[Airbornelawyer]

East Asia & the Pacific

• Communist rebels kill 5 Philippine troops, militia "Communist rebels launched fresh attacks in the Philippine countryside, killing five soldiers and militia members in two incidents, an army spokesman said on Tuesday. Major Gamal Hayudini said a team of militiamen was checking reports about the presence of armed men in a farming village in the town of Montevista on the southern island of Mindanao when about 30 communist guerrillas fired at them. Two militiamen were killed and two wounded in a 20-minute battle as army reinforcements arrived to pursue the rebels from the New People's Army (NPA), which is active in 69 of the country's 79 provinces.…" (Source: Reuters)

The Americas

• USSOUTHCOM Headline News (Microsoft Word format)

• Venezuela, Spain Sign Billion-Dollar Military Deal "Venezuela is buying naval ships and transport aircraft worth more than $1.5 billion from Spain. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez signed the deal with Spanish Defense Minister Jose Bono in Caracas Monday. Under the deal, Venezuela will receive ocean patrol boats, coastal patrol vessels, and maritime surveillance planes. Reuters news agency quotes a Venezuelan naval commander, Armando Laguna, as saying the equipment will delivered by 2010. Last week, the U.S. government threatened to block the transfer of U.S. parts and technology in the planes and boats included in the deal. Venezuela says it could get technology from other countries if need be. Venezuela has also signed deals this year for a Brazilian aircraft and 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles from Russia to combat the drug trade along the border with Colombia." (Source: VOA)

Africa

• ETHIOPIA: Four soldiers killed in landmine blast "Four Ethiopian soldiers were killed and three wounded last week when their vehicle hit a newly laid landmine near the border with Eritrea, UN officials said on Tuesday. The anti-tank mine was planted around 15 km south of the demilitarized buffer zone created to separate the two countries' armies following their 1998-2000 border dispute that has continued to cause tension between the Horn of Africa neighbours.…" (Source: Reuters)

Europe

• French police arrest six in terror probe "French anti-terror police arrested six suspected radical Islamists on Tuesday, including a prison officer and a Muslim prison chaplain, the French prosecutor's office said. The police made the arrests in the port of St Malo in Brittany and in areas of western and central France as part of an inquiry launched last May.…" (Source: Reuters)

• Spanish court detains four Salafist suspects "Spain's High Court has detained four people accused of financing an Algerian Islamic militant group linked to al Qaeda while the investigation continues, a court official said on Tuesday. Seven others from the group of 11 arrested last week were freed on bail during Monday's late night hearing and ordered to check in regularly with judicial authorities. The group was arrested in southern Spain and some are suspected of trying to buy explosives.…" (Source: Reuters)