LONDON - British mental health charity SANE says people addicted to super-strength cannabis may commit more violent acts unless tougher action is taken against the drug. Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the charity, said at least one third of recent killings related to skunk cannabis could have been prevented if the British government had taken action, The Telegraph reported Friday. Wallace called for the government to set up an educational campaign to instruct young people ... [full story]

HARARE - The body of a Zimbabwean cameraman, abducted from his home last week, has been found alongside a road west of Harare. Edward Chikomba, a freelancer with the state-run Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp., apparently was beaten to death, the BBC said. The motive behind the slaying was not clear, but it may have been linked to the smuggling of news footage out of Zimbabwe, the BBC said. Chikomba reportedly had ties with the opposition Movement ... [full story]

BERLIN - German Tornado jets and about 200 troops are headed for Afghanistan and there's a concern their mission will be misunderstood. It has been well publicized that the Germens' is a surveillance role. But, as Deutche Welle reports, the German government is wary that the Taliban will see no difference between combat and support. German Defense Minister Franz Josef Jung said the mission was designed to bring assistance and not fear to the Afghan ... [full story]

BAGHDAD - U.S. officials are reviewing a request from Iran to visit five Iranians captured in a raid in Iraq in January, a spokesman said. The U.S. military spokesman, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. William Caldwell, said at a news conference Wednesday that Iran's request was "being assessed at this time," The New York Times reported. Caldwell's statement came in response to a reporter's question concerning an Iranian state news agency report that said an Iranian ... [full story]

DAMASCUS - Syrian officials reportedly told U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that they would work for the release of Israeli soldiers being held by the Palestinians. The London-based Arabic newspaper al-Hayat reported that Syrian President Bashar Assad told Pelosi, D-Calif., that he would mediate between Israel, Hamas and Hezbollah and promote a prisoner exchange to include Israeli soldiers Gilad Shalit, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, YNetNews reported. At a news conference after her meeting with ... [full story]

SELKIRK, Manitoba - An ice jam caused the Red River to flood in Selkirk, Manitoba, leading to sewage problems and an evacuation. The 1.25-mile-long ice jam north of Winnipeg pushed the water levels in Selkirk up more than 2 feet in a few days, The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. reported. Selkirk Mayor David Bell told the CBC that he saw the manager of the Selkirk marine museum dealing Wednesday with a trickle from a small break ... [full story]

TOKYO -- An expert Japanese panel reportedly will begin looking into constitutional language interpreted as a ban on the exercise of collective self-defense.   Prime Minister Shinzo AbeKyodo news service, quoting government sources, reported the experts are to begin work later this month. The panel may determine whether to revise the language, interpreted to mean that Japan had renounced its right to wage war or to maintain armed forces. Kyodo said Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ... [full story]

BUDAPEST - Hungarian ground crews at Budapest's Ferihegy International airport went on strike Thursday to support demands for higher pay. It was the third strike in just over one week, airport officials said. The strike of the ground service crews, who belong to an independent trade union of air traffic employees, is scheduled to last until Saturday, the Hungarian news agency MTI reported. Domokos Szollar, spokesman for Budapest airport, said about 150 to 160 flights ... [full story]

EDINBURGH -- A Scottish hotel's attempt to provide a sheltered place for its staff to smoke has caught the eyes -- and ears -- of one of the country's prominent lawyers.   Grosvenor Hilton in Edinburgh  John McCluskey -- a former judge and solicitor general for Scotland and life peer known as Lord McCluskey -- complains that chattering smokers in the shed behind the Grosvenor Hilton in Edinburgh are keeping him awake, The Scotsman reported. "The noise ... [full story]

BAGHDAD - Four people were injured Thursday when a U.S. military helicopter crashed 25 miles south of Baghdad in Iraq. The U.S. military did not specify the cause of the crash, but witnesses reported hearing weapons fire from the ground and an Iraqi official speaking anonymously said the helicopter is believed to have been brought down by insurgents using an anti-aircraft machine gun, the BBC reported Thursday. A minimum of nine U.S. helicopters have been ... [full story]

GUANTANAMO - Conditions continue to deteriorate at Guantanamo prison with many detainees pushed "to the edge," Amnesty International said Thursday. Some inmates were dangerously near total mental and physical breakdown, the agency said, calling again for the Cuba facility to be closed and "unfair' trials to be abandoned, the BBC said. The report said about 300 detainees are now being held at a new facility which had created "even harsher and apparently more permanent conditions ... [full story]

MOSCOW - A Russian official denied Russian media rumors that the United States planned airstrikes on Iran's nuclear facilities Friday. "Our contacts with the U.S. side give no grounds for such expectations," Alexander Losyukov, a deputy foreign minister, told RIA Novosti. RIA Novosti said the United State has not ruled out a military response to Iran's refusal to halt the enrichment of uranium for its nuclear program. A Russian security official said last week that ... [full story]

LONDON - Three men have been charged with conspiracy in the July 7, 2005, bombings in London that claimed 52 lives on three trains and a bus. Mohammed Shakil, 30, Shipon Ullah, 23, and Sadeer Saleem, 26, were the first charged in the attacks, the BBC said. Authorities said Shakil, of Leeds, and Ullah were arrested in Manchester while boarding a flight for Pakistan. Saleem was attested at a residence in Leeds. Scotland Yard said ... [full story]