Special Reports

PARIS, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- An Iraqi journalist in Paris threw a shoe at the journalist who did the same to U.S. President George W. Bush one year earlier in Baghdad.

LONDON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- London officials voiced concern over the safety of five yachtsmen seized by Iranian authorities but expressed optimism the matter would be handled "promptly."

BEIRUT, Lebanon, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The British government is considering renewed contact with Hezbollah as the group gains political influence in Lebanon, the British foreign secretary said.

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party residing in Iraqi refugee camps will not return to Turkey until conditions are satisfactory, representatives said.

KABUL, Afghanistan, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Kai Eide, the U.N. special envoy to Afghanistan, may be on his way out as the new Western strategy for the war evolves, diplomats said.

SANAA, Yemen, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Saudi Arabia's escalating war against rebels in neighboring Yemen elevates what had been a local insurrection against Sanaa into a conflict with regional dimensions that could ignite bigger fires in a part of the world that is already staring into the abyss.

MANILA, Philippines, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The son of a powerful local politician has been charged with 25 counts of murder in last week's hillside massacre of more than 50 people.

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari is ready to hand most of his power over to the office of the prime minister, his advisers said.

LONDON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- British Prime Minister Tony Blair was ready in 2002 to "contemplate" invading Iraq if U.N.-backed sanctions on Baghdad failed, an Iraq inquiry in London heard.

BERLIN, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- The new German government has to cope with its first scandal after a senior minister and the country's military chief resigned over an alleged coverup linked to a NATO bombing that killed dozens of civilians in Afghanistan.

VIENNA, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Career diplomat Yukiya Amano took over as the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency to face what he said were "difficult challenges."

LONDON, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- There can be no victory in Afghanistan unless the military strategy is combined with a complementary political strategy, the British foreign secretary said.

SEOUL, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- North Korea sharply raised the value of its currency Tuesday -- the country's first monetary reform in 17 years. The move is aimed at curbing inflation and black-market trading in an effort to tighten state control as the country prepares for another dynastic power transfer, analysts in South Korea say.

TEHRAN, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- A measure passed by the Iranian Parliament sets aside $20 million to counter U.S. and British efforts against the Islamic republic.

LONDON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Washington asked London about a link between Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein and the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks three days after the U.S. attacks, an inquiry heard.