on Saturday after security forces in boats and helicopters located the group in Guatemala’s eastern jungle, officials said. UN appeals for funds for Burundi refugees * BUJUMBURA – The World Food Programme (WFP) made a six million dollar appeal yesterday to feed some 90 000 Burundian refugees in Tanzania who expect to return to the central African country in 2008.Tuareg rebels kill two in Niger * NIAMEY – Tuareg rebels in the west African nation of Niger have killed a police officer and a republican guard in an attack 200 kilometres north of the capital Niamey, the government said late on Monday.Ethiopia seeks peaceful outcome * PRETORIA – Ethiopia is determined to solve its border dispute with Eritrea peacefully, the country’s foreign minister Seyoum Mesfin said yesterday. Mubarak blames population for economic woes * CAIRO – Egypt’s uncontrolled population explosion is draining the state’s budget, President Hosni Mubarak was quoted as saying yesterday, amid rising public discontent at sky-rocketing food prices.