Man arrested for allegedly carrying phony check: Anti-terrorism

Man arrested for allegedly carrying phony check: Anti-terrorism
officials are investigating a man arrested after arriving here on
a flight from Indonesia for allegedly carrying phony checks for
US$12 million, a news report said Friday. Omar Shishani, 47, a
naturalized U.S. citizen, was arrested at Detroit Metropolitan
Airport Wednesday after a Customs inspector found nine checks
believed to be counterfeit in his baggage. He was scheduled to
appear in a preliminary hearing Friday. His lawyers were not
immediately available for comment. -- AP

U.S. warplanes bomb Iraq:Five Iraqis were killed and 17 wounded
when U.S. warplanes bombed southern Iraq Thursday night, an Iraqi
military spokesman said Friday, quoted by Baghdad Radio.
"U.S. warplanes bombed a residential neighborhood in Al-Diwaniya,
350 kilometers south of Baghdad, at 1:10 a.m. Friday (4:10 a.m.
Jakarta time)," the spokesman said. --AFP

Turkish parliament session blocked: Turkey's three government
coalition partners and one opposition party said on Friday they
would not attend a special session of parliament on Monday,
effectively blocking a sitting crucial to EU preparations.
Parliament needs a quorum of 184 out of a total 550 members to
turn up to allow debate to start on urgently needed reforms to
prepare for the European Union and possibly also to set a date
for elections in November. --Reuters

France, Russia holds informal summit:French President Jacques
Chirac arrived in the Black Sea Russian resort of Sochi on Friday
for an informal summit with President Vladimir Putin aimed at
boosting flagging ties with Moscow. During the visit, due to last
less than 24 hours, the two presidents will each only bring one
aide to a meeting on Friday, followed by a dinner. On Saturday,
they will have a one-on-one breakfast meeting. --AFP