Iraq resumes control of Karbala
KARBALA, Iraq, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Security in the Iraqi province of Karbala, south of Baghdad, was officially handed to Iraqi national forces from U.S. military control Monday.
At a ceremony in the city of Karbala, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Rick Lynch, commander of the U.S. troops in the region, said U.S. troops would remain in the area to back up Iraqi security, CNN reported.
"We are only a phone call away," he said.
The predominantly Shiite Muslim province is the eighth of 18 provinces deemed ready for domestic control, although Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki acknowledged at the ceremony at a soccer stadium it was slow in coming, a BBC correspondent said.
"Allow me to say that we are late, very late, to reconstruct, to rebuild our forces for reasons that I do not want to mention here," Maliki said.
Iowa Democrats pick Jan. 3 as caucus date
DES MOINES, Iowa, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Iowa's Democrats have joined the state's Republicans in settling on Jan. 3, 2008, for their presidential caucuses.
In a vote Sunday night, Iowa's Democratic State Central Committee approved transferring the date from a tentatively scheduled date of Jan. 14, The Des Moines (Iowa) Register reported Monday.
The earlier date, a Thursday, keeps Iowa in the forefront of the primary election calendar.
The caucuses in 1,788 precincts in Iowa will fall on the end of the holiday season and on the night of football's Orange Bowl, but the date is better than Jan. 5, a Saturday, which had been discussed, said central committee member Peggy Smalley of Audubon.
"I've read in the paper about campaign concerns about college students not being back, but I don't know how big a part that will play," Smalley said.
New Hampshire Secretary of State William Gardner has said Iowa's date would influence what date he chooses for his state's traditionally first-in-the-nation primary.
Turkey claims 20 Kurdish rebels killed
ANKARA, Turkey, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- The Turkish military said Monday its troops had killed 20 Kurdish separatist rebels operating from bases in northern Iraq.
In what Euronews.net described as a "major military operation," thousands of ground and air troops near the eastern city of Tunceli conducted a sweep as 100,000 other troops were stationed along the border.
The military made the announcement as the country observed its National Day dating back to 1923 when the republic was proclaimed. Turkey has the second largest armed forces in NATO and the ninth largest in the world.
The Kurdish militants are seeking to carve out an independent state from northwestern Iraq and southern Turkey, and have been staging attacks on the Turkish military as far as 30 miles inside the border in recent weeks.
International calls have gone out to the government of President Abdullah Gul to show restraint in sending troops into Iraq, but the report said that in a telephone conversation with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Gul said "all diplomatic channels are pretty much exhausted."
Peres defends actions against Gaza
JERUSALEM, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Israeli President Shimon Peres on Monday urged the European Union to prevent Iran from developing its uranium enrichment program.
Peres called on the EU to act against Iran when he met with EU External Relations Commissioner Benito Ferrero-Waldner, Ynetnews.com reported.
The meeting covered a range of topics, including Israel's threat to cut power to Gaza, Ynetnews.com reported.
Ferrero-Waldner warned cutting power to Gaza would escalate violence between Israel and the Palestinians. Peres, however, said Israel wouldn't ignore missiles and mortar shells being fired from Gaza by Palestinian members of the militant group Hamas.
"Europe must understand that the sanctions imposed on Gaza are a direct result of Hamas' acts of murder and terror," Peres said.
Peres assured Ferrero-Waldner he remained committed to a Palestinian independent state but cannot support any plan that risks the destruction of Israel, Ynetnews.com reported.
Tory plan aims at Scottish power
LONDON, Oct. 29 (UPI) -- Britain's Conservative Party advanced a plan aimed at ending Scotland's favorable constitutional and financial position within the United Kingdom.
Tory Leader David Cameron is said to be ready to back a change that would prevent British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other Scottish members of Parliament from voting on matters exclusively affecting England, The Telegraph reported Monday.
He said he is also ready to review Scotland's enjoyment of higher public spending than most parts of England.
Malcolm Rifkind, who drew up the Tory proposal at Westminster, said his plan was simply completing the "unfinished business of devolution" and would address England's current unfair position, the newspaper said.
Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond told his party members Sunday the people of England should be free to control their own affairs.
"There are some people who say the English are not ready to govern themselves but I think they are," Salmond said in The Telegraph's report.
