Germany said on Friday that the letter sent by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to Chancellor Angela Merkel omitted to mention the issue of its nuclear program and that parts of the letter were unacceptable. The letter contained some unacceptable statements that referred to Israel's right to exist and the Holocaust, German government spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm told reporters during a regular briefing

The leader of Somalia's Islamic courts called on all Somalis Friday to join a holy war against Ethiopia, and specifically against troops protecting the weak U.N.-backed government. Sheik Hassan Dahir Aweys, speaking on Radio Shabelle, said Ethiopia's decision to send troops to protect the transitional government in Baidoa, 150 miles northwest of Mogadishu, must be met with war

Israel on Friday ordered several thousand reserve soldiers to report for duty as signs grew that the army might be preparing for a major ground invasion of southern Lebanon. A military source said more than 3,000 reservists were called up. Army Radio said it could be six battalions, which might mean up to 6,000 soldiers. Israel has massed troops, tanks and artillery near the border with Lebanon since the crisis with Hizbollah erupted on July 12

Former Khmer Rouge leader Ta Mok, who was born in 1926 according to available records, was suffering from high blood pressure, tuberculosis and respiratory complications. He was being treated at a military hospital, where he died at 4:45 a.m. Friday, said his lawyer, Benson Samay he had been in government custody since 1999. He became caught up in the wave of nationalism which overtook most of Southeast Asia following the fall of Japan, joining the Cambodian communist party in 1964

Iran said on Thursday it was determined to produce nuclear fuel on its territory in defiance of international calls to halt the work and accused the United States of trying to prevent a negotiated solution to its dispute with the West

Ethiopia, which is the main power in the Horn of Africa region, earlier said it would "crush" any move by the Islamists to take Baidoa. Somalia's Islamists threatened on Thursday to wage holy war on Ethiopian troops they said had crossed into the Horn of Africa nation. "God willing, we will remove the Ethiopians in our country and wage a jihad war against them," Sheikh Mukhtar Robow, a senior Islamist in charge of defense, told reporters

President George W. Bush cast the first veto of his 5 1/2-year presidency yesterday, saying legislation easing limits on federal funding for embryonic stem-cell research "crosses a moral boundary" and is wrong

Hundreds are evacuated by ship and helicopter. The U.S. aims to get 6,000 out this week; others are stuck in southern Lebanon. More than 1,000 U.S. citizens were finally able to escape the fighting in Lebanon on Wednesday, as the first chartered cruise ship carrying American evacuees left Beirut for Cyprus. As many as 6,000 Americans could be out of Lebanon by the weekend, the U.S. State Department said. Thousands of Europeans are fleeing as well

Tall buildings swayed as an earthquake struck the Indonesian capital and nearby parts of Java Island on Wednesday, sowing fear two days after an undersea quake triggered a tsunami on the southern coast, witnesses said. There were no immediate reports of casualties or damage, but people in several areas fled from office buildings and homes. The quake's strength was 6

Lebanese security officials say Israeli air strikes have killed more than 40 civilians and wounded many more in Wednesday's attacks in the south and east of the country. At least 20 people were reported killed when an air strike destroyed 15 homes in the southern village of Srifa, near Tyre, while police said at least 20 died in other air raids