AP - A commercial helicopter contracted by the U.S. Defense Department was shot down by missile fire north of the Iraqi capital Thursday, killing six Americans contractors and three Bulgarians, officials said.
AP - The U.N. Human Rights Commission rejected Cuba's attempt Thursday to force an investigation into the treatment of detainees at the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo Bay.
AP - Brazil has granted asylum to former Ecuador President Lucio Gutierrez, who was in the Brazilian Embassy on Thursday after being removed from office by Congress amid street protests calling for his ouster for abuse of power and misrule.
Six Americans were among nine people killed when a commercial helicopter went down north of the Iraqi capital today, a U.S. Embassy official in Baghdad said. The six were Blackwater Security employees, the embassy said. The Russian-made MI-8 also carried a crew of three Bulgarians, U.S. military sources said.