Marine unit to stay on in Afghanistan

WASHINGTON - The Pentagon has ordered roughly 1,250 Marines serving as trainers for the Afghan security forces to stay on the warfront about a month longer to continue a mission that military leaders say is a top priority, according to a senior military official. In addition, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has authorized the deployment of up to 200 other troops to Afghanistan to support the Marines. That includes eight helicopter crews that could be shifted from Iraq. (AP)

BAGHDAD - A roadside bomb killed two US soldiers in a predominantly Shi'ite area in Baghdad yesterday, the first deadly attack against American troops in the capital in nearly a month. At least nine Iraqis also were killed in explosions elsewhere in the Baghdad area, Iraqi officials said. Iraqi politicians, meanwhile, remained in bitter debate over a power-sharing formula for the disputed, oil-rich city of Kirkuk that has blocked passage of a law providing for provincial elections. (AP)

EDINBURGH - Nearly half of the world's 634 types of primates are in danger of becoming extinct because of human activity, according to a scientific review released today. Scientists meeting at the International Primatological Society Congress in Edinburgh, a six-day conference that opened Sunday, hope the report - which counts species and subspecies of primates across the world - will help spur global action to defend primates from deforestation and hunting. Primatologists warned that species from the giant mountain gorillas of central Africa to the tiny mouse lemurs of Madagascar are on the "Red List" for threatened species maintained by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. (AP)

KHARTOUM - The African Union said yesterday a move by the International Criminal Court to indict Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for genocide and war crimes in Darfur was pouring "oil on the fire." Africa's top diplomat Jean Ping met Bashir and other officials in Khartoum and urged the UN Security Council to suspend the court's investigation into the president to allow peace efforts to continue. "While we are trying to extinguish the fire here with our troops, we don't understand that they chose that moment to put more oil on the fire," Ping told reporters after meeting Bashir. (Reuters)

MEXICO CITY - A prosecutor who oversaw Mexico's extradition of drug traffickers has resigned - the second senior crime-fighter to quit in a week, an official said yesterday. Jose Luis Santiago Vasconcelos was Mexico's top antidrug prosecutor for two decades before taking his recent position as deputy attorney general for international affairs. He resigned for personal reasons, according to an official with the Attorney General's office, who requested anonymity. (AP)