Pentagon officials say the U.S. launched an air strike early Monday in Somalia to go after a terrorist suspect. In the strike, Somali police said three missiles hit a Somali town held by Islamic extremists, destroying a home and seriously injuring eight people. A Pentagon official said the U.S. military was going after an al-Qaida suspect in the town. As yet, there is no word on whether the suspect was hit. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak publicly about the strike.
The U.N. Security Council approved a third round of sanctions against Iran on Monday with near unanimous support, sending a strong signal to Tehran that its refusal to suspend uranium enrichment is unacceptable and becoming increasingly costly. For the first time, the resolution bans trade with Iran in goods which have both civilian and military uses. The vote was 14-0 with one abstention from Indonesia.
Hours after Russia elected a new president, riot police on Monday detained opposition protesters, pro-government youth rallied outside the U.S. Embassy and Russia reduced gas supplies to Western-looking Ukraine. The moves may signal that the president-elect, Dmitry Medvedev, intends to continue the course set by Vladimir Putin, who during his presidency reasserted his country’s power abroad while keeping a tight grip on society at home.
Dozens of people with assault rifles and machetes stormed a village in western Kenya early Monday, killing at least 13 people, including six children, police said. Some were burned alive in their homes. National Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the attack in Embakasi village was over land, not the country’s disputed Dec. 27 presidential election, which unleashed weeks of nationwide bloodshed.\nIranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday dismissed U.S. accusations that his country is training extremists and demanded that the Americans withdraw from Iraq. Speaking in a nearly hour-long news conference at the end of an unprecedented visit to Iraq, Ahmadinejad said the U.S. allegations – that Iran is training Shiite militants who target American troops and Muslim rivals – don’t matter to the Iranians.
Ecuador broke off diplomatic ties with Colombia on Monday following its strike against leftist rebels inside Ecuador, the Foreign Ministry said. “The government of Ecuador has decided to break off diplomatic relations with the government of Colombia starting today,” the statement said. Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa earlier on Monday vowed to take “stronger measures” against Colombia following the strike on Saturday that killed a senior rebel leader and 16 other guerrillas on Ecuadoran soil.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice urged Palestinians on Monday to quickly resume peace talks with Israel, suspended in protest over an Israeli military offensive that killed more than 100 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Despite the violence, she said a deal to end the six-decade conflict is still possible before President Bush leaves office. “I’m hopeful that we can get through this current situation and get back to negotiations,” Rice said as she headed to the Mideast for meetings that amount to a rescue mission for a peace push Bush launched last fall.
An Iraqi court dropped charges Monday against two former Health Ministry officials accused of allowing Shiite death squads to use ambulances and government hospitals to carry out kidnappings and killings. The three-judge panel cited a lack of evidence in its decision, which came despite serious reports of witness intimidation. Minority Sunnis have viewed the case as a major test of the judiciary in this Shiite-dominated country, and the ruling was likely to hurt U.S. efforts to promote national reconciliation between the Muslim sects.
