In Brief

Senior Qaeda leader killed in Pakistan

Senior al-Qaida commander Abu Saeed al-Masri has been killed in recent clashes with Pakistani forces in a Pakistani region near the Afghan border, a security official said on Tuesday.

"He was believed to be among the top leadership of al-Qaida," the senior security official said on condition of anonymity. Al-Masri, which means Egyptian, was the senior most al-Qaida operative to have been killed in Pakistan's tribal belt since the death of his compatriot, Abu Khabab al-Masri, an Qaeda chemical and biological weapons expert, last month.

TV channels identified the dead man as Mustafa Abu al-Yazid and said he was also known as Abu Saeed al-Masri.

-REUTERS

Surrogate baby stuck in legal limbo

Baby Manjhi has no nationality, no legal mother and no clear path home from India to Japan to a father and grandmother who desperately want her.

"From deep inside my heart, I want to return immediately to my own country with my grandchild," said Emiko Yamada, the girl's grandmother.

At just two weeks old, Manjhi Yamada is stuck in legal limbo -- the offspring of commercial surrogacy and a divorce before she was even born.

Some countries and parts of the United States have banned surrogacy as a money-making venture, but India legalized it in 2002. Under the practice, infertile couples are matched with local women to carry babies for $12,000 to $30,000. It's a booming business, worth an estimated $445 million a year.

-CNN

EU tightens Iran nuclear sanctions

The European Union on Friday tightened trade sanctions against Iran to punish Tehran for not committing to a long-standing demand of the international community that it freeze its nuclear enrichment program.

The new EU restrictions go slightly beyond existing U.N. trade sanctions and are designed to deny public loans or export credits to companies trading with Iran.

France, the current holder of the EU presidency, said European governments would also carefully watch financial groups doing business with Iranian banks and step up checks on ships and airplanes traveling to Iran.

"This resolution expands the range of restrictive measures adopted by the U.N. Security Council," in December 2006 and March 2007, an EU statement said.

The EU called on member nations to "show restraint when granting new public loans for trade with Iran ... to also be vigilant on activities taken by financial institutions with banks based in Iran."

-CNN

Cuba 'jailing fewer dissidents'

The number of political prisoners in Cuba has fallen in the past six months, according to a new report by the island's main human rights group.

This continues the trend which began after Raul Castro took over the leadership of the communist island from his brother, Fidel, two years ago.

But the report also says that the authorities are continuing to take a tough line against dissidents.

It says that any change in the human rights situation remains "unlikely".

There are an estimated 219 political prisoners currently held in Cuban jails, 15 fewer than in January this year.

But according to the Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation (CCHRNR) this does not represent a fundamental change in the treatment of dissidents under Raul Castro. -BBC

Israel 'proposes West Bank deal'

Israel has offered a peace deal to the Palestinians which would annex 7.3% of the West Bank and keep the largest settlements, Israeli reports say.

In return the Palestinians would be given land equivalent to 5.4% of the West Bank in the Negev desert, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

Palestinian officials confirmed that such a plan had been put forward, but called it totally unacceptable.

The two sides have been in peace talks sponsored by the US since November.

Israel wants a new border similar to the route of the barrier it is currently building in and around the West Bank, Haaretz reports. The proposed deal also covers Palestinian refugees and security arrangements, as well as the future of Gaza, Haaretz says, but not the issue of East Jerusalem and the ring of settlements around it. -BBC

Chinese journalists banned from hot topics

Chinese journalists reporting on the Olympic Games have been ordered to avoid sensitive issues, including Tibetan or Falungong protests.

Chinese journalists have told Western colleagues they had been advised not to publish anything that could harm national security, including pictures of protests by Tibetan or Falungong protesters.

Several journalists said that any time there is a major event it was common for China's Propaganda Bureau to issue notices to the various media agencies on how to cover the events.

The South China Morning Post Tuesday reported that a 21-point set of regulations have been issued by the Chinese propaganda bureau telling them to avoid reporting about sensitive topics including the dispute over blocked overseas websites.

-Australian Herald