"With Washington massing troops and equipment in the Gulf and Iraq declaring itself mobilised for battle, thousands of demonstrators in the United States, Britain, Japan, France, Syria, Russia, Italy, Yemen, Ireland, Cyprus and Pakistan took to the streets to say no to war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Chief UN disarmament inspectors Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei return to Iraq today, calling for greater co-operation from a defiant President Saddam Hussein who has vowed to fight any US-led war," reported the news Agencies.
"Veteran Democratic Senator Robert Byrd blasted President George W. Bush for giving the United States the image of a belligerent bully, and said Bush’s contrasting handling of threats posed by North Korea and Iraq revealed major flaws in his foreign policy. He complained the nation was mobilising to attack Iraq without so much as a whisper of debate," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Bush fires pushed into this Australian capital yesterday, killing at least one person, setting fire to as many as 100 homes and blanketing the national parliament with ash and smoke," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A Russian envoy arrived in Pyongyang yesterday to find a way to bring North Korea and the United States to the negotiating table as Washington said the North was to blame for a lack of talks on its nuclear ambitions. Murmurs of war continued to underline the seriousness of a crisis distracting Washington from Iraq as Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov flew from Beijing after talks with Chinese officials on how to proceed," reported the Reuters news agency.
"One of Australia's worst droughts in a century has not only hurt crops and livestock, the mosquito population has dropped dramatically," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Integration of Islamic immigrants into Dutch society has become the most hotly debated issue in the Dutch campaign ahead of Wednesday’s election, with some politicians claiming that religion is the biggest obstacle for integration of Muslims," reported the AFP news service.
"A state of emergency was in force here yesterday after its worst-ever wildfires swept its suburbs, killing four people, forcing thousands to evacuate and destroying 388 homes," reported the AP news agency.
"North Korea rejected yesterday moves to resolve the nuclear crisis through the United Nations, saying the dispute could only be resolved through direct negotiations with the United States. The Stalinist state said it would not allow the United States to internationalise the dispute, amid a wave of global diplomacy aimed at forging a united stance to harness North Korea’s nuclear ambitions," reported the AFP news service.
"The U.N. Security Council unanimously called for urgent action to combat global terrorism Monday but was sharply divided over military action against Iraq and to a lesser extent on how to deal with North Korea," reported the AP news agency.
"US Secretary of State Colin Powell, who faced a new burst of scepticism in talks with other leaders earlier Monday, was urging reluctant nations to focus on Baghdad's alleged failure to disarm and to prepare to weigh the consequences by the end of the month," reported the AP news agency.
"Iraq promised UN weapons inspectors more help yesterday, saying it was even forming its own teams to search for banned weapons. After two days of showdown talks with chief UN arms inspectors, held as US and British leaders warned Iraq was on course for war, Baghdad's officials were eager to appear conciliatory," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Bush administration officials supported the idea of an exile haven for senior Iraqi leaders on Sunday, and said Iraq’s willingness to avoid war by disarming will be determined conclusively within weeks," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Bush administration has portrayed the escalation of North Korea’s nuclear activities as an international threat rather than a standoff only with the United States and signalled its intention to take the dispute to the UN Security Council," reported the AP news agency.
"British anti-terrorist police in riot gear launched a dramatic raid on a mosque here yesterday and arrested seven people in an operation linked to the discovery of the poison ricin in the capital earlier this month. Police said they believed the mosque played a role in recruiting suspected terrorists and in supporting their operations both in Britain and abroad," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Libya, under fire for years from human rights activists, was overwhelmingly elected yesterday to chair the top UN rights body after the United States broke with tradition and forced a vote. The Libyan candidate, diplomat and former journalist Najat al-Hajjaji, won 33 votes in a secret ballot of the 53-country commission, with 17 states abstaining and three voting no - apparently including the United States," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A Northwest Airlines pilot, Robert Donaldson, 43, of Macomb Township, Michigan, scheduled to work a Detroit-bound flight was arrested at LaGuardia Airport after a loaded handgun was found in his carry-on luggage," reported the AP news agency.
"Three foreign journalists were missing in a remote corner of Panamanian jungle Tuesday, and police feared they might have been kidnapped by Colombian paramilitary fighters," reported the AP news agency.
"Pre-sident George W. Bush spelled out the United States' readiness to attack Iraq soon, dismissing calls from Europe, Russia and the Middle East yesterday to give President Saddam Hussein more time to disarm," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A first wave of mainly Western volunteers will leave here at the weekend on a convoy bound for Iraq to act as human shields at key sites and populous areas in case of a US-led war on Baghdad. Volunteer Christiaan Briggs, 26, from New Zealand said People know this is wrong. It is just so blatantly transparent how the US is trying to impose its hegemony," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prime Minister Tony Blair said yesterday he expected terror groups like al-Qaeda to attempt an attack on Britain," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Police continued yesterday to quiz seven people arrested during a dramatic raid on a north London mosque that was part of a criminal investigation into the deadly chemical ricin. Its imam, Sheikh Abu Hamza al-Masri, denounced the raid and denied that the redbrick mosque one of the biggest in London was involved in terrorism," reported the AFP news service.
"Unidentified assailants opened fire yesterday on two Americans on a highway near a US military camp, killing one and wounding the other," reported the AP news agency.
"Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden escaped Afghanistan by giving his satellite phone to his Moroccan bodyguard, who served as decoy for US forces tracking the signal," reported the AFP news service.
