Opposition leader remains defiant...Deaths mount in Iraq...News on Apple's CEO

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) Iran's opposition leader doesn't appear to be backing down, despite a reportedly violent police crackdown on protests in Tehran today. He's releasing a statement demanding that last week's presidential vote be annulled. Thousands of demonstrators have been taking to the streets in the days since the disputed June 12 election.

BAGHDAD (AP) Authorities in Iraq have nearly doubled the death toll in today's bombing near a Shiite mosque. They now say 55 people were killed. Nearly 200 other people have been wounded.

Police say worshippers were leaving after noon prayers when the truck bomb blew, destroying the mosque and several nearby homes.

LONDON (AP) Two bodies thought to be those of British hostages have been handed over to U.K. forces in Iraq. Britain's foreign secretary says the bodies haven't been formally identified, but they're believed to be two of the five British men kidnapped by Shiite militants two years ago.

KABUL (AP) A New York Times reporter who was kidnapped in Afghanistan last fall is free. The newspaper says he and an Afghan reporter escaped from their captors by climbing over the wall of a compound in Pakistan where they were being held.

NEW YORK (AP) The Wall Street Journal says Apple CEO Steve Jobs is recovering from a liver transplant. The paper says the surgery took place two months ago in Tennessee. An Apple spokesman won't confirm that, saying only that Jobs is looking forward to returning from medical leave at the end of June.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 06-20-09 1148CDT | save this article / add to your favorites list