"Opposition to the Iraq war runs strong in Northern Ireland, and it was evident in the streets as President George W. Bush arrived Monday. Fleets of armored white Land-Rovers filled with anti-riot police deployed on approach roads, and officers barred most traffic from entering," reported the AP news agency.
"New York Stock Exchange officials have been meeting with representatives of Al-Jazeera with an eye to restoring the Arab TV network's access to the trading floor. Media watchdogs were outraged, noting that the timing of the decision - a day after Al-Jazeera was rebuked by U.S. military officials for airing Iraqi TV footage of U.S. prisoners of war and war dead - suggested that the network was being singled out and censored," reported the AP news agency.
"US stocks jumped as U.S.-led troops swept into Baghdad and seized a presidential palace Monday, giving investors hoping for a swift end to the war. But a burst of late-day profit-taking left stocks just modestly higher. But if the war extends beyond two months, we risk higher oil prices crimping growth and that becomes a more negative scenario," reported the AP news agency.
"Confronting new fears of recession, the Federal Reserve is refining an emergency economic rescue plan that includes further interest rate cuts and billions of dollars in extra cash for the banking system," reported the AP news agency.
"Three bomb alerts were issued in Belfast yesterday, hours before the arrival of US President George W. Bush for a summit on Iraq with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. A terminal at the City Airport was evacuated as a precaution," reported the AP news agency.
"At least 1,000 people have been killed in ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations said on Sunday, one day after the signing of an accord to end over four years of war in the vast Central African country," reported the AP news agency.
"For the first time in history the population of US federal, state and local prisons has surpassed two million people, consolidating the US lead over China, Russia and even Belarus in both absolute numbers of inmates and the rate of incarceration, according to new figures made public on Sunday. But the numbers released by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics may not reflect the full picture. If you include INS, the territories, military jails, the Indian country and juvenile facilities, we did surpass the two-million mark back in 1999, Paige Harrison, one of the authors of the report, said in a telephone interview," reported the AFP news service.
"A close ally of Afghan President Hamid Karzai was shot and killed in southern Afghanistan in what appeared to be the latest in a wave of attacks by resurgent Taliban," reported the AP news agency.
"US President George W. Bush has said that North Korea's nuclear standoff is expected to be resolved peacefully," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The war in Iraq is already wreaking havoc to the world economy, said the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad. In an interview with Qatar-based Al-Jazeera network, he said the United States and even countries far from the scene of the war were suffering economically. If the Americans succeed in defeating Iraq and imposing a government of their choice there, then other countries will feel very insecure," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"So many countries, including Iran, will not feel safe, the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad said, claiming that the objective of the war was to fulfil Israels objective to eliminate its threat in the Middle East. On the media coverage of the war, Dr Mahathir said the US media was not covering the truth," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"That Bush is a very, very bad man. He hates all babies and children. The children here were all screaming. They were shivering and became very sick. The children are now so frightened that they cannot eat anything. Allah will punish him, she said," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Baghdad hospitals are struggling to cope with a deluge of wounded that has stretched resources to the limit and caused growing chaos. The lack of adequate clean water and electricity supplies in much of the city was hampering efforts to treat the wounded. We have had a number of really horrific injuries now from the war. They have lost arms, legs, hands, they have been burned, they have had significant brain injuries and peripheral nerve damage. It really is disgustingly sanitised on television," reported the AP news agency.
"A Russian convoy was attacked as it fled war torn Baghdad yesterday and several people were wounded, but it was unclear whether Iraqi or US forces were to blame," reported the Reuters news agency.
"After a two-week siege, British tanks shot their way into the city centre yesterday to stamp out dogged resistance from paramilitary fighters loyal to President Saddam Hussein," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The US military may have to run Iraq for more than six months after the war has finished before it hands over to an Iraqi authority. Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said yesterday that this is a more complicated situation; it probably will take more time than that," reported the AFP news service.
"The US military said yesterday it had found the body of the bodyguard of Iraqi commander Chemical Ali, but Iraq dismissed reports the military chief himself may have died in an air strike," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Eighteen Kurds were killed and 45 others wounded near Iraq yesterday when US aircraft mistakenly bombed a convoy in northern Iraq, Kurdish sources said, denying reports that four US special forces troops were among the dead," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraqi officials yesterday displayed the wreck of a US Abrams tank on the outskirts of Baghdad, saying it was knocked out in intense fighting which killed five Americans the day before. Iraqis with Kalashnikov rifles danced triumphantly over the damaged and charred tank in the Sayadia area, a southern entrance to the capital," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has lost control of his regime which is on the point of surrendering to coalition forces. The CIA has information that maniacs in Saddam's family were desperately trying to stave off the final defeat by threatening to shoot anyone who was prepared to surrender," reported the AFP news service.
