There are two worst rated territories: Tibet (under Chinese jurisdiction) and Chechnya, where an indigenous Islamic population is engaged in a brutal guerrilla war for independence from Russia.” [Chechnya got the lowermost rating both in Political Rights and Civil Liberties.]

This week’s bombing of the Serena Hotel signals a significant change in tactics by the Taliban.

DUBAI – Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Thursday that Israel “would not dare attack Iran”, after Israel said it tested a missile and warned against Tehran’s nuclear program.

TORONTO – Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair said on Thursday that NATO must challenge its enemies in Afghanistan firmly and in a united way, despite recent reports of friction among Western countries.

BERLIN – German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Thursday that Israel should freeze the building of settlements if it wanted to achieve peace with the Palestinians.

OTTAWA – Canada’s foreign ministry has put the United States and Israel on a watch list of countries where prisoners risk being tortured and also classifies some U.S. interrogation techniques as torture, according to a document obtained by Reuters on Thursday.

GAZA – Israeli air strikes killed five Palestinians, including a mother and child, in the Gaza Strip on Thursday as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert vowed to wage a “war” to stop rocket attacks on the Jewish state.

BAGHDAD – A suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed eight people near a Shi’ite mosque in the volatile Iraqi city of Baquba on Thursday, police said.

BEIRUT – An Arab mediator brokered a meeting between rival Lebanese leaders on Thursday but a political source said their dispute was unresolved and a breakthrough remained distant.

BEIRUT – The first attack on the United States in Beirut in two decades was a warning shot against its policy in Lebanon, where it backs anti-Syrian leaders against rivals supported by Damascus and Tehran.