Hezbollah urges power-starved Lebanon to build nuclear plant

BEIRUT:   Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah on Tuesday called on Lebanon to consider building a nuclear power plant in the energy-starved nation.

"I call on the Lebanese government to seriously consider ... building a nuclear power plant for the peaceful purpose of generating electricity, which would be more cost-efficient than the plan the government has endorsed," Nasrallah said in a speech broadcast via video link.

"Iran's Bushehr nuclear facility, which will provide a large part of Iran's electricity needs, cost much less than the (Lebanese) state's reform plan," Nasrallah said in a speech to mark an iftar, the evening meal that breaks the dawn-to-dusk Ramadan fast.

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Hezbollah, Sunni group clash in Beirut, killing 3

BEIRUT:   Lebanese Shiite and Sunni groups fought street battles  using machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades for more than four hours Tuesday, killing three people and wounding several others just blocks from a busy downtown packed with summer tourists.

The dead included a Hezbollah official and his aide, security officials said.

Lebanese soldiers cordoned off the area during the worst of the fighting, but the crackle of sniper fire and blasts from rocket-propelled grenades were audible for hours.

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Remaining US troops still face danger in Iraq

BAGHDAD:   Lt. Ryan Alexander stands thigh-deep in a dark grove of reeds and palm trees, hunting for rockets. Officially, the U.S. combat role in Iraq is ending this month, but Alexander and his platoon are under orders to keep insurgents from using the south Baghdad field as a hiding place for Katyushas.

"We're going to be doing this as long as they tell us," Alexander said in a near-whisper in the steamy pre-dawn air, his machine gun slung over his shoulder. Behind him, Iraqi Lt. Wassan Fadah Hussein had his handgun out and ready for action.

In the near distance came a gunshot. "Sounded like a little boom," Alexander drawled.

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American al-Qaida suspect to go on trial in Yemen

SAN'A:   An American al-Qaida suspect will go on trial in Yemen next month over the killing of a Yemeni soldier and the wounding of another during a failed escape attempt, a security official said Tuesday.

If convicted, Sharif Mobley of New Jersey could face the death penalty.

The 26-year-old American of Somali descent was arrested on suspicion of having links to al-Qaida and attempted his escape in March while receiving treatment at a Yemeni hospital for a leg condition. Authorities say he fooled his hospital guards into unshackling him by asking to join them for prayers and then killed a guard who had laid down his weapon.

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Kuwait concerned over Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant

KUWAIT CITY:   Kuwait has expressed safety concerns over Iran's new nuclear reactor on the opposite side of the Gulf, fearing fallout from possible leaks, the official news agency KUNA reported.

"Kuwait's concern is based on fears of any leaks due to natural causes that may have future consequences," foreign ministry undersecretary Khaled al-Jarallah said, quoted by KUNA late on Monday.

Kuwait is the nearest country to the Russian-built nuclear plant in the Iranian city of Bushehr, located like Kuwait in the northern Gulf.

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