The permanent members of the U.N. Security Council agreed to refer Iran to the Security Council for possible punishment, after becoming fed up with Tehran’s refusal to begin “serious” negotiations.

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Japan will allow China time to negotiate with North Korea over its missile program by backing off on pushing for a sanctions vote against the isolated nation in the UN Security Council. Japan, the United States and European powers are pushing for sanctions; China and Russia are resisting in the hope that other pressure, including a nonbinding presidential statement from the Council, will be sufficient.

A judge ruled that the FBI’s search of Rep. William Jefferson’s (D-LA) congressional office was legal and that evidence gathered in the raid need not be returned. Jefferson is under investigation for accepting at least $100,000 in bribes from an FBI informant.

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Japanese government officials are trying to determine if a preemptive strike on North Korean missile sites would violate its constitution, which excludes military force as a means of settling international disputes. The reported interest in setting up the legal basis for an attack is especially significant as the UN Security Council deliberates over a response to North Korea’s missile launches last week.

A wave of vicious sectarian violence swept through Baghdad over the weekend and through Monday. Shiite militants killed dozens of Sunnis in the streets of the capital. Several car bombings occurred near a Shiite mosque and in Shiite neighborhoods, apparently in retaliation. Over 60 people were killed in the attacks, and at least 50 wounded.

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Israel has suggested they would free some Palestinian prisoners if the Israeli soldier kidnapped two weeks ago is returned. The release would not be a prisoner swap, they say, but a “goodwill gesture.” Hamas says the soldier, 19-year-old Cpl. Gilad Shalit, is alive and safe. Today was the most violent day of fighting since Shalit was captured.

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Conservative Felipe Calderón won Mexico’s presidential election by a very slim margin late Thursday night. His main opponent, the Democratic Revolutionary Party’s Andrés Manuel López Obrador, has demanded a recount. The winner may be decided in court. Calderón received 35.88 percent of the vote to Obrador’s 35.31 percent, a difference of 200,000 votes.

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North Korea’s foreign ministry announced yesterday that it would continue to test missiles in the face of international censure. Pyongyang insisted that North Korea had every right to arm itself for defense purposes, and suggested that the country would attack if the international community attempted to compel the country to end its weapons program.

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Italy has issued arrest warrants for four Americans, including three CIA agents, in relation to the kidnapping of an Egyptian cleric named Osama Moustafa Hassan Nasr, also know as Abu Omar. The warrants were issued at the same time as two Italian intelligence officials were arrested for their part in moving Nasr out of Italy.

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Breaking news – Kenneth Lay, the recently convicted founder, former-CEO, and Chairman of Enron, died today of an apparent heart attack while spending time in Aspen, CO.

The fallout from North Korea’s missile launch yesterday continues to grow. The tests involved the firing of 7 missiles, including the Taepodong-2, an intercontinental ballistic missile designed to reach as far as Alaska or the West Coast of the United States. The U.S. has downplayed the launch, highlighting the fact that the Taepodong-2 test was a failure, as the missile did not complete its phase 1 burn. Japan has requested a closed session meeting of the UN Security Council, and implemented a number of sanctions against the North.

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The House of Representatives voted to condemn news media yesterday for reporting on a program tracking terrorists’ finances. The GOP-backed resolution did not mention any publication by name, but during the debate the New York Times was singled out for criticism.

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Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak said early Friday morning Cairo time that Hamas leaders have offered to conditionally release a kidnapped Israeli soldier. Israel has said that it has not received an official offer. An Israeli general said that if the soldier is freed Israel may release Hamas politicians detained Thursday. It is not clear if this proposal is related to the Palestinian offer.

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The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 3 today that proposed military trials at Guantanamo Bay violate both U.S. military justice law and the Geneva conventions. Writing for the majority, Justice John Paul Stevens said that President Bush did not have the authority to order the trials and that “trial by military commission raises separation-of-powers concerns of the highest order.”

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Israeli troops are distributing a flyer in the Gaza town of Beit Hanun warning residents to flee before the Israeli military begins an incursion into the northern section of the Gaza Strip. The raid will include “precision fire” from land and air forces meant to pressure the Palestinian population. The incursion is in response to a rocket attack by Palestinians that produced no casualties.

Also in the Middle East, Israeli warplanes buzzed over the summer residence of Syrian President Bashar Assad in order to press the leader to secure the release of an Israeli soldier held in Palestine by Hamas. Israel insists that connections exist between the Syrian government and Hamas whereby the president could help to free Israeli Cpl. Gilad Shalit, who was taken hostage Sunday.

