Rebel News - Independent News and Analysis

Drug-related violence has left 13 people dead in the Mexican resort city of Acapulco, including four civilians whose bodies were decapitated and five police.

Two bodies of men who had been decapitated were found overnight on Scenic Avenue in the downtown area and the other two were found near a small village west of the town on Saturday, AFP reported.

Stomach pains sent former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to a hospital in South Korea, medical sources said on Saturday.

Kissinger arrived in the capital city of Seoul on Wednesday to participate in a security forum.

A new poll shows that US President Barack Obama's approval rating has dropped to a record low of 46 percent over controversial domestic policies.

The survey conducted by the Gallup indicates Obama's popularity among Democratic supporters has been affected by doubts about his domestic policy.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Moscow next week for a Middle East quartet meeting and sideline negotiations about Iran.

The quartet, which includes the European Union, Russia, the United Nations and the United States, will meet on March 19 to address a self-proclaimed goal of reviving peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.

Gunmen in Mexico have killed eight people during an assault on a party.

The attack took place in the western town of Navolato on Friday in which another person was also wounded.

US President Barack Obama has convened his war cabinet with top military and intelligence officials to get an update on the US-led occupation of Afghanistan.

Obama was briefed on the latest situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan by his top aides during the Friday session in the so-called 'Situation Room' of the White House.

Human Rights organizations have demanded that Washington drop military charges against a Guantanamo Bay detainee captured by the Americans at the age of 15.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Human Rights Watch, and Juvenile Law Center organizations have issued a joint letter to US Attorney General Eric Holder and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, urging the release of Omar Khadr, a Canadian national arrested in Afghanistan in 2002 for allegedly throwing a grenade at a US army officer.

New York City officials have agreed to pay damages to thousands of Ground Zero "dust" victims of September 11.

New York City officials have agreed to pay over 650 million dollars to thousands of rescue and clean-up workers who were involved in the aftermath of the attacks.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Friday that no "Zionist" was inside the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, as the terrorists flew the two hijacked planes into the two towers.

President Ahmadinejad said the arrogance, which "demonstrates the satanic characteristics of Satan," sought to evoke sympathy by showing the impact of the planes jamming into the towers.

A senior advisor to former US President George W. Bush says he is "proud" of using "harsh interrogation methods" against alleged terror suspects.

"I'm proud that we used techniques that broke the will of these terrorists and gave us valuable information that allowed us to foil plots," Karl Rove said in an interview with BBC on Thursday.