Army calls off raid after Facebook leak

The Israeli military called off a raid in Palestinian territory after a soldier posted details, including the time and place, on social networking website Facebook, Israel’s Army Radio reported yesterday.

The soldier described in a status update how his unit planned a ‘clean-up’ arrest raid in a West Bank area, the radio station said. Facebook friends then reported him to military authorities.

The Israeli military spokesman’s office had no immediate comment. Israel says raids in the West Bank are aimed at detaining militants while Palestinian officials say the incursions undermine efforts by the Western-backed Palestinian Authority to enforce law and order in the territory.

And in Germany, police detained a nightclub reveller they caught trying to snort amphetamines off the top of their unmarked patrol car.

The 26-year-old began lining up the powdered drugs on the roof of the car in a disco car park, when the two police officers surprised him, a Nuremberg police spokesman said. The man had no idea the vehicle belonged to the police, and it was coincidence the discovered him just as he was about to take the drugs.

"He’s got horrible luck," said Bert Rauenbusch, the police spokesman.

— Reuters