Suicide bombing targets Afghan district chief

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) -- A suicide bomber blew himself up Saturday near an armored car carrying a district chief in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing himself and one civilian bystander, Afghan authorities said.

The bomber targeted Ahmadullah Nazak's car in a residential and shopping area of the city as the official was traveling to a meeting, said Zalmai Ayubi, spokesman for the Kandahar provincial governor. Nazak was unharmed, but one passer-by was killed and another six people were wounded, Ayubi said.

"I am safe and sound, and all of those who were in the car are also safe and sound," Nazak told The Associated Press shortly after the explosion. He did not say how many people had been in the car with him.

Violence has been on the rise across much of Afghanistan, with the southern provinces of Kandahar - the birthplace of the Taliban - and Helmand seeing much of the fighting. NATO forces have poured troops into both provinces.

Elsewhere, a NATO service member was killed Saturday in an insurgent attack in the east of the country, the military coalition said, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel made a surprise visit to her nation's troops in the north.

The alliance did not reveal the nationality of the service member or the location of the attack.

Another soldier died of a noncombat injury in the north of the country on Friday, NATO said. The German military said one of its soldiers, a 21-year-old, died of a gunshot wound that appeared to be the result of an accident at a military post in Baghlan Province, but the matter was being investigated.

More than 670 U.S. and other international troops have died in Afghanistan so far this year.

Germany currently has nearly 4,700 troops serving in Afghanistan and plans to start gradually withdrawing in late 2011.

Merkel visited Kunduz, where her nation's troops have a base. In Berlin, the German government said Merkel traveled with her defense minister and the military's chief of staff.

The German parliament is expected to vote in January on renewing authorization for the nation's military mission in Afghanistan. The current parliamentary mandate allows for a maximum deployment of 5,350 German soldiers.

Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said Thursday that Germany is defending its own security in Afghanistan.

"That is why this mission is right, but it is also right that it cannot go on forever," he said.

Separately, NATO said Saturday it had killed a senior Taliban leader in an airstrike in Badghis province in northern Afghanistan the previous day.

The military coalition said in a statement that the Taliban leader, Mullah Tor Jan, had been appointed by the Quetta Shura, the Afghan Taliban command council based in Pakistan. The airstrike that killed him followed a firefight that broke out as Afghan and international forces pursued "an armed individual" to a cave complex, the coalition said.

Badghis deputy chief of police, Abdul Jabar Khan, said Tor Jan was a senior Taliban commander responsible for planting mines along routes used by Afghan and international forces and for organizing attacks on police stations.

Iraqi lawmakers lift ban on Sunni politicians

Ciudad Juarez, Mexico (AP) - Anger on the Mexican justice system is creaking, effectively flooding after her mother, who fought against the murderer of his daughter two years of struggle to bring justice for the murdered man, apparently the same is charged with the murder of a teenager.

Masked security tape car pulled in front of the governor's office of the city's Chihuahua. It seems an exchange of words with anti-crime crusader Maris Ortiz Escobedo, who held vigil outside.

He tried to run the streets, but the gunmen chased him and shot in the head on Thursday, said Jorge Gonzalez, special prosecutor and crime prevention.

Escobedo was taken by ambulance to hospital where he died within minutes.

On Friday, a group of protesters gathered outside the Interior Ministry in Mexico City, protesting the police killing of a short battle while chanting "No more death!"

Now north of Ciudad Juarez, where the daughter is 17 years old Escobedo body was found burned in June 2009 component package activists demonstrated outside the headquarters of state law, with signs demanding "Justice Maris.

Murder in Mexico on Thursday that the victim is suffering, without protection, "said veteran anti-crime activist Alejandro Marti.

The scandal led to the suspension of three judges, who ordered the release of a major suspect in the murder of his daughter after he wins by the court in April for lack of evidence.

The man, Sergio Barraza, now the prime suspect in his mother's death, said Carlos Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Attorney General, Chihuahua, Ciudad Juarez, where he was.

Frayre daughter Ruby Escobedo Escobedo, disappeared in Ciudad Juarez, across from El Paso, Texas, 2008.

After the body was found last year, Mother's Journey, a quick conviction. Escobedo Rallies held a flag wrapped many nude pictures of her daughter.

"This battle is not just my child," said Escobedo loudspeaker that in March, his voice cracking. "We do not allow young women to be killed in this city."

Three days ago, they planted themselves in front of the governor's office Cesar Duarte promised not to move until the researchers have shown the success of this case. In an interview with El Diario on Sunday, said Escobedo family received death threats Barraza.

Duarte said that state security agencies took custody of Escobedo, despite its distance. He said he did not consider it safe to be examined on Thursday.

Duarte also peaks in the court suspended the three judges.

On Friday, said President Judge Javier Ramirez Benitez was to stop the investigation. Ramirez said Benitez collection earlier this year follow-up because she was treated.

Prosecutors said Barraza, Frayre animal admitted killing his girlfriend and the police took the body. But in the courtroom, he shouted to blame says he was tortured to confess. The judge ruled in April that prosecutors presented no physical evidence against him.

This case is an example of a problem in the judicial system in Chihuahua, to adopt an oral test prior investigation is not closed doors and filing documents used in tests in Mexico.

Despite the training, police, prosecution, and Chihuahua problems adapting to the system that puts the burden of proof on plaintiffs. In many cases of murder was released due to lack of evidence in court or not.

Often, the police only after the defendant claims that the confession was made under pressure. Suspect captured in New Mexico's press is shown often on his face bruised.

Ciudad Juarez police stunned gang wars, that one of the most dangerous city in the world was created. More than 3,000 people were killed in the city of 1.3 million dollars this year alone.

Records obtained by the Associated Press show that last year, when 2600 were killed in Ciudad Juarez, prosecutors, the number of murders for 1993 and 19 convictions.

Lack of Chihuahua of Justice last year, before the new system is implemented, the drug rose to unprecedented heights of violence.

In 1990, hundreds of women killed around Ciudad Juarez, about 100 of them are sexually abused and tossed in the desert.

[VIDEO] Zanessa Kiss In Hawaii

Omnibus Defeat Is a Victory for Reality

By Sarah Palin 

I’m glad the Senate came to its senses and killed the omnibus spending monstrosity. That outrageous trillion-dollar pork buffet was an outright slap in the face to the American public’s expressed wishes in the last election. It was as if Congress was earning its historically low 13 percent approval rating before our very eyes. I applaud senators like Jim DeMint, John McCain, and others who fought this and stopped it.

However, the very fact that some lawmakers on Capitol Hill thought such reckless spending was even remotely acceptable is disturbing. We’re facing trillion-dollar deficits and a record national debt, but some people still want to continue spending like there’s no tomorrow. If the European debt crisis teaches us anything, it’s that tomorrow always comes. Sooner or later, the markets will expect us to settle the bill for the enormous Obama-Pelosi-Reid spending binge. We’ve already been warned by the credit ratings agency Moody’s that unless we get serious about reducing our deficit, we may face a downgrade of our credit rating. Even the lamest of lame ducks can’t ignore this reality.

Germany's Merkel visits Afghanistan

BERLIN (AP) -- German Chancellor Angela Merkel has made an unannounced visit to northern Afghanistan, where her country's troops serve in the NATO-led security force.

The government in Berlin said that Merkel, her defense minister and the military's chief of staff arrived early Saturday in Kunduz, where Germany has a base. It declined to give further details of the visit.

Germany currently has nearly 4,700 troops serving in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. It plans to start withdrawing its troops in late 2011.