"Thousands of protesters roared their approval of Rep Barbara Lee at a downtown gathering in California on Saturday, interrupting her anti-war remarks with spontaneous chants of Impeach Bush. It was the most passionate and largest of a series of protests in several major US cities on Saturday," reported the AFP news service.
"German Defence Minister Peter Struck warned yesterday that Europe could not be expected to contribute troops or money to help Iraq's reconstruction if the United States were running the country," reported the AFP news service.
"The United States need not and cannot take sole responsibility for the challenges of post-war Iraq, and should instead seek to involve its key allies via the United Nations, two key senators said yesterday. Writing in the Washington Post, Democrat Joseph Biden and Republican Chuck Hagel, both members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, offered five reasons for fully involving the international community in post-war Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"North Korea accused the United States yesterday of using UN Security Council discussions of its nuclear programme as a prelude to war and warned that it would fully mobilise and reinforce its forces," reported the AFP news service.
"Britain has revoked the citizenship of a radical Muslim cleric who applauded the Sept 11 attacks and was banned from preaching at a mosque in London. Home Secretary David Blunkett said on Saturday that he had informed Abu Hamza al-Masri his citizenship was being stripped. But Abu Hamza's lawyer, Muddassar Arani, said the cleric had not received the letter and would resist on the grounds that removal of nationality breached EU protocols on human rights," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Since the beginning of the latest Palestinian intifada in September 2000, Israeli soldiers have fatally shot 449 Palestinian children in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The report was published by the Palestinian Statistics Centre to mark Palestinian Child Day on Saturday," reported the news Agencies.
"Three people, including a young girl, were lightly wounded on Saturday when a stick of dynamite exploded in a crowded McDonald's restaurant near Beirut. The attack was the fourth against an American fast food outlet here since the start of March, but the first at an hour when one of the restaurants was almost certain to be full. Beirut has been the scene of almost daily anti-war demonstrations and calls for boycotts of American products," reported the AFP news service.
"Opposition to the Iraq war runs strong in Northern Ireland, and it was evident in the streets as President George W. Bush arrived Monday. Fleets of armored white Land-Rovers filled with anti-riot police deployed on approach roads, and officers barred most traffic from entering," reported the AP news agency.
"New York Stock Exchange officials have been meeting with representatives of Al-Jazeera with an eye to restoring the Arab TV network's access to the trading floor. Media watchdogs were outraged, noting that the timing of the decision - a day after Al-Jazeera was rebuked by U.S. military officials for airing Iraqi TV footage of U.S. prisoners of war and war dead - suggested that the network was being singled out and censored," reported the AP news agency.
"US stocks jumped as U.S.-led troops swept into Baghdad and seized a presidential palace Monday, giving investors hoping for a swift end to the war. But a burst of late-day profit-taking left stocks just modestly higher. But if the war extends beyond two months, we risk higher oil prices crimping growth and that becomes a more negative scenario," reported the AP news agency.
"Confronting new fears of recession, the Federal Reserve is refining an emergency economic rescue plan that includes further interest rate cuts and billions of dollars in extra cash for the banking system," reported the AP news agency.
"Three bomb alerts were issued in Belfast yesterday, hours before the arrival of US President George W. Bush for a summit on Iraq with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. A terminal at the City Airport was evacuated as a precaution," reported the AP news agency.
"At least 1,000 people have been killed in ethnic violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations said on Sunday, one day after the signing of an accord to end over four years of war in the vast Central African country," reported the AP news agency.
"For the first time in history the population of US federal, state and local prisons has surpassed two million people, consolidating the US lead over China, Russia and even Belarus in both absolute numbers of inmates and the rate of incarceration, according to new figures made public on Sunday. But the numbers released by the Justice Department's Bureau of Justice Statistics may not reflect the full picture. If you include INS, the territories, military jails, the Indian country and juvenile facilities, we did surpass the two-million mark back in 1999, Paige Harrison, one of the authors of the report, said in a telephone interview," reported the AFP news service.
