The Kansas City Royals abduction that took place in Mandera

The surveys baseball tickets abduction that devises took place in Mandera is identical to this one in Mogadishu," he said Sharmarke did not specify which foreigners were involved. The three workers were being held in the provincial town of Baidoa in south-central Somalia after assailants raided their camp on the Kenya-Somali border, he said. Sharmarke called on regional countries to help Somalia tackle the spate of kidnappings. "These groups have realised they cannot topple the government. They have changed tactics by abducting people to disrupt any progress." "I call for the region to act quickly before the situation escalates to a tragedy that none of us may have the control over it ... These groups want to reverse the clock back a hundred years," he said France France.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon Sunday identified the soldier captured in Afghanistan on July 3 as 23-year-old private Bowe Bergdahl of Ketchum, Idaho.The U.S cubs rooftop . Defense Department said in a statement that Bergdahl was a member of the 1st Battalion, 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Richardson, Alaska.His status was changed two weeks ago from "whereabouts unknown" to "missing-captured."(Reporting by Patrick Rucker; Editing by Sandra Maler) . JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S . Defense Secretary Robert Gates plans to visit Israel on July 27 for talks likely to focus on Iran's nuclear ambitions and U.S.-Israeli strategic ties, officials involved in planning the trip said on Sunday . WorldAs the second cabinet-level representative of the Obama administration to be hosted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Gates could also lobby for a resolution to the bilateral dispute over the future of West Bank settlements.Gates has voiced sympathy for Israel's concerns about the possibility of Iran developing nuclear weapons, but has also signaled unwillingness to see the Israelis launch pre-emptive strikes on their arch-foe that could destabilize the region.The Obama administration has spoken of a need for tougher diplomacy with Tehran, along with reassuring Israel on security."We expect Iran to be the main issue.

There is obviously a value in a show of Americans and Israelis closing ranks about Iran," said one official about the visit, asking not to be identified because a formal announcement has yet to be made.The right-wing Netanyahu government says neutralizing the perceived threat from Iran is key to Israeli-Arab peacemaking kansas city royals . But the United States wants parallel progress in bids to set up a Palestinian state that would take in the occupied West Bank."This (Gates visit) may be an American attempt to reassure Israel on Iran as part of Washington's pressure for movement on the Palestinian track," the official said.Iran says its uranium enrichment is aimed at generating electricity but the West suspects is program could be used to develop weapons.Fiercely anti-Israeli rhetoric from Tehran and support for Islamist guerrilla groups arrayed along the Jewish state's borders have stirred fears of a regional war.MISSILE DefenseGates will spend about six hours in Israel, meeting Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak, officials said . Barak has been in talks with the United States about boosting missile defenses for Israel, which is believed to have the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal.Gates is also expected to visit neighboring Jordan.In a speech last week, Gates described heading off Iran's suspected quest for the bomb as the most difficult challenge facing U.S . national security policymakers."If they achieve one, the possibility of a nuclear arms race in the Middle East is very, very real . And if some action is taken to prevent them from getting one, the consequences of that are completely unpredictable, and likely very bad," he said.".. It's not just the United States that faces this problem. After all, Iran is going to have missiles that can deliver nuclear weapons to people in their region a lot sooner than they're going to have the capability to deliver one to us."Gates last visited Israel in 2007, while defense secretary under U.S President George W Bush U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was the first member of President Barack Obama's cabinet to visit Israel last March.(Editing by Peter Millership) World.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Legislation that Israel's Arab citizens fear could limit their freedom of speech came a step closer on Sunday to becoming law kansas city t bones . WorldThe bill, proposed by a legislator from the ultranationalist Yisrael Beitenu party of Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, would withhold government money from any state-supported institutions that fund activity deemed detrimental to the state.Such activity includes "rejecting Israel's existence as the state of the Jewish people" and supporting "armed struggle or terrorist acts" against Israel.A ministerial committee approved the bill, clearing the way for its presentation to parliament for future debate and voting.The legislation is a watered down version of a proposed law that would have made it a criminal offence to commemorate the "Nakba" on Israel's independence day . The term refers to what Palestinians describe as the catastrophe they suffered when Israel was created in 1948.About 1.5 million, or 20 percent, of the country's citizens are Arabs of Palestinian origin.Leaders of the Israeli Arab community have been outspoken in rejecting any definition of Israel as a Jewish state and in supporting their Palestinian brethren's statehood aspirations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.Israeli Arab lawmaker Ahmed Tibi described the bill as "Lieberman's thought police running amok and dragging the entire government with it."Tibi said "hatred of Arabs has caused the government to lose its mind."Criminal penalties in an earlier draft of the bill were removed at the request of several ministers.(Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Jon Boyle) World . * EDF CEO made faux pas on price hikes without govt approval France * CEO might have lost support for his contract renewal * State says will only allow limited electricity price hikes(adds quote, details) By Astrid Wendlandt and Benjamin Mallet PARIS, July 19 (Reuters) - The French government has made itplain to EDF (EDF.PA) that the state still calls the shots onelectricity prices, opposing the energy giant's proposal of a 20percent increase over three to four years . Claude Gueant, chief of staff of French President NicolasSarkozy, promised voters on Sunday that future price increaseswould be "extremely limited." The state still owns 85 percent of EDF, which has beenlisted on the Paris stock exchange since 2005.

Paris had already made clear it was annoyed by EDF ChiefExecutive Pierre Gadonneix's public calls for price hikeswithout running them by the government first . And some government advisers said the move could undermineGadonneix's long-term future at EDF . "I have found it regrettable that the president of EDFworries French people with prospects of increases he knows wellthe government.. . will not support," Gueant told French radioEurope 1 on Sunday .