Israel shelled the United Nations headquarters in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. The compound and a warehouse were engulfed in flames, destroying thousands of pounds of food and humanitarian supplies intended for Palestinian refugees. Israel's prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said that there had been a "grave mistake."

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is in the region in an attempt to end the devasting offensive actions against Gaza's Hamas rulers by Israel. Ban Ki-moon demanded a "full explanation", and revealed that Olmert said it was a mistake.

UN workers and Palestinian firefighters worked side-by-side, some wearing bulletproof vests, in a struggle to put out the flames and retrieve bags of food from the debris.

Prime minister Olmert said that the military fired artillery shells at the UN headquarters after Hamas militants opened fire from the location. Three people were wounded in the attack. A senior military official from Israel also explained that Israel troops shelled the compound after coming under fire from Palestinian militants there. A UN official there at the time, however, dismissed these reports as "nonsense."

Al-Qaida's top leader, Osama bin Laden has urged Muslims to launch a jihad, or holy war, against Israel over their actions in Gaza. Further attempting to stir the angry emotions of Muslims in the Middle East, bin Laden also condemned Arab governments as allies of the Jewish state in his latest message.

An audiotape, which was named "Call for jihad to stop the aggression on Gaza", was posted Wednesday on Islamic militant web sites where al-Qaida typically releases its messages. This was bin Laden's first taped message since May, coming nearly three weeks after Israel began its violent campaign against Gaza's militant Hamas rulers.

In the 22-minute audio tape, bin Laden said:

"There is only one strong way to bring the return of Al-Aqsa and Palestine, and that is jihad in the path of God. The duty is to urge people to jihad and to enlist the youth into jihad brigades.

Muslim nation, you are capable of defeating the Zionist entity with your popular capabilities and your great hidden strength - without the support of [Arab] leaders and despite the fact that most of [the leaders] stand in the barracks of the Crusader-Zionist alliance."

Cleveland congressman Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio) is now calling for a United Nations investigation to attacks on Gaza by Israel. Kucinich also criticized Israel for what he deems a disproportionate response to Hamas rocket attacks, standing in stark contrast to other House Democrats that have offered nearly unanimous support for Israel.

Leading Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California), have blamed Hamas for the most recent violence in the Middle East that has left more than 300 dead in Gaza. Meanwhile, just one individual in Israel has been killed by a Hamas rocket.

Kucinich likens Israel's attacks on Gaza to its 2006 war with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Kucinich said that in both cases civilian populations were attacked and "countless innocents" were injured or killed.

In a statement Kucinich said:

“All this was, and is, disproportionate, indiscriminate mass violence in violation of international law. Israel is not exempt from international law and must be held accountable.”

According to U.S. prosecutors, Blackwater Worldwide security guards used grenade launchers and machine guns during an attack on unarmed Iraqi civilians. Today, prosecutors unsealed a 35-count indictment against five guards for the 2007 shootings.

The guards surrendered in Utah, where prosecutors are arguing the case should be tried. The Justice Department has charged all five men with manslaughter, attempted manslaughter, and using a machine gun in a crime of violence. The machine gun related charge carries a mandatory minimum 30 year prison sentence.

US attorney Jeffery Taylor said that the guards were authorized only to take defensive actions.

A sixth guard took a plea deal and admitted to killing at least one Iraqi civilian in the shooting.

Al Qaida has released a video criticizing President-elect Barack Obama which is aimed at demeaning him in the eyes of his supporters. Al Qaida's #2 man, Ayman al-Zawahri featured in the video and branded Obama a "house negro", a racial term for a black American who does the bidding of whites. Al-Zawahri's speech marked al Qaida's first reaction to Obama's election victory.

Obama has been welcomed by many in the Middle East who hope that he will end what they consider American aggression against Muslims and Arabs under George W. Bush. But al-Zawahri dug into American racial history to make a case to the region that although Obama is black, he will not be anymore sympathetic than white leaders to what he referred as "the oppressed" of the world.

Al-Zawahri stated that Obama was the "direct opposite of honorable black Americans" such as Malcolm-X, who is known my some in the Arab world and seen as a symbol of anti-imperialism. AHe also referred to Obama,as well as secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleeza Rice, as "house negroes".

The video also featured footage of old Malcolm X speeches in which he explained the term, stating that black slaves working in their white masters' houses were more servile than those working in the fields. He used the term to criticize black leaders that he accused of as not standing up to whites and discrimination.

Photo: Michael being escorted by his royal hosts in Bahrain in 2005.

Back in 2005, Michael Jackson fled the US and stayed for six months in Bahrain with Sheikh Abdulla Bin Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa in an attempt to keep a low profile after being acquitted of child abuse allegations. While there, the Sheikh reportedly put together a recording studio and paid Jackson an advance of around 7 million to create new material. He also wanted Jackson to write an autobiography.

Needless to say, Jackson never followed through on the new music or the book and the Sheikh is now claiming that Jacko simply took the money and ran. As a result, he's going to bring a lawsuit before the High Court in London on Monday.

What does Jackson have to say about all this? He apparently thinks that the money was given to him as a "gift."

If Michael lands up in court again, expect another great circus to ensue.

On Wednesday the U.S. military announced the death of a man they describe as the Number 2 leader of the Sunni insurgent group al-Qaida in Iraq. The military says that they killed Abu Qaswarah on October 5 during an operation in northern Iraq during which four other alleged al-Qaida members were also slain.

Qaswarah, a native of Morocco also known as Abu Sara, is said to have directed al-Qaida's operations in northern Iraq, where the group has recently been blamed for large-scale attacks. He was the right-hand man of the group's leader, an Egyptian that goes by the name Ayyub al-Masri, and is also said to have had "historic ties" to the group's founder, Musab al-Zarqawi, who was killed in June 2006.

The military issued the following statement:

"Abu Qaswarah is another example of how al-Qaeda in Iraq has been forced to rely on foreign terrorists to carry out their vicious attacks on the Iraqi people as well as coalition and Iraqi forces. Terrorists who bring radical and fanatic Islam into Iraq commit murderous acts against the people of Iraq and have no place in the future of Iraq."

A car bomb rocked Islamabad, Pakistan, killing at least 20 and wounding 20 more. The attack occurred in the evening hours in Islamabad after newly elected President Asif Ali Zardari gave a speech to the nations Parliament saying he would end terrorism.

The devastation from the car bomb was furthered after the nearby Marriott Hotel was set ablaze after igniting a natural gas leak near the site of the blast.

No group has declared responsibility for the attack at this time.

When Paul McCartney revealed plans to perform in Israel at the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the country's founding, an Islamic extremist threatened to kill McCartney if he follows through. McCartney is scheduled to play his first-ever concert in Tel Aviv next week, a country that even the Beatles were banned from back in their hey-day amid fears that they might corrupt the country's youth.

Israeli officials have stated that they will defend McCartney and his right to perform in the country. If he will not be left alone, as they have asked, Israel has vowed to stop the radicals at all costs.

An Israeli official told "The Sun" in England, "Anyone who tries anything will be meeting Allah sooner than they thought."

To protect the former Beatle and ensure his safety, Israeli officials are bringing in their famed secret service agency, the Mossad, who will guard McCartney as he performs on September 25. This comes following a statement from Muslim extremist leader Omar Bakri in which he said that McCartney would be punished for his appearance and made the target of suicide bombers.