Helicopter crash kills seven in Afghanistan: NATO

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) — A helicopter carrying civilian contractors working for foreign troops in Afghanistan crashed on Tuesday killing at least six people on board and a child on the ground, NATO and local officials said.

It was not immediately clear why the helicopter came down in the Sangin district of Helmand province, where US Marines, British and Afghan forces are pressing assaults against Taliban strongholds in the south in the run-up to key elections.

"At around 9:00 am (0430 GMT) this morning, a private helicopter has crashed outside Sangin military base... we have at least six people killed," said a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).

"The passengers were all civilians," he added, speaking from the biggest NATO base in southern Afghanistan at Kandahar.

Another ISAF spokesman said the aircraft was carrying civilian contractors, but their nationalities were not immediately known and it was not clear how many people were on board.

Jackson: Cemetery investigation should expand

ALSIP, Ill. (AP) — The Rev. Jesse Jackson has called for an expanded investigation into a suburban Chicago cemetery where four former employees are accused of digging up and dumping bodies in a scheme to resell plots.

Jackson said Sunday that all cemeteries run by the company that owns Burr Oak Cemetery in Alsip should be investigated.

No one answered the phone at Arizona-based Perpetua Inc., owner of Burr Oak, and the voicemail box was full.

But authorities say the company is cooperating with investigators. And the investigation started after Perpetua reported alleged financial wrongdoing to authorities.

Jackson was in Alsip on Sunday for a memorial service for people whose family members are buried at the historic black cemetery.

Ottawa urges unified stance against 'dangerous' Iran

OTTAWA (AFP) — Prime Minister Stephen Harper at this week's Group of Eight summit will urge fellow industrialized nations to forge a unified position in opposition to Iran's nuclear program, his spokesman said Monday.

"One thing the prime minister will want to take to the G8 summit concerning Iran is that we obviously view the regime there as extremely dangerous, as a serious threat," said Harper's spokesman Dimitri Soudas.

He added that Harper would like to see G8 leaders "come together to have a dialogue on the issue of Iran ... and come out with a coherent position to deal with this dangerous regime that also has a nuclear proliferation program with a clear objective."

The G8, comprising Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States, gathers in the Italian city of L'Aquila from Wednesday until Friday.

Jackson ex-wife shows interest in custody of kids

LOS ANGELES – The future of Michael Jackson's children was thrown into question Thursday when his ex-wife emerged and won a delay in a custody hearing while she decides whether she wants to raise her two offspring.

It was the first legal move from Deborah Rowe since the entertainer's death. Jackson's will asks for his mother, Katherine, to get permanent custody of all three of his children.

Rowe, who met Jackson as a receptionist in the office of his dermatologist, has characterized their relationship as strictly for the purpose of birthing Jackson children. She is the mother of his two oldest children and received $8.5 million in their divorce, according to court records. His youngest child was conceived with a surrogate.

She has spent very little time with her son Michael Joseph Jr., known as Prince Michael, 12; and daughter Paris Michael Katherine, 11. But Rowe also has opposed the idea of Katherine Jackson getting custody of her children when it came up in the past.

Argentine president defiant after mid-term losses

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) — Argentina's president expressed defiance Monday after voters took away the ruling party's edge in Congress.

Sunday's midterm elections have severely weakened President Cristina Fernandez and her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, who had warned that "chaos" would ensue if the government lost its legislative majorities.

Instead, markets reacted with relief, and political opponents were invigorated by the reality that the autocratic Kirchners will have to reach compromises to get laws passed once the new senators and deputies take office Dec. 10.

That's an uncomfortable new situation for the ruling couple, who have developed a take-no-prisoners style of politics over the last six years. In a long and rambling news conference, Fernandez acknowledged the need to build new alliances, but said "compromises don't mean giving up your positions."

She noted that the ruling faction still won a plurality of 31 percent of the votes nationwide, and lost in the Buenos Aires province by "a tiny difference."

Motorcycle bomb kills 15 in Baghdad market

BAGHDAD (AP) — A booby-trapped motorcycle loaded with nails and ball-bearings exploded in a crowded bazaar Friday in Baghdad, killing at least 15 people, Iraqi officials said. The attack struck just four days before the deadline for U.S. combat troops to withdraw from cities.