"In the biggest demolition in the West Bank in years, Israel razed 62 shops and market stalls in a Palestinian village yesterday, as troops clashed with protesters," reported the AP news agency.
"Venezuela saw new deadly protests on Monday on the 50th day of a general strike against President Hugo Chavez, who said the country was at war. One demonstrator was killed and 25 were wounded in the confrontation between Chavez supporters and opponents in Valles del Tuy, 40km west of Caracas," reported the AFP news service.
"A member of Singapore’s ruling party has broken a political taboo by suggesting a form of affirmative action for the island’s Muslim minority to counter the appeal of militant Islam. There must be opportunities, without affecting the principle of meritocracy, for there to be some form of action which will see Malays in important positions in greater numbers than they are now," reported the AFP news service.
"The US Coast Guard commandant Tuesday led a call for governments worldwide to fully implement tougher new maritime regulations to forestall a seaborne equivalent of the Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks," reported the AFP news service.
"A year after Daniel Pearl's abduction, questions remain. ... its web authorities are still untangling," reported the AP news agency.
"Saying the law is not intended to protect people from their own excesses, a federal judge threw out a class-action lawsuit Wednesday that blamed McDonald's food for obesity, diabetes and other health problems in children. Plaintiffs' attorney Samuel Hirsch said the lawsuit will be amended and refiled within a month," reported the AP news agency.
"A powerful earthquake rattled central and western Mexico, killing at least 24 people on the Pacific coast, and officials warned the toll could rise further yesterday as rescue teams pick through the rubble," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Politicians routinely kiss babies in search of votes, but Mexican President Vicente Fox has now released a sonogram of his unborn grandson apparently flashing a V for Victory sign to win political points," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A 46-year-old woman was told she had an advanced case of breast cancer and had both breasts removed, only to learn that doctors in United Hospital in Saint Paul, Minnesota, had given her another patient's diagnosis," reported the AFP news service.
"Swedish alcohol consumption has risen dramatically since the mid-1990s and is now at its highest level since 1875," reported the AFP news service.
"High winds and tinderbox conditions pushed Australia’s bushfires towards more than a dozen rural towns yesterday as firefighters and residents prepared for another black weekend," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Russia’s armed forces have obtained information that the United States and its allies have already decided to launch military action in Iraq from mid-February. The source added that the main aim of the operation was not so much to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein but to secure US control over Iraqi oilfields," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Japan is studying plans to evacuate its nationals living in or visiting South Korea in the event the nuclear crisis in North Korea escalates," reported the AFP news service.
"A US military truck driven by a South Korean ran over and killed a South Korean woman who was hard of hearing," reported the AP news agency.
"The death toll from South Asia's coldest winter in decades climbed to 1,500 overnight, with no respite from near-freezing temperatures forecast for the next few days in the worst-hit areas," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Tearful families and outraged protesters watched as an Australian troop ship steamed out of Sydney Harbour yesterday to join a build-up of US and British forces preparing for a possible war on Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iraq urged Turkey to reject US requests for military support in any attack on Baghdad as six Middle Eastern states met in Istanbul yesterday to discuss ways of avoiding a potentially destabilising war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Some 50 people opposed to a war in Iraq plan to leave for Baghdad tomorrow in a double-decker bus to act as human shields in the country," reported the AFP news service.
"The United States is willing to document security guarantees for North Korea but will not draft a formal non-aggression treaty with Pyongyang. In Geneva, North Korea accused United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday of bias in urging it to reconsider its decision to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," reported the news Agency.
"A Moscow court yesterday rejected three lawsuits by a total of six plaintiffs who were seeking moral damages from the city government for suffering related to the terrorist seizure of a theatre in the Russian capital," reported the AP news agency.
"Thousands of people huddled in shelters and outside their damaged homes yesterday after a massive earthquake killed at least 28 people in western Mexico but caused less devastation than expected. At least 300 were injured and 10,000 people were made homeless as the temblor destroyed 500 homes, chiefly on Colima’s Pacific coast, and damaged another 1,000 throughout the region," reported the AFP news service.
"New opinion polls yesterday showed Israel's centre-left Labour Party heading for a crushing defeat in next week's general election, plunging the party that pioneered Israeli-Palestinian peace deals deep into turmoil. Likud looks strong despite a series of corruption scandals including a police investigation into whether Sharon accepted an illegal loan from a South African-based businessman and friend," reported the Reuters news agency.
"As firefighters work around the clock to save Australian homes, police yesterday were dealing with the ugliest side of the annual bush fires - arsonists. In Canberra, where ferocious bush fires claimed four lives and over 530 homes last weekend, police have charged two youths, aged 15 and 20, with deliberately lighting fires while a 16-year-old has been charged with looting," reported the Reuters news agency.
"McDonald’s Corp won a major victory for the fast-food industry on Wednesday when a federal judge threw out a widely watched lawsuit that blamed Big Macs, fries and Chicken McNuggets for obesity in children. However, the judge did not let McDonald’s off the hook completely. Referring to Chicken McNuggets as a McFrankenstein creation of elements not used by home cooks, he said the plaintiffs could refile their case with information backing their claim that diners had no idea what was really in their food or that the products had allegedly become more harmful because of processing," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Continued American aggression will lead to war on the Korean peninsula, Pyongyang's news media said yesterday as it stepped up the rhetoric against the United States. The fresh outburst came as a senior five-man North Korean delegation was in Seoul offering public reassurances that there would be no military conflict," reported the AFP news service.
