IRAQ: World ignoring Iraqi refugee crisis

World ignoring Iraqi refugee crisis
CNN

CNN) — “Mr. B” and his family dodged militias by moving from house to house in Baghdad — but they couldn’t escape being Sunni or the fact that Mr. B had served in Saddam Hussein’s military.

Their home eventually was bombed, injuring Mr. B’s second youngest son, who now bears a scar from belly to breastbone. Friends and neighbors were kidnapped, some killed. A friend’s brother was tortured, his mutilated corpse dumped in the neighborhood, Mr. B told an aid group.

CHINA/TIBET: China admits firing on Tibetan protesters

Iraq dominates foreign policy for McCain
By RICHARD SPENCER
The Telegraph (UK)

China has admitted firing on Tibetan protesters for the first time, as it sent in tens of thousands more troops to restore order.

State media said that four Tibetan “rioters” had been wounded when police opened fire on Sunday in the town of Aba, Sichuan province, neighbouring Tibet.

It did not give details, but Tibet support groups said that at least 12 people died in a protest which began at Kirti monastery in Aba. Monks in Dharamsala, the seat of the Tibetan government-in-exile in India, have released photographs of what they claim are some of the dead.

IRAQ: Iraq dominates foreign policy for McCain

Iraq dominates foreign policy for McCain
Associated Press

Like no other candidate, John McCain has linked his campaign for president to an unpopular war - and to a lifelong focus on foreign issues that many voters ignore.

McCain was born in the Panama Canal Zone, became famous as a Vietnam prisoner of war and has spent his long Senate career traveling to more foreign countries than most people can name.

He was expected to make his eighth trip to Iraq this weekend, a visit sure to get a lot of attention. But his weeklong overseas trip also includes Israel, Britain and France - all countries where he’s made many visits.

A defiant supporter of the 2003 invasion and President Bush’s troop increase last year, McCain is likely to focus in Iraq on the drop in sectarian violence and U.S. and civilian casualties since this past summer.

IRAQ: High-cost Iraq war enters sixth year as Bush defending invasion

High-cost Iraq war enters sixth year as Bush defending invasion
Xinhua General News Service

The high-cost Iraq war entered its sixth year on Thursday as U.S. President George W. Bush was defending his decision to launch the invasion.

GRIM REALITY DESPITE HIGH COST

With a cost of roughly 500 billion U.S. dollars and lives of nearly 4,000 U.S. troops as well as tens of thousands of Iraqis, the five-year-old war has left Iraq in shambles.

Statistics of the civilian casualties vary. Iraqbodycount, a website that follows the death toll count, put the number at nearly 90,000, but many other sources say hundreds of thousands have been killed, largely in sectarian or terrorism related violence.

Meanwhile, about 4.2 million Iraqis have fled abroad or have been internally displaced. Amnesty International said in a latest report that after five years of the U.S.-led invasion, Iraq has become one of the most dangerous countries in the world.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC: Small Steps to Rebuilding Lives

Small Steps to Rebuilding Lives
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks

After hiding in the bush for more than a year, families in the northern Central African Republic (CAR) regions of Ouaham and Nana Grebizi are starting to return to their roadside villages.

Clashes between government forces and the Armée Populaire pour la Restauration de la Démocratie (APRD, People’s Army for the Restoration of Democracy) rebel movement towards the end of 2006 led to the exodus of tens of thousands of people from dozens of villages along the road linking the towns of Kabo and Kaga Bandoro, about 100km to the southeast.