A rocket landed near the prime minister’s office Thursday during the first visit to Iraq by the head of the United Nations in nearly a year and a half, sending Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon ducking unharmed behind a podium at a news conference. The attack came as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s government said it had been negotiating with Sunni insurgents for months, and the U.S. military said that it had released a senior aide to Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr on al-Maliki’s request.
British counter-terrorist police said Thursday they arrested three suspects in the deadly suicide bomb attacks on the London transit system in 2005. Two of the men were picked up just before boarding a plane to Pakistan. No one has ever been charged in connection with the July 7, 2005, bombings, which were the deadliest attack on London since World War II. The four bombers and 52 commuters died in blasts on three subway trains and a double-decker bus, and more than 700 people were injured.
The European Union approved an aviation deal with the United States on Thursday that opens up restricted trans-Atlantic routes to new rivals, but bowed to British concerns in delaying when the agreement takes effect. The “Open Skies” deal will allow airlines to fly from anywhere in the EU to any point in the U.S., shedding limitations that also discourage them from charging what they like or combining with other carriers.
A French court cleared a satirical weekly newspaper Thursday in a case brought by Muslims who were angered by its publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad. The newspaper Charlie-Hebdo and its director, Philippe Val, were accused of “publicly abusing a group of people because of their religion.” Val had risked a six-month prison sentence and a fine of up to $29,250.
Legislation to give the District of Columbia voting representation in the House stalled short of passage Thursday when Republicans unexpectedly injected the volatile issue of gun control into the debate. Apparently fearful they might lose control of the proceedings, Democrats decided to postpone action on the voting rights measure, which had appeared to be moving methodically toward passage.
Former astronaut Lisa Nowak’s attorneys formally entered a not guilty plea Thursday to charges that she tried to kidnap a rival for a space shuttle pilot’s affections. Nowak, a 43-year-old mother of three and Navy captain, did not appear at the brief arraignment.
A federal judge on Thursday dealt another blow to government efforts to control Internet pornography, striking down a 1998 U.S. law that makes it a crime for commercial Web site operators to let children access “harmful” material. In the ruling, the judge said parents can protect their children through software filters and other less restrictive means that do not limit the rights of others to free speech.
