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From the VOA News Center in Washington, I'm Frances Alonzo.

The US military says coalition forces have killed three suspected terrorists and detained 16 suspects in operations in Iraq today. The military says the raids targeted al-Qaeda in Iraq and occurred west of Ramadi in south of Baghdad. The military also announced today that American and Iraqi troops killed 10 insurgents and detained five suspects Monday in Diyala province northeast of Baghdad.

Stock prices plunged on US, European and Asian markets today. The slide began on Monday on concerns about the health of Chinese markets and the US economy. US markets rallied yesterday but resumed their fall in today's early trading. The major US indexes were down as much as 2%.

Israeli troops are continuing raids in the West Bank city of Nablus. Troops surrounded a residential building today and ordered residents to leave before storming the building to search for suspected Palestinian militants. Explosions were heard but there were no immediate word about casualties or arrests.

Officials in Somalia say the first members of an African Union peacekeeping force have arrived. Police and customs officials say about 30 Ugandan officers today flew into Baidoa - the base of Somalia's transitional government. Uganda has pledged 1,500 soldiers for the proposed 8,000-member force.

Former Kosovo Prime Minister Ramush Haradinaj has pleaded not guilty after war crimes charges linked to his time as an ethnic Albanian guerilla leader during the Kosovo conflict of the late 1990s. The former regional commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army entered his plea today before the United Nations War Crime Tribunal in The Hague.

The Bush Administration is stepping up its campaign to get the Democratic-led Congress to approve its immigration reform plan. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to make the Bush Administration's case for immigration reform. The centerpiece of the administration's plan is a guest-worker program which could give most of the nation's estimated 11-12 million illegal immigrants a path to US citizenship. Many Congressional Republicans are opposed to a guest-worker program arguing it represents amnesty. It is a key reason why the Republican majority in the last Congress did not support the president's plan. Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvanian Republican who supports the plan, called on Chertoff and Gutierrez to do more to convince members of their party that it is not amnesty. Most Democrats, who are now in the majority in Congress, back the idea of a guest-worker program, giving hope to the Bush Administration that prospects for immigration reform have improved. Deborah Tate, VOA News, Capitol Hill.

China has compared US concerns about its military buildup as the prying of a voyeur. China is expecting to announce an increase in defense spending next week during its annual legislative session. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing.

US Vice President Dick Cheney on a tour of Asia last week said China's defense spending was not in line with China's stated goal of a peaceful rise. The US and other developed nations have also said China's military budget is not transparent enough. China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang defended Beijing's military spending and transparency Thursday, comparing Washington's concern to the behavior of a nosy neighbor or a voyeur.

“If someone always tears through your clothes and even wants to lift open your underwear, saying 'Let me see what's inside?' How would you feel? Would you want to call a police? ”

China says its military spending is open and transparent, and that double-digit increases for the last few years are necessary to upgrade low salaries for soldiers and outdated equipment. But some analysts say China does not report on military expenditure as part of its defense budget, and say real spending could be three times higher than official figures, sparking concern about Beijing's military intentions. Daniel Schearf for VOA News, Beijing.

Police in central India say a powerful landmine explosion has killed 8 people, including 6 policemen. Authorities say suspected Maoist rebels triggered the blast today in the state of Chhattisgarh, a rebel stronghold. Police say suspected rebels then fired at the security officers. Maoist rebels in India say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor and landless. Thousands of people had been killed in the decades-old insurgency.

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