US charges 19 in alleged nationwide mortgage scam

SACRAMENTO, 25 March —US officials said on Monday that they had charged 19 people with targeting desperate homeowners facing foreclosure and stealing at least 12.6 million US dollars through illegal mortgage and loan activities. At a news conference in the California capital Sacramento, US Attorney McGregor Scott said “Operation Homewrecker” investigated one of the largest mortgage frauds ever probed by the FBI and the Internal Revenue Service. “The markets in this country are tottering because nobody knows how much fraud is out there,” he said. The prosecution comes as foreclosures have risen sharply across the United States, especially in places such as California’s Central Valley. Stockton, south of Sacramento, has experienced the highest foreclosure rate in the nation. Sealed indictments were filed 13 March and 28 February against 19 people — including three licensed mortgage brokers charged with cheating homeowners across the country out of their homes

US ship fires to deter Egyptian boat in Suez

ISMAILIA (Egypt), 26 March — A cargo ship chartered by the US Navy opened fire when approached by an Egyptian motorboat late on Monday near the Suez Canal, and Egyptian and US officials gave conflicting reports on Tuesday on casualties. Egyptian security sources and witnesses said the gunfire killed an Egyptian trader on the motorboat and wounded two other people. The US Navy said it had recorded no casualties. The small Egyptian craft had been trying to sell goods to ships passing through the Suez Canal, the Egyptian sources said. The US Navy said the Global Patriot, on shortterm charter to the military, had fired warning shots near the Egyptian boat after it ignored verbal orders and a signal flare telling it to stay away. “Global Patriot was approached by several boats while preparing to transit the Suez Canal,” the Navy said in a statement. “The boats were hailed and warned by a native Arabic speaker on the Globa Patriot to advise them to turn away... One small boat continued to approach the ship and received two sets of warning shots 20-30 metres in front of the boat’s bow.” All shots were accounted for as they entered the water, and there were no reports of casualties, the Navy said.—

Medvedev says NATO expansion “troublesome”

MOSCOW, 26 March— Granting NATO membership to ex-Soviet Ukraine and Georgia could undermine European security, Russia’s president-elect Dmitry Medvedev said in a newspaper interview published on Tuesday. His warning came before a NATO summit in Bucharest next week at which alliance members are expected to consider requests from the two countries’ pro-Western leaders to set them on the path to NATO membership. “We are not happy about the situation around Georgia and Ukraine,” the Financial Times newspaper quoted Medvedev as saying in the interview. “We consider that it is extremely troublesome for the existing structure of European security. ... No can be pleased about having representatives of a military bloc to which it does not belong coming close to its borders.” Ukraine and Georgia are lobbying NATO to grant them a Membership Action Plan, which is seen as the first step towards joining the alliance.

Washington has said it backs their bid, but some NATO members in Europe are cool on the idea. Medvedev will be sworn in on 7 May to replace his mentor, outgoing President Vladimir Putin. A 42-yearold former law professor, Medvedev won a 2 March presidential election by a huge margin.

Bulgaria police nab 350,000 euros in fake notes

Police arrested two Bulgarians and seized 350,000 euros (541,100 US dollar) in counterfeit notes aimed for distribution in the European Union, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.
In join operation with EU police agency Europol and German,Austrain and Bosnian police , the officers raided several sites in Bulgarian capital Sofia, uncovering also a printing Press for counterfeit passport and illegal weapons.The Interior Ministry said in a statement the fake euros were of hight quality, copying perfectly seven of eleven recognition signs.
''We carried the raids late on Thursday to prevent the tangible risk of distributing the forged money in the European Union,''Interior Ministry official Pantaley Panvo said.

Pakist successfully test files UVA

Pakistan on Thursday successfully conducted a final test flight of its indigenously developed Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UVA) ''Uqaab''.
A statement issued by the army said that the flight data collected indicated that all designed that all design parameters had been successfully validated. The performance of the UVA ''Uqaab '' can be compared to any of modern state of the art UVA in its category,said the statement.

Thai suspect in Swedish tourist murder surrenders

A Thai man suspected of killing a Swedish tourist on the southern resort island of Phuket has surrendered to police after a tree-day manhunt, police on Wednesday.
Hanna Charlotta Backlund,27,was found stabbed to death on Saturday near her bungalow on Mai Khao beach in northern Phuket where she had gone for a walk.
''Initially I just wanted to rape her,'' a handcuffed Akaradech Tangae said with a smile as he was brought to Phuket police headquarters on Wednesday.''But she resisted and I had to kill her,'' said the 31-year-old labourer who surrendered to police on Tuesday.

