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It's 10:00 Universal Time and here is the news from the Voice of America.

I'm Bill Thompson from the VOA News Center in Washington.

Iraqi television is reporting that Al Qaeda in Iraq leader Abu Ayyub al-Masri has been killed in a clash among members of his group. The report quoted an Iraqi Interior Ministry spokesman as saying the fighting took place today in an area north of Baghdad. However, the US military says it can not confirm the claim. Masri, an Egyptian, assumed the leadership of the terrorist group after Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in the US airstrike in June, 2006. Meanwhile, Iraqi officials say gunmen have attacked two buses south of Baghdad today, killing at least 14 passengers including women and children. Iraqi government figure showed that the number of civilians killed in violence across the country in April was down 20% from the previous month, despite a spate of suicide bombings. Reports say nearly 1,500 civilians were killed in violence in April.

President Bush says US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be polite but firm if she speaks to Iran's Foreign Minister at an international conference on Iraq this week. The Bush administration has accused Iran of aiding insurgents fighting US forces in Iraq. US diplomat David Sadar Field says Washington wants Iran to match its stated good-intensions toward Iraq with tangible actions. "Iran declares it wants to see a stable peaceful Iraq, sovereign within its borders. That's our objective as well. It should be the objective of all of the neighbors. But in the case of Iran, in the case of Syria, such a declaration, such a retold declaration carries with its surreal implications. It means an end just supply weaponry are to factions within Iraq. It means an end to the flow of those involved in suicide bombings." The United States and Iran have not had formal relations since 1979.

US-led coalition warplanes have killed 4 militants who attacked a town in eastern Afghanistan. Coalition officials say 7 other militants were wounded in the incident when around 11 insurgents attacked the government building. A new report from the US State Department says terrorist attacks around the world were up 25% in 2006 from the year before and there is a 40% jump in the number of victims of terrorism. Most of the increase was due to the sole violence in Iraq, but there were also significant increases in Afghanistan and Darfur.

An Israeli cabinet minister has resigned to protest his government's handling of last year's war against Hezbollah in Lebanon. Eitan Cabel is a minister without portfolio and a member of the governing coalitions of Labour Party. He made the announcement one day after an official investigating commission criticized Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's handling of the war, saying he went to war without a proper plan. VOA's Jim Teeple has more on the investigation.

The much-anticipated Winograd Commission interim report says Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert did not have a proper plan when he commited Israel to war last year. The report criticized his Defense Minister Amir Peretz and Israeli Defense Forces Chief Dan Halutz, saying Peretz has little experience in defense matters and Halutz acted impulsively. Commission member /, a retired judge, says the three officials are guilty of not setting clear goals for the war. "/ made a decisive first contribution to these decisions and the way in which they were made." Prime Minister Olmert has defended his handling of the 34-day conflict, saying he has no intension of resigning. Speaking late Monday, he called for patience. Mr. Olmert says he will definitely study the report and that in the future any problems outlined by the Winograd Commission will not be repeated. Jim Teeple, VOA News, Jerusalem.

Countries thoughout Asia have hightened security because a potential unrest as labour groups hold annual May Day marches. In Indonesia, thousands of demonstrators were expected in Jakarta to demand higher wages, better working conditions. Police in the southern Chinese territory of Macau fired shots in the air to disperse rally protesters demanding better conditions. Turkish police detained more than 80 people and used tear gas to prevent thousands of protesters from marching into Istanbul's Taksim Square. Police in Germany's capital Berlin detained 47 people for throwing stones and bottles in May Day clashes. And Cuba's government expects hundreds of thousands of people to attend May Day advancing Havana today.

And British Prime Minister Tony Blair says he will make a statement next week on when he will step down as prime minister.

I'm Bill Thompson, VOA News. More news on the internet at voanews.com.