"Yemen's U.N. Ambassador Abdullah Alsaidi, the Arab Group's chairman this month, sent a letter to General Assembly President Jan Kavan requesting that the world body add a meeting on the situation in Iraq to its current agenda. The assembly's General Committee will meet Friday morning to consider the request. But U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte said last Wednesday that the United States doesn't think that raising the issue in the General Assembly is either necessary or desirable," reported the AP news agency.
"Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri said the Arab Group knows that nearly 50 countries in the U.S.-led coalition supporting the war will try to prevent a General Assembly resolution which asks for these occupying powers to withdraw from Iraq and to preserve the independence, territorial integrity, and sovereignty of Iraq. But he said Iraq was facing the destruction of a whole country and the killing of several thousand people and we think the international community has to shoulder its responsibilities," reported the AP news agency.
"There was death, grief and fear Tuesday in this well-to-do neighborhood, the target of four bombs fired a day earlier by American warplanes. U.S. officials said Tuesday that three homes demolished by the bombs were not their target," reported the AP news agency.
"Iran reacted angrily after a teenager was killed Tuesday by a stray rocket that hit southwestern Iran near the Iraqi border. It was the third such case since the U.S.-led coalition began attacking Iraq three weeks ago. U.S. military spokesmen at the Pentagon said they had no information about Iran's claim but were checking the report," reported the AP news agency.
"A fire early Tuesday damaged the new headquarters building under construction for troubled media giant AOL Time Warner. Fire department spokesman Frank Gribbon said the fire started in an equipment shed on one of the floors and was not considered suspicious," reported the AP news agency.
"Share prices fell Tuesday on the London Stock Exchange. Stocks dipped modestly lower Tuesday after earnings warnings from companies including Microchip Technology and Nautilus Group offset investor optimism about a quick end to the war. Analysts say while investors are confident of a U.S. victory, they remain uncertain about the toll on the U.S. economy," reported the AP news agency.
"US forces staged an explosive show of strength in central Baghdad yesterday, blasting government targets virtually at will after trying to kill President Saddam Hussein and his sons with four huge bombs. Later a US tank fired at the hotel, killing Reuters cameraman Taras Protsyuk and wounding Nakhoul and two other colleagues, as well as a Spanish cameraman," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iraq war allies George W. Bush and Tony Blair endorsed yesterday a vital role for the United Nations when fighting ends, but their plans may fall short of European desires. When pressed on what precisely the UN role would be, however, Bush mentioned only humanitarian work, suggesting people to staff the interim authority and helping Iraq progress," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Bush did not spell out how much power the UN would have, an omission likely to alarm some in Europe and the Arab world. Neither did Bush elaborate on Washington's plans to place US officials alongside Iraqis in the interim administration," reported the Reuters news agency.
"German prosecutors said yesterday they launched a murder inquiry against Iraqi President Saddam Hussein after a Kurdish woman wounded in a 1987 gas attack in Iraq died in Germany last month," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iraqi forces staged a major counterattack yesterday morning, sending buses and trucks full of fighters across the Tigris River in an attempt to overrun US forces holding a strategic intersection on the western side of Baghdad," reported the AP news agency.
"Anger mixed with defiance in the Arab world as it watched US forces advance into the heart of Baghdad yesterday in their drive to topple Presi-dent Saddam Hussein. Emotions ran high, stoked by relentless television coverage of US tanks rumbling across the Iraqi capital and Baghdad's hospitals overflowing with casualties," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The UN refugee agency and other humanitarian groups are ready to respond in the event of a massive exodus of refugees from Iraq. Ruud Lubbers, head of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), said that was in stark contrast to 1991 when some two million Iraqis fled their country during the Gulf War when a US-led coalition ousted Iraqi occupation troops from Kuwait," reported the AFP news service.
"An American tank fired at Palestine Hotel, where several hundred journalists have been staying, killing two cameramen and wounding three other journalists yesterday. US officials said the tank had taken fire from the area of the hotel. Reuters Editor in Chief Geert Linnebank said clearly the war, and all its confusion, has come to the heart of Baghdad. But the incident nonetheless raises questions about the judgment of the advancing US troops who have known all along that this hotel is the main base for almost all foreign journalists in Baghdad," reported the AP news agency.