The wave of violence that has killed more than 200 people this week has raised fresh doubts about the ability of Iraqi forces to provide security as their American partners become less visible.

The explosion occurred just after 9 a.m. when the market was packed with young people buying or selling motorcycles in central Baghdad, according to police and hospital officials.

Ghaith Abdul-Allah, 35, was unloading motorcycles he planned to sell from his truck when the blast occurred.

"I saw a ball of fire and some motorbikes were lifted about 10 meters (yards) into the air," he said. "When the smoke from the explosion vanished, I saw a large number of young men lying on the ground soaked in blood."

Analysis: Iran Nuclear concerns weigh heavy on US

WASHINGTON (AP) — Behind President Barack Obama's toughened but modulated response to the Iranian election crisis is a calculation that when the dust settles, the United States will still face an unpredictable adversary that gets closer every day to producing nuclear weapons.

No one can say whether the unrest following disputed presidential elections will yield an Iran more willing to cut a deal over its disputed nuclear program. But as Obama sees it, the United States must be ready to talk no matter who sits on the other side of the table.

"My position coming into this office has been that the United States has core national security interests in making sure that Iran doesn't possess a nuclear weapon and it stops exporting terrorism outside of its borders," Obama told reporters Tuesday.

The new president has tried not to poison chances for negotiations over those threats, although that gave Republican critics room to call him timid.

Advertisers meet in Cannes amid global downturn

PARIS (Reuters) – The tough economic present is hitting the turnout by ad industry future gazers debating hot topics like mobile advertising and smart phones at this week's Cannes festival.

The advertising sector gathering is renowned for its lavish boat trips and all-night beach parties.

But in a sign of tough times, organizers this year have multiplied incentives to lure belt-tightening delegates, giving tips on how to book cheap plane tickets and hotel rooms or advising participants to share cabs from the Nice airport.

Around 12,000 ad agency employees, art directors, marketers, producers, clients and other industry executives were initially expected to attend the week-long Cannes Lions 2009 festival which runs until June 27.

But according to some press reports, the number of registered ad professionals is down 40 percent this year. Asked to confirm the figure, a festival spokeswoman did not respond to a Reuters e-mail.

Airstrikes kill 21 after Pakistani bases attacked

ISLAMABAD (AP) — Militants near the Afghan border launched attacks on three Pakistani military bases Monday, and fighter jets responded with airstrikes on villages that killed at least 21 people. Most of the dead were insurgents, an intelligence official said.

The overnight and early morning clashes followed artillery attacks Sunday on suspected militant hide-outs in two towns in the northwest that killed 27 fighters, officials said. Elsewhere in the volatile region, a suicide bomber killed two people at a police checkpoint Monday.

The government announced last week that the military would go after Pakistan's Taliban commander, Baitullah Mehsud, in the South Waziristan tribal area. His stronghold is a chunk of the remote and rugged mountainous region where heavily armed tribesmen hold sway and al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are believed to be hiding.

Washington supports anti-militant operations, seeing them as a measure of nuclear-armed Pakistan's resolve in taking on a growing insurgency. The battle in the tribal region could also help the war in Afghanistan because the area has been used by militants to launch cross-border attacks on U.S. and other troops.

Iran tense after police, protesters clash

TEHRAN, Iran – Iran braced for the possibility of more bloody confrontations between protesters and security forces on the streets of Tehran as fresh images of brutality emerged Sunday despite the regime's attempts to impose a news blackout.

Witnesses claimed that numerous demonstrators were injured — and several allegedly killed — in clashes with black-clad police wielding guns, truncheons, tear gas and water cannons on Saturday as protests over disputed elections escalated into Iran's most serious internal unrest since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.

Authorities did not confirm any deaths, and the reports from bloggers and Twitter users inside Iran could not immediately be verified.

In a separate incident, a state-run television channel reported that a suicide bombing at the shrine of the Islamic Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini killed at least two people and wounded eight. Another state channel broadcast images of broken glass, but no other damage or casualties, and showed a witness saying three people had been wounded.