Najaf Standoff Continues

• Intensified U.S. airstrikes hit targets around the Imam Ali Mosque late Monday and a huge fire lit the sky around the Shiite Islam shrine. The standoff between U.S.-led forces and followers of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr continued into the night. Militia members inside the shrine awaited a delegation of Shiite religious authorities earlier Monday, who had been expected to assume custody of the site.
• The U.S. soldier alleged to have been a ringleader in the prisoner abuse at Baghdad's Abu Ghraib jail on Monday told a military tribunal he was concerned that he was being made a "scapegoat."
• A power blackout hit the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain on Monday, leaving most of its 600,000 residents sweltering amid humidex readings in the mid-50s.
• Russia expressed anger on Monday over a newly-unveiled monument that honours Estonians who fought in the German army against Soviet troops during the Second World War.