"The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said yesterday that a US attack on a Baghdad hotel that killed a Reuters cameraman and wounded four other correspondents was a possible war crime," reported the AFP news service.
"World Bank president James Wolfensohn said on Monday the Bank wanted to take part in rebuilding a post-war Iraq but it was frozen without authorisation or a request to go in. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank since June 1995, said he would be disappointed if the institution was excluded," reported the AFP news service.
"An Australian frigate set sail for the Gulf with a No War banner attached to its bow after a protester managed to clamber up the hull in a daring anti-war demonstration in Australia yesterday," reported the AFP news service.
"French President Jacques Chirac will travel to St Petersburg later this week at the same time as German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Kremlin said yesterday. UN Secretary General Kofi Annan is also scheduled to visit. The Kremlin did not say whether Putin would meet with Chirac, Schroeder and Annan at the same time. It said talks with Chirac would focus on bilateral relations and key international issues, meaning Iraq," reported the AP news agency.
"A new audio tape purported to be from Osama bin Laden urges suicide attacks and calls on Muslims to rise up against Arab governments that support the attack on Iraq. In the tape, Osama's supposed voice urges the faithful to attack governments in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Unlike previous recording allegedly him, this one has a single theme suicide attacks," reported the AP news agency.
"The big guns over Basra have at last fallen silent. But if the big guns are quiet, the small ones are not. The battle for Basra may be won, but chaos was the main victor as thousands of people tasted sudden freedom. The rattle of gunfire echoed through the city's streets as looters ransacked official buildings and helped themselves to whatever they could find. British soldiers, still battling a few diehard militia, could do little but watch," reported the Guardian.
"A downtrodden populace paraded with joy when U.S. troops marched into their mutilated metropolis. Months later, Somalis just as jubilantly dragged the butchered remains of American soldiers down the same dusty streets of Mogadishu. The early stage of an occupation is also the time when potential warlords and guerrillas as well as criminals are sizing up their visitors, watching routines and testing the limits of the occupiers' tolerance before staging an attack or mobilizing an underground," reported the AP news agency.
"U.S. special operations forces scoured the site of a Baghdad building leveled by American bombs, searching for evidence that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was inside at the time of the blasts. When asked about the reports, Britain's Foreign Office conceded, it is possible that he escaped," reported the AP news agency.
"Al-Kindi, one of the main emergency hospitals in the Iraqi capital, is headed for a crisis situation. One of its two generators has failed and the hospital is now totally out of water. Hospital staff are seen carrying in small plastic bags of water. Water is now being used only for very, very serious cases. said one doctor at the hospital. The toilets are therefore filthy from blood and human waste, and the hospital floor is stained with blood from the huge numbers of injured being brought in since the start of the intensive attack on Baghdad by US-led forces," reported the AP news agency.
"Ali Hussein, whose daughter has been hospitalised following a bombing, said the media should let the whole world know about the situation and that civilians were getting hurt and killed. Tell America, if it wants what is good for this country, it cannot approach it this way. This way, you destroy, not help, the country. We cannot be occupied by these people. We cannot be a colony once again. Let our voices be heard. This is a complete destruction of our people and country. Tell the world that till the last person in Iraq, we will not give up. This is the voice of all Iraqis," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"The mood was rather sombre on Tuesday evening when journalists held a brief memorial and lit candles in memory of their dead colleagues. But emotions ran high among others. One Iraqi disrupted the memorial shouting: Three journalists die and you light candles! What about the hundreds and thousands of Iraqi civilians who have died? Have you lit candles for them? Have you been to the hospital? I have lost my family members. The sanctions have been killing people. All this is about oil, America and the media," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Another editor of Jordan Times, Samir Barhoum, was the person who cleared Tareq's last story which made it to the front page said thatthe American troops are trying to chase away journalists especially those of Arab descent or working for Arab media. It seems the American forces do not want us to report whatever they are committing in Iraq. They only want reports by media that will report things that they want," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"US troops swept into the heart of Baghdad to an ecstatic welcome yesterday, as Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule crumbled into chaos and looting. The US military said a crucial point had been reached at which ordinary people realised Saddam's rule was over. Invasion forces have yet to find any banned chemical or biological arms, a key justification for the war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The US marines could only look on as two Iraqis, one in red boxing helmet and gloves, the other in white, walked past pushing a shopping cart full of computer equipment. Residents had burst into government buildings even before the US troops appeared," reported the Reuters news agency.
