UPI NewsTrack TopNews

Jun 10, 12:01 PM

Current Headlines: Bush signals support for Kosovo TIRANA, Albania, June 10 (UPI) -- U.S. President George W. Bush Sunday told Albanians in Tirana he is committed in his support for Kosovo's independence from Serbia.

Independence is the goal, and that's what the people of Kosovo need to know, Bush said at a news conference after being greeted with a hero's welcome as the first U.S. president to visit the Balkan nation of Albania.

Bush praised Albania as a country that has cast off the shackles of a very oppressive society and is now showing the world what's possible.

Standing alongside Prime Minister Sali Berisha, Bush expressed support for Kosovo to gain independence from Serbia. Kosovo is mostly ethnic Albanian. Bush's comments were aimed at Russia, which is an ally of Serbia and objects to independence for Kosovo.

Of Albania's desire to join NATO, Bush said he and Albania's leaders agreed more political and military reforms were needed before membership could be granted.

For Bush's several-hour visit, U.S. flags were draped over buildings in the capital of Tirana, a set of commemorative stamps were issued and a street was renamed in his honor. Albania is a strong ally of Bush's war on terror, has tripled its troop numbers in Afghanistan to 140 and has about 120 soldiers in Iraq.

Violence kills at least 14 in Iraq TIKRIT, Iraq, June 10 (UPI) -- At least 14 people, including seven police officers, died Sunday in violence in Iraq.

Seven Iraqi police officers died and at least 52 other people were injured when a suicide bomber detonated a car in the village of Albu Ajil, east of Tikrit, the hometown of the late Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein.

In southwestern Baghdad, two car bombs exploded 15 minutes apart at separate fuel stations, killing at least three people and wounding at least 12 others, BBC News reported. The attacks targeted cars in line at the stations.

Also in southwestern Baghdad, U.S. troops Sunday raided an office affiliated with radical Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, killing at least three people and wounding 19, the Iraqi Interior Ministry reported.

In separate shelling, U.S. forces fired on a civilian car approaching the office, killing one person and wounding four others, the official said. Area residents then opened fire on the U.S. troops and gun battles ensued between the soldiers and unknown assailants, BBC reported. A humvee was destroyed during the fight.

India demands right to process spent fuel NEW DELHI, June 10 (UPI) -- The United States must drop its objections to India reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, India's external affairs minister said Sunday.

The reprocessing issue should not stand in the way of a landmark nuclear energy pact with the United States, said Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

We will be able to find some way out, Mukherjee said, explaining tough, yet workable, negotiations lie ahead.

The pact, tentatively agreed to in 2005, would overturn a 30-year ban on allowing sales of U.S. nuclear equipment and fuel to India, the Press Trust of India reported.

India objects to new conditions from Washington against India conducting another nuclear test and being allowed to reprocess spent atomic fuel, Mukherjee said.

The nuclear deal would help India meet some of its soaring energy needs and firm up a strategic partnership between the United States and India, a rising Asian power.

Iran clamps down on internal dissent TEHRAN, Iran, June 10 (UPI) -- The Iranian government is intensifying its domestic crackdown by targeting banks, unions, and civic groups, it was reported Sunday.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has widened a campaign that first detained people for wearing clothes that did not comply with Islamic strictures.

Since April, student and union leaders have been arrested, scholars have been harassed for refusing to denounce Israel and private banks have been attacked for their interest rates, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Those who damage the system under any guise will be punished, said Intelligence Minister Gholamhossein Mohseni Ejei, who accused women and student groups of seeking to overthrow the government.

The U.S. Congress approved $66.1 million this year to support Iranian opposition groups. Iranian leaders say that proves the United States is manipulating domestic groups within Iran's borders.