LEBANON: Philippine maids just want to go home

Roxanne Beroda has been working as a housekeeper in Lebanon for nine years, enduring long hours and even longer periods of separation from her three children as she worked to pay for their education back in the Philippines. 

She has not seen her family in more than two years, and she may have to wait even longer if the current ban on sending Philippine workers to Lebanon is upheld. 

“It’s very hard, especially for me because today is my daughter's high school graduation,” she said. “I wanted to go [back to the Philippines], but I’m afraid I can’t come back [to Lebanon], that’s why I cannot go.”

The Philippine government is considering lifting the three-year ban in an effort to provide more job opportunities.

But the move has received mixed reactions from workers who resent the travel restrictions and advocacy groups concerned with their safety. 

Although the ban was originally prompted by safety concerns stemming from Israel's summer 2006 war with Hezbollah, it has prevented many Philippine workers, both legal and illegal, from visiting home out of fear they will not be allowed to return to Lebanon. 

Some advocacy groups also have come out against the measure, citing Lebanon’s political instability and widespread worker abuse at the hands of employers. 

GULF OF ADEN: Pirates fire on German ship, leading to five-hour chase

Somali pirates opened fire Sunday at a German naval supply ship in the Gulf of Aden -- leading to a five-hour chase by Greek, Dutch, Spanish and U.S. warships before the seven pirates were caught and arrested, U.S. Navy officials said.

The pirates may have mistaken the Spessart supply ship for a merchant ship. Involved in the chase were the U.S. amphibious assault ship Boxer and two U.S. Marine Cobra helicopters.

Greek commandos boarded the pirate vessel. The seven pirates have been turned over to a German frigate for possible prosecution. Somali pirates currently hold 11 ships hostage.

-- Tony Perry, San Diego

Photo: Greek commandos prepare to board Somali pirate vessel in Gulf of Aden. Credit: Greek Navy via Associated Press

QATAR: Libya's Kadafi bashes Saudi king at Doha summit

As usual, Libyan leader raised eyebrows Monday with his incendiary but hilarious remarks at the Arab summit in Doha.

As the Emir of host Qatar welcomed Saudi King Abdullah ibn Abdulaziz al Saud, Libyan President Moammar Kadafi interrupted him addressing the Saudi king, saying:

"I seize the opportunity to tell my brother Abdullah, you have been evasive and scared of confrontation for six years. I want to assure you today not to be scared. I am telling you after six years it was proved that lies stand behind you and your grave awaits you. You were created by Britain and protected by the U.S. I consider the personal issue that lasted between you and me is over and I am ready to visit you as well as receive you."

AFGHANISTAN: Navy lieutenant mourned at San Diego hospital

The staff at Naval Medical Center San Diego is shaken today by the death of one of their colleagues, Lt. Florence Bacong Choe, in Afghanistan.

Chaplains are offering grief counseling. A memorial service is being planned.

Choe, 35, was serving as a medical administration and logistics mentor to the Afghan National Army at a base in Mazar-i-Sharif. She and another Navy officer were killed last week by an insurgent posing as an Afghan soldier. The insurgent then killed himself, officials said.

Choe's survivors include her husband, Lt. Cmdr. Chong "Jay" Choe, a urology resident at the Naval Medical Center, and their daughter, Kristin, now 3.

Choe, whose permanent assignment was at the medical center, was a voluntary individual augmentee to the U.S. forces in Afghanistan, officials said.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Florence and Chong Choe and daughter Kristin, now 3. Credit: Choe and Bacong families.

QATAR: Egypt gives Qatar the cold shoulder

One could call it a cold-shoulder war.

With his decision not to show up at the Arab Summit in Doha, Qatar, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak furthered the ongoing mutual hostility between his country and the Persian Gulf kingdom of Qatar.

“There won't be any reconciliation between Qatar and Egypt soon,” wrote Ahmed Moussa, a staunch spokesman of Mubarak’s regime, in today’s issue of the semi-official Al Ahram daily. “Egypt sent a message to the Qataris and reduced the level of representation, which shows that Qatar should revise all its positions toward Egypt.”

It was announced Saturday that Mubarak would not attend the summit. But Egypt will be represented by a delegation headed by the minister of state for parliamentary affairs, Moufid Shehab.

PERSIAN GULF: Navy probes Strait of Hormuz collision.

