<B>CHILE. Pinochet put under house arrest. </B>Chile’s former military leader, Augusto Pinochet, has been placed under house arrest over the abduction of two people in 1973. The charges relate to the Caravan of Death – a military operation to remove opponents to General Pinochet’s rule. The two men were security guards for former President Salvador Allende, who was overthrown by the military. General Pinochet is accused of dozens of human rights violations but has never faced trial over any of the charges. More than 3,000 people were killed or “disappeared” during his 1973- 1990 rule.

His arrest comes just days after his 91st birthday, on which he said he accepted political responsibility for everything that happened during his time in office. He defended his record saying he had acted in the interests of Chile and that the coup was necessary to prevent the country descending into political and social turmoil. General Pinochet was also placed under house arrest in October for alleged human rights abuses committed at the infamous Villa Grimaldi detention centre, but was freed on bail earlier this month.

<B>BAGHDAD. Sectarian violence kills 24 Iraqis. </B>Fierce fighting between coalition forces and insurgents shut down a city north of Baghdad yesterday and gunfire crackled across the capital, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki prepared to travel to Jordan for a summit with US President George W. Bush aimed at halting the country’s escalating sectarian violence and paving the way for a reduction of American troops. By 10 a.m., 13 insurgents, six policemen, and five civilians had been killed, including two Iraqi females who were caught up in a coalition raid north of the capital, police and US officials said. That raised to seven the number of Iraqi females, including an infant, who had died during American raids in Iraq in the last two days.

<B>SADDAM TRIAL. Judge jails defence lawyer for a day.</B> The chief judge in Saddam Hussein’s genocide trial yesterday ordered a defence lawyer to be jailed for a day for “insulting the court”. Saddam and six co-defendants are on trial for the so-called Anfal or “Spoils of War” military campaign against ethnic Kurds in 1988 which prosecutors say killed up to 180,000 people. Badea Arif, a lawyer for co-defendant Farhan Mutlaq was ejected by the judge after twice being warned to stop addressing prosecutors as “brother”. The judge ordered that he be held in a detainment facility for a day. After boycotting previous hearings, most of the defence team returned to court this week, but lawyers for Saddam and his cousin, Ali Hassan al-Majid, better known as “Chemical Ali” for his alleged involvement in gas attacks, remained absent. Saddam, who was sentenced to death earlier this month, faces charges of genocide along with Majid, while the others face crimes against humanity.

<B>DR CONGO. Bemba accepts poll loss.</B> Ex-rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba has accepted defeat in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s presidential poll. He said he stood by his complaints against President Joseph Kabila’s run-off victory – which were rejected by the Supreme Court on Monday. But he would participate in a “strong republican opposition in the interests of the nation”, his statement said. International observers said the first democratic elections since independence in 1960 had been broadly free and fair.

<B>USA. NY rally deplores police shooting.</B> A crowd led by civil rights leader Al Sharpton has rallied after police shot dead an unarmed black man, on the eve of his wedding day, in New York. Sean Bell, 23, was killed as he left a strip club on Saturday morning, hours before he was to have been married. Two friends were hurt when police fired an estimated 50 bullets at the men’s car. Officials said police had acted fearing an armed “altercation”. Five officers have been placed on leave during an inquiry into the shooting outside the Kalua Club, at the end of Mr Bell’s stag night celebrations. Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been in contact with Mr Bell’s family, and plans to meet community leaders with police chief Raymond Kelly amid mounting protests from the city’s black community. Reverend Sharpton has said the shooting “stinks” and has criticised the police for handcuffing the two men receiving emergency care for their injuries in hospital. One of Bell’s passengers, Joseph Guzman, was hit by at least 11 bullets and is in a critical condition. The other passenger, Trent Benefield, was hit three times and is in a stable condition. No weapons were found on the three men or in their car. New York police have faced criticism over other shootings of unarmed black men in recent years.