Egyptian media slam US policy in Iraq

Major Egyptian newspaper on Wednesday strongly criticized the US policy in Iraq on the eve of the US-led invasion on the Mideast and Arab country.
''Iraq is experiencing the worst stage of its modern history and is living under a brutal military occupation,''Al Ahram said in its editorial on Wednesday.
Five years ago, the United States launched the Iraqi war under the pretext of it disarmament and bringing freedom and democracy to Iraqi people, the influential Egyptian newspaper said.
However, Iraqis now not free as the United States claimed, they do not enjoy democracy and their daily life is full of bombing, torture and assassinations,Al Ahram said.
Citing a reporting issued by Amnesty International, the newspaper said every three or four Iraqis are deprived of drinking water, one third of the Iraqis depends on urgent aid to live and half of the population is unemploved.
Voicing its regret to the current station in Iraq, Al Ahram said this tragic reality would not change except the United States pulls its troops out of Iraq.
On Monday, US Vice President Dick Cheney said during his visit to Iraqs that the United States has made a ''successful endeaver'' in Iraq on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the US-led invasion that falls on 20 March.

Rainfalls,floods cause 42 deaths in Ecuador

The two-month long heavy rainfalls and consequent floods in Ecuador have killed 42 people while eight others were missing, said the Civil Defence on Thursday.
Some 12,372 families abandoned their houses due to the floods and 3,168 were lodged in temporary shelters throughout 13 provinces, said the Civil Defence, noting the floods have caused looses of over 82 million US dollars in the agricultural sector.
Ecuadorean Interior Minister Gustavo Larrea said the heavy rainfalls have affected some 3.5 million Ecuadoreans, almost one third of the country's total population.

Annan says military action in Iran would be disaster

Military action against Iran over it nuclear ambitions would be ''a disaster'' and the only way to solve the impasse is through dialogue,former UN secretary general Kofoi Annan said on Thursday.
Over the past year, us president George W. Bush and Vice-president Dick Cheney have ratcheted up rhetoric against Iran, which is defying international demands to halt uranium enrichment. They say Washington wants a diplomatic solution to the Iran standoff but refuse to rule out military options.
Uranium enrichment can be used for generating electricity or bomb-making.Teheran says its nuclear purposes are peaceful but Washington and others countries fears thot the case.''We cannot, I'm sure, take on another military action in Iran, and I hope no one is contemplating it,''Annan said at a briefing with UN correspondents in New York.

Curfew imposed in S Pakistan following violence

The local administration of southern Pakistan's Sindh Province imposed a curfew after violence erupted on Friday, local TV channel Geo reported. The violence erupted and situation spiraled out of control after the unidentified armed men resorted to heavy firing in Khairpur city in Sindh Province,said the report.
Several people were feared injured in firing.A police vehicle and a firebrigade vehicle were also burnt during the violence in Khairpur. Security forces have started to patrolling in the city after the violence took place.

Car bomb explodes in N Spain after EAT warning

A car bomb exploded close to a police station in the northern Spanish town of Calahorra on Friday after a warning from the Basque separatist group EAT, but only one person was hurt, the town's mayor said.
EAT has launched sporadic attacks in Spain since it ended a ceasefire it announced in March 2006 by bombing Madrid Airport in December 2006, killing two people.
Javier Pagola, mayor of Calahorra in the Rioja region, said a policeman had been slightly hurt by flying glass."One Guardia Civil has been hurt by glass which entered his home," Pagola told state television."There is a lot of damage."
The police station and surrounding area crowed with people attending the Holy Week religious procession had been cleared and cordoned off before the explosion.