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The Supreme Court ruled this morning that portions of Texas’ congressional redistricting violate the protections of the Voting Rights Act. Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion, which held that the redistricting of Texas Congressional District 23 infringed upon Hispanic voters’ right to choose a candidate under the act. The court also ruled that states could approve new congressional boundaries more often than every ten years.

The Israeli military has moved troops and tanks into the Gaza strip in search of a soldier who was abducted early this week. Israeli planes have attacked three bridges and a power station there. There are also reports of an Israeli air attack on a Hamas training base in a former Jewish settlement. No casualties have yet been reported.

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Hamas has implicitly recognized Israel’s right to exist. The group agreed with rival party Fatah on a plan supporting a two-state solution. The document affirms that the Palestinians aim to establish a state on the territories they occupied in 1967. It promises that resistance will be limited to those territories, and that political negotiations will also be explored. Hamas’ 1988 charter called for the complete destruction of Israel and ruled out all negotiations with the country. A formal signing ceremony between Hamas and Fatah will be held later today.

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Photos show that long lines of Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers have assembled on the Gaza border. Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has put the military on standby and said that Israel will not release Palestinian prisoners, as demanded by militants who have captured an Israeli soldier.

The NYT is reporting today that Sunni-led insurgent groups may enter into negotiations with Iraq’s prime minister. Bombs exploded in a Iraqi market in Baquba killing at least 18 people.

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Israel prepared to move into Gaza today in an effort to rescue a wounded Israeli soldier kidnapped Sunday by Palestinian militants linked to Hamas. The militants have demanded that Israel free Palestinian children and women held in Israeli jails in exchange for information about the soldier. Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas had been attempting to locate the missing soldier in order to prevent an Israeli incursion.

Democrats on the Sunday talk shows “reacted angrily” to news that the top U.S. general in Iraq has proposed withdrawing troops in a manner similar to a proposal put forward by Democrats in the Senate last week and then rejected by Republicans.

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Seven men were apprehended and indicted in Miami yesterday for planning to “to wage war against the United States government,” according to the indictment. The alleged saboteurs hoped to attack the Sears Tower and a FBI building in Miami.

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“We have found weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, chemical weapons,” Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) declared yesterday at a press conference alongside Rep. Pete Hoekstra (R-MI), Chair of the House Intelligence Committee. A senior Defense Department official told Fox News that the munitions “are not the WMDs this country and the rest of the world believed Iraq had, and not the WMDs for which this country went to war.”

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President George W. Bush bristled today against Iran’s offer to respond by August 22^nd to a proposal regarding its nuclear program. “It seems an awful long time for a response to a reasonable proposal,” Bush told reporters. President Bush asked that Iran respond in the coming weeks.

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One of Saddam Hussein’s lawyers was kidnapped and killed. He is third member of Hussein’s defense team to be murdered during the trial. Hussein’s chief defense attorney blamed Shiite Muslim militia members for the murder.

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The United States has made its ground-based missile defense system operational ahead of a possible test missile launch by North Korea. Two American warships are patrolling the Asian coast and have sensors that would be the first to trigger the launch of interceptors. Nine long-range interceptor missiles are based in Alaska, and two are in California.

Japan has decided to immediately withdraw its 600 troops from Iraq. The humanitarian Japanese mission included purifying water and repairing schools and roads. The deployment was seen as a way for Japan to assert a larger role in international affairs. Seven Japanese nationals, though no Japanese soldiers, were kidnapped since the deployment.

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North Korean officials have declared that their country is not bound by a nuclear agreement made with Japan in 2002. The claim comes as South Korean and American ballistics experts have indicated that the missile reportedly being fueled by North Korea may be carrying a satellite rather than a warhead. The technology needed to launch either is similar, but in the case of a satellite launch the North Koreans could claim their intentions are strictly peaceful and civilian.

The verdict in the first trial arising from the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal is: guilty. David Safavian, former chief of staff at the General Services Administration, was found guilty of four of the five counts against him, including lying to investigators and obstruction. Sentencing has been scheduled for October 12.

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Speculation over North Korea’s missile intentions continues. Bush administration officials now say that North Korea has finished fueling a test missile. AP reports that the missile has a launch window of one month, while earlier reports had suggested that a fully fueled missile must be launched in 48 hours. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said today that a missile launch would be seen as a “provocative act.”

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