In Brief

* HOSTAGE – Iraqi and US troops combed suspected insurgent hideouts in west Baghdad after Egypt’s ambassador designate became the first foreign head of mission kidnapped in the 15-month-old hostage crisis.

* CODE – Settler leaders and their supporters met to draw up a code of conduct in a bid to avoid further violence by opponents of the Gaza Strip pullout, settler sources said. * EMBARGO – African Union (AU) ministers pressed the United Nations to lift an arms embargo on Somalia to allow neighbouring countries to deploy peacekeepers to protect an interim government there.* COMET – A US space projectile crashed head-on into a comet hurtling through the solar system in an unprecedented feat of technology that scientists hope will reveal the secrets of the Universe.* SUMMIT – The African Union summit opened with representation of the world’s poorest continent on a revamped UN Security Council and its relations with the G8 group of the world’s richest nations topping the agenda.* VOTE – Burundians were voting in the second of a series of elections, with former Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) rebels tipped to win the first parliamentary poll since 1993 after sweeping last month’s local elections.* POVERTY – Pope Benedict XVI called on G8 leaders to adopt concrete measures to eradicate poverty and aid real development in Africa at their summit meeting this week in Scotland.- Nampa-AFP-Reuters* EMBARGO – African Union (AU) ministers pressed the United Nations to lift an arms embargo on Somalia to allow neighbouring countries to deploy peacekeepers to protect an interim government there.* COMET – A US space projectile crashed head-on into a comet hurtling through the solar system in an unprecedented feat of technology that scientists hope will reveal the secrets of the Universe.* SUMMIT – The African Union summit opened with representation of the world’s poorest continent on a revamped UN Security Council and its relations with the G8 group of the world’s richest nations topping the agenda.* VOTE – Burundians were voting in the second of a series of elections, with former Forces for the Defence of Democracy (FDD) rebels tipped to win the first parliamentary poll since 1993 after sweeping last month’s local elections.* POVERTY – Pope Benedict XVI called on G8 leaders to adopt concrete measures to eradicate poverty and aid real development in Africa at their summit meeting this week in Scotland. – Nampa-AFP-Reuters