2009-06-28 12:28:03 -

NEW THIS DIGEST
MICHAEL JACKSON. Spokeswoman: Jackson cardiologist not a suspect.
IRAN-ELECTION. Report: Iran detains 8 local British Embassy staff.
PAKISTAN. Government forces kill at least 11 Taliban militants in South Waziristan.
GUINEA-BISSAU-ELECTION. Voters to replace slain president in West African nation.
AFGHANISTAN. Minister calls drug strategy 'perfect' despite US pledge to change course.
US-SOMALIA-ANALYSIS. US aid to Somalia tied to shaky government.
US-CLIMATE BILL-WINNERS&LOSERS. US climate bill would create new financial system.
DUBAI-EMAAR MERGER. Emaar to merge with rivals in Dubai.
GM-BANKRUPTCY. GM to take on future product liability claims.
TOP STORIES
MICHAEL JACKSON
LOS ANGELES _ The cardiologist who was with Michael Jackson when he collapsed is «in no way a suspect» in the pop singer's death, a spokeswoman for the doctor says after a three-hour interview with detectives. Moved. By Music Writer Nekesa Mumbi Moody. AP Photos. AP Video. AP Graphics JACKSON TIMELINE, CARDIAC ARREST.
WITH: PEOPLE-MICHAEL JACKSON-CUSTODY; JACKSON-DOCTOR; US--JACKSON-YEARS OF PAIN; MICHAEL JACKSON-DANCING INMATES; MICHAEL JACKSON-APOLLO.
MIDEAST-JACKSON
CAIRO _ A Bahraini royal mourned him publicly, young Lebanese held a candlelight tribute. Michael Jackson held a special place in the Muslim world, as one of the first major Western entertainers to break through cultural barriers in the 1980s. Moved. By Hadeel al-Shalchi. AP Photos. AP Video.
IRAN-ELECTION
UNDATED _ Iranian media reports that authorities detained eight local employees of the British Embassy in Tehran for an alleged role in post-election protests, signaling a hardening of Iran's stance toward the West. Moved. By Karin Laub. AP Photos.
IRAN-THE QUIET CRACKDOWN
UNDATED _ The Iranian government has seized and detained several hundred activists, journalists and students across the nation, in one of the most extensive crackdowns on key dissidents since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Moved. By Michael Weissenstein. AP Photos.
IRAN-HACK BACKLASH
UNDATED _ Groups of «hacktivists» _ Web hackers demanding Internet freedom _ say they are targeting Web pages of Iran's leadership in response to the regime's muzzling of blogs, news outlets and other sites. Moved. By Shaya Tayefe Mohajer.
PAKISTAN
ISLAMABAD _ Warplanes and helicopter gunships pound suspected militant positions in Pakistan's troubled northwest, killing 11 Taliban fighters, intelligence officials say. Moved. By Zarar Khan. AP Photos.
GUINEA-BISSAU-ELECTION
BISSAU, Guinea-Bissau _ Citizens head to the polls in Guinea-Bissau to choose a new leader less than four months after their president was murdered in a volley of gunfire and following a campaign during which a candidate was killed. Developing. By Fid Thompson.
AFGHANISTAN
KABUL _ Afghanistan's counternarcotics minister says his country's drug strategy has achieved a lot of success just one day after the U.S. says it is scrapping the eradication policy it dubbed a «waste of money.» Developing. By Rahim Faiez. AP Photo.
JAPAN-SKOREA
TOKYO _ The leaders of South Korea and Japan say they will work together to bring North Korea back to the bargaining table in negotiations aimed at persuading the isolated regime to abandon its nuclear weapons program. Developing. By Jay Alabaster. AP Photos.
US-SOMALIA-ANALYSIS
WASHINGTON _ The Obama administration's recent move to increase aid to Somalia takes aim at Islamic extremists' safe havens, pouring resources into a government that analysts say may not be worth salvaging. Moved. By Lolita C. Baldor. AP Photos.
OSCE
CORFU, Greece _ Foreign ministers from across Europe and beyond tackle the thorny issue of the continent's security, hoping to build a more unified approach to tackling challenges from Afghanistan to cybercrime. Developing. By Elena Becatoros. AP Photos.
FIGHTING FOR PALESTINE
JENIN, West Bank _ In the live-fire exercise, everything was carefully choreographed _ Palestinian commandos, faces blackened, stormed a hide-out in an abandoned building, «wounded» one gunman and «arrested» a second. But is this corps, American-trained and steadily growing, ready for the real thing? Hopes for a Middle East peace breakthrough may rest on that question. Moved. By Karin Laub. AP Photos.


US-CLIMATE BILL-WINNERS&LOSERS.
NEW YORK _ The climate legislation that's winding through U.S. Congress would create a parallel financial system with a carbon-based currency. Everyone from small farmers to nuclear energy companies would be forced to re-evaluate their place. Moved. By Chris Kahn.
US-OBAMA'S CONCESSIONS-ANALYSIS
WASHINGTON _ The reversals, hints of concessions and politically dicey proposals on health care are piling up for President Barack Obama, whose appeal for bipartisan legislation carries risk with no guarantee of reward. Moved. By Special Correspondent David Espo. AP Photos.
ARGENTINA-ELECTION
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina _ Argentina's president and her predecessor husband are fighting for their political survival in congressional elections that have become a referendum on their populist economic policies and autocratic leadership style. Moved. By Vicente Panetta and Mayra Pertossi.
HONDURAS-CONSTITUTION
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras _ President Manuel Zelaya enlists government employees and supporters to set up polling stations for a rogue referendum that opponents depict as a power grab. Moved. By Will Weissert. AP Photos.
BUSINESS & FINANCE
GM-BANKRUPTCY.
NEW YORK _ General Motors Corp. agrees to take on responsibility for future product liability claims, removing what could have been a roadblock on the automaker's path to a quick sale of its assets and emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Moved. By Auto Writer Bree Fowler. AP Photo.
DUBAI-EMAAR MERGER
CAIRO _ The Dubai developer behind the world's tallest building plans to merge with three rivals owned by the sheikdom's ruler, in a consolidation aimed at better coping with a global meltdown fueled weakness in the one-time Arab boomtown's real estate sector. Moved. By Tarek El-Tablawy. AP Photo. AP Graphic.
MADOFF SCANDAL
NEW YORK _ Bernard Madoff would be stripped of all his possessions under a $171 billion forfeiture order handed down only days before prosecutors seek to put the disgraced financier away in prison for the rest of his life. By Tom McElroy.
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