The two Navy ships that collided in the Strait of Hormuz are in Bahrain while damage inspections are conducted and an investigation begins to determine who was at fault in the collision.

The amphibious assault ship New Orleans and submarine Hartford collided March 20 under conditions that have yet to be publicly explained.

Investigators believe the Hartford rolled 85 degrees during the collision, the Navy said. The New Orleans had a hole 16 feet by 18 feet ripped in a fuel tank, and two ballast tanks also were damaged.

The investigations have a 30-day deadline. The investigation into the cause includes a veteran submariner, veteran surface-warfare officer and Navy lawyers.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Diver enters water at Bahrain to inspect damage. Credit: U.S. Navy

AFGHANISTAN: Navy officers killed in insurgent attack.

UPDATE: Lt. Florence B. Choe was serving as a medical administration and logistics mentor to the Afghan National Army, not a nurse as initially reported.

A Navy officer from Naval Medical Center San Diego has been killed while on duty in Afghanistan, the Pentagon announced Saturday. Also killed was a Navy civil engineer from a unit based in Hawaii.

Their deaths mark the 27th and 28th fatalities of Navy personnel in Afghanistan since 2002. The Navy has 2,606 personnel in Afghanistan: medical personnel, security personnel, Seabees, and other units.

Lt. Florence B. Choe, 35, of El Cajon, and Lt. Francis L. Toner, IV, 26, of Ventura County, were shot to death Friday by an insurgent dressed as an Afghan soldier at Camp Shaheen at Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan.

Choe, from the Navy hospital in San Diego's Balboa Park, had been in Afghanistan for several months.

Toner graduated from Westlake High School in Ventura County in 2001, where he was a football star, according to the Ventura County Star. He was set to come home soon to visit his wife, Brooke, the newspaper said.

A third U.S. military personnel, as yet unidentified, was wounded. The insurgent killed himself, officials said.

Tony Perry, San Diego

INDIAN OCEAN: Somali pirates may be widening their hunting area

Are Somali pirates roaming farther from home to avoid the U.S.-led multinational force?

A story by the American Forces Press Service suggests that the pirates are plying their trade in the Indian Ocean now that Task Force 151 is patrolling their more traditional hunting area in the Gulf of Aden.

In the last week, pirates seized two chemical tankers in the Indian Ocean: one Bahamian-flagged and  Norwegian-owned, the other Panamanian-flagged and Greek-owned.

One seizure was 380 nautical miles from Somalia, the other 490 miles, making them the farthest yet from the Gulf of Aden.

Last year, pirates seized 42 ships, but 80 "piracy events" were thwarted. The score this year: 11 seizures, 37 failures.

"This appears to be a new round of attacks," a Navy spokesman told the press service.

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Somali pirates in Gulf of Aden. Credit: U.S. Navy

IRAQ: 'You have to kill them'

A key part of President Obama's strategy for Afghanistan announced Friday is for the U.S. to persuade   "moderate" elements in the insurgency to separate from the hard-core jihadis.

Much of the U.S. success in Iraq is attributed to the decision of the Sunni Arab tribal sheiks in Anbar province to turn against the insurgency in their country and make common cause with the United States.  The U.S. then hired many former insurgent fighters for the Sons of Iraq force.

But no one should expect the process in Afghanistan to be quick, easy or accomplished without further fighting. Not if the Marines' experience in Iraq is any indication.

"There is a certain element: you have to kill them," Maj. Gen. John Kelly, who just completed a year as the top Marine in Iraq, told a San Diego civic group this week. "After that, reasonable men and women will come to the table."

-- Tony Perry in San Diego

Photo: Marines in Iraq. Credit: Marine Corps

ISRAEL: Heavy guns on the soccer field

Sports fans are anxiously awaiting Saturday night's soccer match between Israel and Greece. Liverpool player and Israeli captain Yossi Benayoun's name has been mentioned on the radio this week almost as often as that of Benjamin Netanyahu, now in the final stages of completing his new government.

It's an important game. If Israel wins, it increases its chances of qualifying for the World Cup, for the first time in 40 years.

Extreme situations call for extreme measures. Seeking extra motivation for their players in advance of the critical game, coaches Dror Kashtan and Moshe Sinai decided to call in a heavy gun.

Ilan Malka isn't your average locker room motivator. He's Col. Ilan Malka to you, commander of the IDF's Givati Brigade.