"British Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday it was extremely difficult to say what remains of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's regime, and warned that the war to overthrow him was not yet over," reported the AFP news service.
"Some Arabs clustered at shop windows to watch the astounding pictures on television. Others turned off their sets in disgust at scenes from Baghdad of jubilant crowds celebrating the arrival of US troops and the apparent end of Saddam Hussein's regime. Others though called it a spontaneous outburst of joy at the end of an oppressive regime - but warned US troops not to misinterpret the relief as an invitation to stay," reported the AP news agency.
"Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman denied what state-run television said were Western media reports that Saddam Hussein has taken refuge at the Russian Embassy in Baghdad, saying it absolutely does not correspond with reality and an attempt yet another time to place the Russian Embassy in Baghdad under threat," reported the AP news agency.
"As Saddam Hussein's rule disintegrates, a tip from an Iraqi mole could lead Western forces to his hiding place and allow them to seal victory by killing him. Whatever the military say, US-led forces cannot rest until the Iraqi leader is taken out. Two attempts on his life have failed to produce the corpse that would signal victory for Washington," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Red Cross said yesterday it was temporarily suspending its operations in Baghdad after two of its vehicles were hit by gunfire and one of its staff went missing," reported the AFP news service.
"The United States yesterday warned countries it has accused of pursuing weapons of mass destruction, including Iran, Syria and North Korea, to draw the appropriate lesson from Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"British troops in Iraq's second city Basra said yesterday the rough justice of the lynch mob had filled the void left by vanished police, a sign of dangers ahead as looting also swept the capital Baghdad. looting of banks, hotels and other official or semi-official buildings had gone on unabated, while residents resorted to vigilante justice against looters who targeted private houses or shops," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Saudi business leaders, eying a share in lucrative contracts for post-war Iraq's reconstruction, have gathered a team to spearhead their participation. Saudi Arabia has strongly opposed the US-led war against Iraq and refused to provide facilities for the US military, but the Americans have reportedly been using an advanced command and control system at Prince Sultan Air Base," reported the AFP news service.
"Iran reacted angrily after a teenager was killed on Tuesday by a stray rocket that hit southwestern Iran near the Iraqi border. It was the third such case since the US-led coalition began attacking Iraq three weeks ago," reported the AP news agency.
"Iran, which fought an eight-year war against Iraq in the 1980s, wants to see Iraqi President Saddam Hussein toppled. But it also has strongly opposed the US attack without UN support, fearing that it could give Washington a free hand in post-Saddam Iraq and leave Iran encircled by pro-American countries," reported the AP news agency.
"Twelve-year-old Ali Ismail Abbas, who lost both arms in the US bomb attack that killed his whole family, has become the tragic symbol of the civilian casualties of the Iraqi war," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Forget life, liberty and pursuit of happiness, says the widow of Al-Jazeera journalist Tarek Ayoub who died in a US air raid on Baghdad. For her, the American Dream has brought blood, destruction and shattered hearts. Al-Jazeera network said it was now trying to pull all its reporters out of Iraq because it could not guarantee their safety," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The retired army general who will oversee the rebuilding of Iraq, once signed a statement that accused Palestinians of filling their children with hate and that praised Israel comments that could complicate his new job in the tinderbox Persian Gulf. Arab and Muslim leaders say retired Lt Gen Jay Garner's involvement with the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (J insa) including the document he signed and a trip he took to Israel raises questions about whether he is the right person to oversee Iraq's reconstruction," reported the AP news agency.
"India was in the dog house following the 1998 nuclear tests that triggered a tit-for-tat test by arch rival Pakistan, but New Delhi has since been improving its ties with Washington and reluctant to outrightly condemn the US over Iraq. Press reports in India had speculated that New Delhi's low-key response to the war in Iraq initially calling it unjustified and unavoidable was aimed at preserving the warming ties with the US," reported the AFP news service.
"A day after launching an SOS call from their Baghdad offices, caught in the crossfire between US and Iraqi forces, reporters with Arab television networks said they were still trapped in the bureau yesterday," reported the AFP news service.
"The Baath Party ruled Iraq well before Iraqi President Saddam Hussein seized full control. It is likely to haunt Iraqi politics long after he disappears. Most experts think that a new regime will depend heavily at lower levels on former Baathists," reported the AP news agency.