Anti-war demonstrators arrested at NATO HQs

BRUSSELS, 23 March — Hundreds of anti-war demonstrators were arrested on Saturday at NATO headquarters as many of the protesters tried to enter the compound, organizers of the protest said. The protest took place on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq War. The protest, under a campaign called “NATO GAME OVER,” was held 10 days before a NATO summit in Bucharest, capital of Romania.The organization behind this campaign, Vredesactie, said about 500 people have been arrested. There was no confirmation from the police. Vredesactie said more than 50 activists successfully got inside NATO headquarters despite a heavy police presence. Police used water cannons to prevent protesters from gaining access to the compound in a suburb of Brussels.The organization accused NATO of helping the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Without NATO the war in Iraq and Afghanistan would not be possible,”said Vredesactie in a statement. NATO has made European countries logistic hubs for the US military. European soldiers are also fighting in Afghanistan, it said. On the NATO summit, it said Europeans do not want to use war and military threats to solve conflicts, as their leaders do.—

US soldier killed by indirect fire in Iraq

BAGHDAD, 23 March — An American soldier was killed and four others were injured by an indirect fire attack in Baghdad, the US military said on Saturday. The soldier died of wounds sustained from the indirect fire attack in south of the capital on Friday, a brief military statement said. Indirect fire usually refers to mortar or rocket attacks in the terminology of US military statements. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of the relatives, the statement added. The latest death brings the number of US soldiers that have been killed in Iraq to about 3,993 since the Iraq war broke out in 2003, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.

Three killed in raid in Thai south

YALA (Thailand), 22 March — Two policemen and a suspected rebel were killed on Friday during a house raid in a village in Thailand's Muslim south, where nearly 3,000 people have died in four years of separatist unrest, police said. The two policemen, a Muslim and a Buddhist, were shot dead during a raid on the home of a suspected guerilla in Yala, one of the four southernmost provinces roiled by the violence. Fifty soldiers and police then stormed the one-storey house and killed a 25-year-old Muslim man, police said. The raid followed clashes on Wednesday between security forces and insurgents suspected of killing a 70-year-old Buddhist shopkeeper. Two Muslim men, one of whom was believed to be a leading member of an insurgent group and with a 500,000 baht (16,000 US dollars) bounty on his head, died in that operation, police said

Turkish warplanes bomb PKK bases in Northern Iraq

DIYARBAKIR (Turkey), 21 March — Turkish warplanes bombed bases of the banned Kurdish Workers’ Party (PKK) in northern Iraq on Thursday, local sources told Xinhua. The sources said that some Turkish warplanes flew over the areas of Haftanin, Kanemase, Amadiyah and Nerve-

Rekan in northern Iraq.
Soon after scouting flight, the Turkish warplanes bombed the PKK bases, said the sources. Turkey has been fighting with the PKK, which took up arms against the country in 1984 with the aim of creating an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. More than 30,000 people have been killed in the over-two-decade conflict between the Turkish Army and the PKK, which is listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey and the United States. —

US soldier dies in vehicle accident in Iraq

BAGHDAD, 21 March— An American soldier died in a vehicle accident in the volatile Diyala Province, northeast of Baghdad, the US military said on Thursday. The accident occurred on Wednesday when the soldier’s vehicle rolled over in an area in the province, a brief military statement said without specifying the exact location. The statement added that the accident is under investigation. Since the US-led war in Iraq broke out in March 2003, more than 3,990 US soldiers have died in Iraq, according to media count based on Pentagon figures.

Russia’s Lavrov in Mideast preparing for peace talks

DAMASCUS, 22 March — Russia is preparing to host a Middle East peace conference this year that will try to relaunch talks between Israel and Syria about the occupied Golan Heights, Russian officials said in Syria on Thursday. “We have not issued invitations but we’re working out how to incorporate different suggestions,” Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said after meeting President Bashar al-Assad.
He told reporters the conference would be a follow-up to a US-hosted meeting in Annapolis in November that resumed peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Administration, led by President Mahmoud Abbas. Lavrov had announced plans to host the next Middle East peace conference after the Annapolis talks. He said on Thursday that everyone in Annapolis had agreed to the Moscow conference.—

Israeli soldiers kill Palestinian farmer in S Gaza

GAZA, 22 March — A Palestinian farmer was shot dead on Thursday morning by Israeli troops” gunfire east of the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza Strip, medics and witnesses said. Mo’aweya Hassanein, chief of emergency and ambulance services in the Palestinian Ministry of Health, told reporters that Israeli soldiers shot dead 65-yearold Hassan Abu A’bed in southern Gaza Strip. Witnesses said Israeli soldiers stationed near the borders between southern Gaza Strip and Israel opened fire at the farmer when he approached his farmwhich is close to the border area.—