Militants Kill 16 Police Officers in Western China
A violent attack that killed sixteen police officers has China rattled ahead of the Olympic Games. The violence has been blamed on an Islamic group that is also threatening to attack Beijing during the Olympics. The Christian Science Monitorcites Xinhua as reporting the attackers drove a dump truck into a team of border police out for a morning jog.
Xinhua reports that two unnamed attackers drove a dump truck into a team of border police during a Monday morning jog near their barracks, killing 14 officers on the spot. Two other officers died on the way to the hospital. The attack occurred in Kashgar, the westernmost city in China.
Little Change Expected Under Dmitry Medvedev Presidency
42-year-old Dmitry Medvedev is the new president-elect of Russia. He won in a landslide. Medvedev is expected to take office on May 7, 2008. The BBC says Medvedev won 73% of the vote.
With nearly 100% of the ballots counted, the election commission has announced he won 70.23% of the vote.
Mr Medvedev said he hoped to work in an "effective tandem" with Mr Putin as his prime minister.
As president, he said, he would control foreign policy with the defence of Russian interests his chief priority.
Mr Putin, he confirmed, would be moving out of the Kremlin.
Mr Medvedev's nearest rival was Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov, with 17.76% of the vote. He vowed to go to court over alleged fraud, Itar-Tass news agency reports.
Dmitry Medvedev is expected to keep Vladimir Putin on as Russia's prime minster.
The AP reports in the video below that little is expected to change in Russia despite the new president.
Kosovo has declared itself an independent country seperate from Serbia. They want to be known as the Republic of Kosovo. Serbia opposes this. The U.S., France and Britain have already recognized Kosovo's independence while Russia, China and other EU members are unhappy about the Serbia break away nation.
The U.S. and the European Union's biggest powers quickly recognized Kosovo as an independent nation Monday, widening a split with Russia, China and some EU members strongly opposed to letting the territory break away from Serbia.
The rift was on view for a second day at the U.N. Security Council, which was holding an emergency session to discuss the declaration of independence issued Sunday by Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority.
Ethnic Serbs rallying in northern Kosovo angrily denounced the United States and urged Russia to help Serbia hold on to the territory that Serbs consider the birthplace of their civilization. Protesters also marched in Serbia's capital, and that nation recalled its ambassador to the U.S. to protest American recognition for an independent Kosovo.
President Bush has declared that the "The Kosovars are now independent." Israel has yet to recognize Kosovo. Many photos have shown Kosovo residents waving Albanian flags.
East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta has been shot at his home by rebels. He is in "serious but stable" condition according to a BBC news story.
Mr Ramos-Horta was shot in the stomach in a pre-dawn attack on his Dili home.
Alfredo Reinado, a renegade soldier who had threatened the government, was killed by guards during the attack.
Gunmen also attacked Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao but he was not hurt. He called the incidents an attempted coup by Reinado and appealed for calm.
Mr Ramos-Horta is to be flown to the Australian city of Darwin for further treatment.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the "attempt to assassinate the democratically elected leadership of a close friend and neighbour of Australia's is a deeply disturbing development".
Jose Ramos-Horta won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996. You can see a bio of Dr. Jose Ramos-Horta here on the official East Timor website.
East Timor's President Jose Ramos-Horta has been shot at his home by rebels. He is in "serious but stable" condition according to a BBC 