Memorial service for former President Gerald R. Ford at presidential museum in Grand Rapids, Michigan, 2 Jan 2007

Gerald Ford: Former U.S. President Gerald Ford will be buried in his hometown of Grand Rapids, Michigan today (Wednesday), ending a six-day period of public and private memorials.
Jimmy Carter, who defeated Mr. Ford in the 1976 presidential election, will deliver a eulogy at a funeral service in the late president's hometown church. Mr. Ford will later be buried on the grounds of his presidential museum.
The 38th president of the United States died last week in California at age 93.
Thousands of people have been lining up for hours outside the museum to view Mr. Ford's body, where it has been lying in repose since Tuesday afternoon.
During funeral services Tuesday in Washington's National Cathedral, President George W. Bush remembered Mr. Ford a man whose character brought "calm and healing to one of the most divisive moments in our nation's history."

Iraq: The U.S. military in Iraq says coalition forces detained 23 suspected terrorists with ties to senior al-Qaida leaders during multiple raids this (Wednesday) morning in the city of Ramadi, west of Baghdad.

U.S. Army soldiers from the 5th Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment throw open a door in an empty house during a predawn sweep of a neighborhood in southern Baghdad, 02 Jan 2007

A military statement said in one raid coalition troops followed the suspects to a safe house, after the insurgents were spotted detonating a roadside bomb.
Meanwhile, the Iraqi government has launched an inquiry into the conduct of the execution of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and how it was secretly recorded.
There has been widespread circulation of unauthorized video footage and sound recorded by a mobile camera phone that showed Saddam being taunted and then dropping to his death.

Somalia: Kenya has boosted security along its border to keep out Islamist forces who have been driven out of their positions in neighboring Somalia by government and Ethiopian forces.
United Nations humanitarian officials say around four-thousand Somalis who have been displaced by the violence have gathered in the border town of Dhobley, but have been denied entrance into Kenya.
The Islamists were pushed out of their last major stronghold - the port city of Kismayo - on Monday, and are now scattered throughout southern Somalia, with Ethiopian and interim government forces in pursuit.

Somali government troops

Kenyan officials say four Ethiopian helicopters mistakenly opened fire on a Kenyan border post on Tuesday.

Indoensia – Plane: Indonesian rescue teams are renewing efforts to find a missing passenger jet, after officials mistakenly announced that the plane's wreckage had been found.

Indonesia

The teams are focusing their search today (Wednesday) on the western side of Sulawesi Island where the Adam Air Boeing 737 vanished from air traffic control radar screens Monday carrying 102 people.
Senior officials said Tuesday that the plane's wreckage and 12 survivors had been found. But, they later revealed the reports were unconfirmed, shocking passengers' relatives and stirring criticism from the media.
Transportation officials say the plane was flight-worthy. They say bad weather caused the crash.

Thailand: Thailand's stock market and currency have fallen in the wake of a series of bombings in Bangkok that killed three people and wounded 38.

Members of Thailand's bomb squad examine one of the blasts sites

The Stock Exchange of Thailand Index shed more than three-percent today (Wednesday), on the first day of trading after bombs shook the capital Sunday and Monday. The stock market was closed Monday and Tuesday for the New Year holiday.
A senior currency analyst at B.N.P. Paribas (Thio Chin Loo) tells VOA the fall off was expected following the holiday. But, she says the market and currency are steady, despite the drop.
Thai investigators continue to search for those responsible for the bombings. The military government says the violence likely was planned by former politicians who were removed from power last September in a military coup.
Deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has denied involvement and instead blames Islamist insurgents in the south for the blasts.

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