* Iran’s Mousavi defies crackdown Iran protest leader Mir Hossein Mousavi says he holds those behind alleged “rigged” elections responsible for bloodshed during recent protests.

* NKorea threatens US; world anticipates missile North Korea threatened Wednesday to wipe the United States off the map as Washington and its allies watched for signs the regime will launch a series of missiles in the coming days.

* Iran unrest to dominate G8 talks Unrest in Iran is expected to dominate discussions between foreign ministers gathering in northern Italy to prepare for a G8 summit.

* Somali Islamists cut off hands, feet of thieves In a brazen show of power in Somalia’s capital, Islamist rebels punished four convicted thieves by cutting off a hand and a foot each before hundreds of onlookers who gathered for the bloody spectacle.

* The global Muslim theocracy movement is worried The past two weeks have been an eye-opener for a lot of people, including Arab and Muslim communities around the world.

* Baghdad market bomb kills scores Police said the device went off in a market place in the predominantly Shia area of the Iraqi capital.

* China accuses Google of spreading pornography China accused Google Inc. on Thursday of spreading pornography after Chinese users were unable to connect to the search giant’s Web site.

* Netanyahu, French officials discuss peace efforts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met France’s prime minister and foreign minister Thursday.

* Major Hamas Speech Awaited on Thursday Following major policy speeches by US President Barack Obama, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, and even the PA’s prime minister Salam Fayyad in the past three weeks, it will now be the turn of Khaled Mashaal of Hamas.

* Jerusalem gay pride parade kicks off The Jerusalem gay pride parade, which regularly riles up religious and haredi city residents, kicked off Thursday afternoon under tight security.