NANGARHAR - Six people were wounded when a suicide car bomber targeted a convoy of Afghan troops on the outskirts of Jalalabad city, some 140 km (90 miles) east of Kabul, the provincial governor's spokesman said.

KANDAHAR - U.S.-led coalition troops killed four militants in operations in Maiwand district, some 400 km (250 miles) southwest of Kabul, a U.S. military statement said.

GHAZNI - Afghan forces assisted by U.S.-led coalition troops arrested eight militants to prevent a roadside

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi made the assurance during a meeting with Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on the sidelines of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) leaders' summit in Thailand.

Gonzales said Arroyo asked Badawi to

Kagame was speaking after talks in the Rwandan capital with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

"Rwanda is ready to participate in any further operation of such a kind," said Kagame, whose forces have only just withdrawn from eastern DR Congo after carrying out a month-long joint operation with Congolese forces against Rwandan Hutu rebels.

Foreign Secretary Palitha Kohona said any ceasefire would be unnecessary if the Tigers accepted international appeals to surrender.

"When the Tigers lay down arms, there will be no fighting. The fire will automatically cease," Kohona told AFP.

Kohona was responding to calls from neighbouring

Depuis le début de l'année, 360 femmes ont été victimes de viols à Goma. Au cours de son passage dans cette ville du Nord-Kivu samedi en provenance de Kisangani, le secrétaire général de l'Onu, Ban Ki-Moon, a visité l'hôpital Heal Africa où ces victimes sont prises en charge et où 10 nouveaux cas ont été enregistrés pour la seule journée de lundi dernier. Il s'est dit très choqué, rapporte radiookapi.net

Dans une interview exclusive à Radio Okapi, Ban Ki Moon a déclaré que la situation actuelle en RDC est plus

FALLUJA - A suicide bomber killed the cousin of Ifan al- Issawi, head of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol, when he managed to entered Issawi's house in Falluja, police said. Issawi, a winning candidate in the Jan. 31 provincial elections, was not harmed. Falluja is 50 km (35 miles) west of Baghdad.

SAMARRA - Mahmoud Khalaf, the mayor of the city of Samarra, was wounded by a roadside bomb while his convoy was passing by, police captain Mahmoud Anwar said.

The blue-painted cottage nestled by a river-with blooming rosebushes, a large vegetable garden, and nine chickens pecking around-probably looked idyllic during the summer of 2008. Rima Litvinova, a 70-year-old widow living in an Eastern European region called Transnistria, had very little money, but she loved her house and plants. Despite a heart condition and the fact that her two grown sons lived far away, Rima was able to run her household in the small village of Rashkov. She raised carrots, onions and potatoes; cared for her roses and lilies;

- Israel says will closely manage Gaza reconstruction

- U.S. expected to pledge $900 million

By Alastair Sharp

SHARM EL-SHEIKH, Egypt, March 1 (Reuters) - Palestinians hoping to raise $2.8 billion to rebuild Gaza at a conference in Egypt on Monday will find the path to reconstruction blocked by political and logistical factors, relief agencies say.

Egypt, which called for the gathering soon after Israel halted its Gaza offensive in January, says leaders from

Two physicians were kidnapped on 26 February in the Mizan district of Zabul while several vaccinators and local healthcare personnel have been abducted in Farah since early January. Increased attacks on aid workers have diminished humanitarian access and have denied essential services to many vulnerable people, aid agencies say.

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