"With us tanks assuming control of ever larger chunks of Baghdad, politicians in London and Washington were asking last night how long it would take for the Iraqi regime to collapse. British officials believe there is unlikely to be a defining moment," reported the Guardian.
"Iraq's lawless past threatens to return to haunt the allies as military success promises to remove Saddam Hussein and his henchmen from power. Given the lawlessness, gangster rule and organised crime that emerged after the collapse of totalitarian regimes in Afghanistan, the Balkans and Russia, the tasks facing the allies are forbidding," reported the Daily Telegraph.
"Years ago, Teimour set out to bring revolutionary change to the whole world, starting with the liberation of Turkey's Kurdish southeast. Now, their guns fallen silent, he and other veterans of the war for autonomy for Turkey's Kurds make do with their own new society, splendidly isolated in the mountains of north Iraq. The rest of mankind will be just as free, they believe, eventually," reported the Reuters news agency.
"In peacetime, Saddam Hussein's whereabouts are top secret. In war, with the US military after his head, it's even harder to keep track of him. According to the few sources in a position to know, he's likely spending most of his time underground. But Esser said he doubts the Americans can breach the bunker, which has a ceiling more than 2m thick," reported the AP news agency.
"The United Nations intervened for the first time yesterday in the nuclear crisis on the Korean peninsula, prompting warnings of war from North Korea and concern that the world body could make a dangerous situation even worse," reported the AFP news service.
"Eleven Afghan civilians were killed when a bomb dropped by an American warplane landed on a home in eastern Afghanistan, near the border with Pakistan. The military called the civilian deaths a tragic incident and said the bomb landed on a home at the outskirts of Shkin," reported the AP news agency.
"Baghdad residents expressed relief Thursday at the collapse of Saddam Hussein's 24-year rule but said U.S. forces should restore order quickly and leave, or face the wrath of an emboldened population," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Secretary of State Colin Powell said on Thursday Washington did not have a list of nations it plans to attack, as he tried to quell speculation that the United States may move on from Iraq to nations like Iran and Syria," reported the Reuters news agency.
"If the FBI is right, one of its own agents carried on an affair with a prominent Republican activist who happened to be a Chinese double agent. The affair allegedly gave the spy, nicknamed Parlor Maid, access to classified documents while she wined and dined some of California's top politicians and businessmen," reported the AP news agency.
"Saying the India-Pakistan dispute remains dangerous, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell pledged That the United States will stay engaged in peacemaking between the two nuclear rivals. In an interview Thursday with Pakistan's state television, Powell dismissed a suggestion by India's foreign minister that a pre-emptive strike against Pakistan was as justified as the U.S.-led pre-emptive strike on Iraq," reported the AP news agency.
"The McClatchy Co. reached separate agreements to sell the assets of The Newspaper Network Inc. to The Associated Press and Vertis Inc.," reported the AP news agency.
"Newspaper and magazine group Independent Newspapers Ltd. (INL) said Friday it is in discussions about selling its New Zealand publishing business to Australia's John Fairfax Holdings Ltd," reported the AP news agency.
"Increasingly focused on profits rather than war, investors allowed stocks a tentative nudge higher Thursday, ending a two-day losing streak. The gains were hard-fought, a sign that investors are nervous about first-quarter results and the future," reported the AP news agency.
"Violence in the West Bank claims six more lives yesterday, four Palestinians and two Israeli soldiers, as Israel started to demobilise reservists following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in Baghdad," reported the AFP news service.
"Twenty-eight children died when a fire swept through a boarding school for deaf mutes in southern Russia in the early hours yesterday, the second deadly blaze in a school this week," reported the AFP news service.
"The Australian government banned an energy drink on Wednesday that its makers claim contains opium. If no opium is found then the case will be referred to the consumer watchdog for misleading advertising. The drink, marketed as Energy with Opium, blends opium poppy seeds with ginseng, gingko and caffeine," reported the AFP news service.
"Communist North Korea indicated yesterday it had no intention of allowing UN inspectors back into the country as it quietly tore up the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Pyonyang's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the only way of averting a war is to increase one's own just self-defensive means. The Iraqi war launched by the US pre-emptive attack clearly proves that a war can be prevented and the security of the country and the nation can be ensured only when one has physical deterrent force, a military deterrent force strong enough to decisively repel any attack of the enemy," reported the AFP news service.
