MOGADISHU, Somalia -- A demonstration Thursday in the Somali capital of Mogadishu protested an alleged rape by government soldiers in a refugee camp. The protest was organized by families of the victims, Shabelle Media Network reported. "They were several men armed with AK-47 guns and they said they were searching for insurgents and they began beating me until I went out conscious and then went for the women in the camp, raping them," said Aden ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- The media team behind U.S. Sen. John McCain's presidential campaign has resigned, reportedly because they haven't been paid. The Wall Street Journal said Bush presidential campaign veterans Russ Schriefer and Stuart Stevens Monday e-mailed McCain's new campaign manager -- lobbyist and longtime McCain adviser Rick Davis -- and quit the cash-strapped operation. The departures came soon after The Journal ran a story about Davis' business and lobbying activities. The story quoted current and ... [full story]

KAMPALA, Uganda -- Talks between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army have been delayed by the militants' failure to raise travel funds. Martin Ojul, the head of the LRA delegation at the talks, said the group's failure to raise $2 million in travel funds and raise communication with commanders in forest hideouts is causing a delay in the resumption of the talks, the New Vision (Kampala, Uganda) reported Thursday. He said the ... [full story]

WASHINGTON -- FBI Director Robert Mueller confirmed a confrontation between Alberto Gonzales and John Ashcroft over U.S. domestic spying while Ashcroft was hospitalized. The confrontation occurred while Gonzales, now attorney general, was White House counsel and Ashcroft was U.S. attorney general. The Justice Department had rejected the controversial surveillance program and Gonzales allegedly went to Ashcroft to press the White House case. Mueller, who had his own reservations about the warrantless domestic spying program, told ... [full story]

MOSCOW -- An exiled Russian tycoon will not be tried until late August on a charge of embezzling $8.3 million from Aeroflot, authorities in Moscow said Thursday. Boris Berezovsky lives in Britain and has become a British citizen. A spokeswoman for the Moscow City Court said both defense and prosecution asked for the postponement, Novosti reported. Berezovsky has told his Russian lawyers not to participate in the trial, in which he is to be tried ... [full story]

LONDON -- A Sikh matriarch and her son were convicted Thursday in London of arranging the death of her daughter-in-law in a so-called honor killing. Surjit Kaur Athwal never returned to Britain after a trip to India with her mother-in-law, Bachan Kaur Athwal, in 1998 for a family wedding. Prosecutors said the older woman arranged to have her daughter-in-law strangled and her body thrown into a river. After the jury delivered its verdict, Jaswant Narwal, ... [full story]

LEICESTER, England -- A British newspaper has banned readers' comments about the parents of a missing 4-year-old girl because of a "spiteful" online campaign against them. Gerry and Kate McCann were eating dinner at a restaurant within sight of their rented apartment in Portugal when their daughter, Madeleine, was abducted. The couple's hometown newspaper, The Leicester Mercury, says its site has been inundated with e-mail, The Daily Mail reported. "A tiny minority of people seem ... [full story]

LONDON -- Flooding in central England was blamed Thursday for the deaths of two men in Tewkesbury who were overcome by fumes from a gas water pump. Police in the town in Gloucestershire said they were also concerned about a 19-year-old man who has been missing since early Saturday morning when waters started to rise, The Telegraph said. Public health concerns rose as a water treatment plant in the county was compromised by flood waters. ... [full story]

BEIRUT, Lebanon -- The Lebanese army, backed with heavy artillery, on Thursday made its first incursion into the rebel-held Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon. Using heavy tank fire, troops entered the near-deserted Nahr El-Bared refugee camp and house-to-house fighting was also reported, Lebanon's National News Agency said. Almost all of the 31,000 refugees have fled since fighting began May 20 between the Fatah al-Islam rebels and government forces at the camp. An undetermined number ... [full story]

SAN DIEGO -- A 56-year-old former San Diego respiratory therapist was sentenced to more than 45 years in prison for sexually abusing seriously ill children. San Diego Superior Court Judge Kenneth So said Wayne Albert Bleyle, 56, would have to serve at least 85 percent of the 45-years, 8-month sentence before being eligible for parole, the San Diego Union Tribune reported Thursday. Bleyle was arrested March 8 after a task force claimed he was trading ... [full story]