"U.S. Army troops fought their way into Hindiyah and battled Iraqi forces over a bridge across the Euphrates. At least 35 Iraqis were killed and several dozen others captured," reported the AP news agency.
"One U.S. soldier was killed during intense fighting Monday around the Shiite Muslim holy city of Najaf. About 100 Iraqi paramilitary fighters were reported killed and about 50 Iraqis captured, according to U.S. Central Command," reported the AP news agency.
"South of Baghdad, coalition warplanes pounded the city and dozens of other Iraqi positions in advance of the battle for Baghdad," reported the AP news agency.
"Huge explosions rocked central Baghdad late Monday. Earlier, an armada of American bombers struck communication and command centers in the capital. Tomahawk cruise missiles hit the Information Ministry," reported the AP news agency.
"U.S. troops killed seven Iraqi women and children at a checkpoint when the Iraqis' van would not stop as ordered, a U.S. military official said. The dead were among 13 women and children in a van that approached the checkpoint, the official said. The U.S. military was investigating," reported the AP news agency.
"In northern Iraq, U.S. aircraft pounded Iraqi positions near Kalak, aiding Kurdish fighters as they seized territory from Saddam Hussein's fleeing troops," reported the AP news agency.
"British commandos destroyed Iraqi tanks and seized equipment in a suburb of Basra. A Royal Marine was killed and the Iraqis suffered a "large number of casualties," reported the AP news agency.
"Iraq's foreign minister, Naji Sabri, said Iraqi forces would defeat American and British forces, and only surrender would save coalition troops from the holocaust. More than 5,000 Arabs have come to Iraq to help attack the invaders," reported the AP news agency.
"Iraqi television aired footage of Saddam Hussein with sons Odai and Qusai at a meeting of top military commanders. There was no way of determining when the video was shot," reported the AP news agency.
"U.S. military officials at the Pentagon in Washington said U.S. and British air strikes have caused a very significant weakening of Iraqi forces, and Iraqi commanders are moving Republican Guard troops around to shore up their strength," reported the AP news agency.
"President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt warned that a drawn-out war in Iraq will lead to an increase in Islamic militancy throughout the world," reported the AP news agency.
"The first U.N. humanitarian aid, a few truckloads of food and water, trickled across Iraq's borders from Turkey and Kuwait," reported the AP news agency.
"A pickup truck loaded with extra fuel crashed into the wall of the British Embassy on Monday night, immediately exploding in flames, in what one witness said appeared to be a suicide attack. Police initially said the crash appeared to be an accident in which the truck driver was killed. But later the city's security chief said the back of the vehicle was loaded with gallons of extra fuel," reported the AP news agency.
"The U.S. military is fighting perhaps the most accurate air war in history, with most of the 8,000 precision-guided bombs and missiles loosed on Iraq blasting their intended targets. But precision weapons also miss. Human and mechanical errors send 10 percent or more astray, Pentagon and civilian experts say - a disastrous percentage for civilians living near the intended targets," reported the AP news agency.
"Share prices slid on the London Stock Exchange Monday. Provisional market volume was 2 billion shares, compared with 1.8 billion on Friday," reported the AP news agency.
"Capping a dreary first quarter, Wall Street suffered another sharp drop Monday amid fears of prolonged fighting in Iraq and a disappointing report on manufacturing in the Midwest. The Dow Jones industrials slid more than 150 points in the market's fourth straight declining session," reported the AP news agency.
"The wife of former Yugoslav strongman Slobodan Milosevic yestrerday flatly denied charges that her family ordered the killing of a former Serbian president, who disappeared just before her husband was deposed in 2000," reported the AFP news service.
"US ground troops preparing to march on Baghdad engaged for the first time in serious combat against crack Iraqi Republican Guards as British commandos pursued a major assault on the southern port city of Basra yesterday," reported the AFP news service.
"The war of words between Washington and Damascus heated up further yesterday, after Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said he wanted to see US-British forces defeated in Iraq, and his US counterpart Colin Powell warned Syria again about meddling in the war. Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq al-Shara said Washington justified its attack on Iraq as a war of liberation and preservation of democracy and human rights, while it is killing and destroying," reported the AFP news service.
"Bravo, a word frequently employed by Saddam Hussein when addressing his military council, is now being hummed across Iraq, compliments of state television, which has turned the war motto into a musical sensation. With its slightly Latin melody, Bravo, or Afieh in Arabic, extols the bravery of the nation and its soldiers as they fight off a US-led assault – and it is being played over and over and over on Iraq's state television station," reported the AFP news service.
"A British soldier who survived a fatal friendly fire incident has launched a scathing attack on the US pilot responsible for killing his comrade. He (the pilot) had absolutely no regard for human life. I believe he was a cowboy... He'd just gone out on a jolly Lance Corporal Steven Gerrard told The Times of London, regarding the incident on Friday," reported the news agencies.
"Hundreds of grim-faced Iraqis lined up on Sunday outside the offices of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), some seeking refuge, others hoping for whatever aid they can get. Some were recent arrivals who left their homes to flee the war. Many others have been living in Syria for several years and were grabbing the opportunity to apply for asylum," reported the AP news agency.
"The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has bought over 120,000 tonnes of flour for Iraq, apparently its first move after a US$1.3bil appeal for food aid operations," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Support for the war against Iraq has fallen in Britain for the first time since the conflict began 11 days ago, according to a YouGov poll published yesterday," reported the AFP news service.
"The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said yesterday it had begun visiting Iraqi prisoners of war captured by the coalition forces. The ICRC said last week that it was seeking permission from Iraqi authorities and from the United States and Britain to visit prisoners of war on both sides of the conflict," reported the AFP news service.
"Controversial Pentagon adviser Richard Perle said on Sunday the Iraq war could be shorter than the six-week Gulf War in 1991, predicting again the conflict could be easier than it has so far turned out to be. US President George W. Bush and Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld have warned since the conflict started that the war, now in its 11th day, could be long and difficult," reported the Reuters news agency.
"War in Iraq inspired countless preachers across the United States on Sunday, as they implored the public to pray for our troops with renewed religious fervour. While some churches have condemned the war, most are strongly behind the US troops. Bush's presidential speeches are peppered with religious language and almost always end God bless America So it was no surprise that both houses of Congress last week urged Bush to declare a day of humility, prayer and fasting," reported the AFP news service.
"US military leaders defended their Iraq war strategy and warned the public that the coming Battle of Baghdad could be long and tough," reported the AFP news service.
"Australia will not withdraw its troops from the war in Iraq until the conflict is over. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said before he left for Washington for talks with senior US officials on the war there was no danger that coalition troops would be withdrawn," reported the AFP news service.
"Celebrated news correspondent Peter Arnett, famed for his coverage of the Vietnam War and the first Gulf War, has been sacked by NBC after he suggested on Iraqi television that the US war plan had failed. Arnett offered his apologies to NBC and the US public, saying he was embarrassed by the controversy that erupted after his comments," reported the Reuters news agency.
"More than half of Americans believe the US government was too optimistic in its assessments of the probable course of the war in Iraq and one in three would not support the war if more than 500 US troops were to die, according to a poll released on Sunday," reported the Reuters news agency.
"As the US-led coalition lays the ground to resume oil sales from Iraq to fund aid and reconstruction, experts warn that getting the infrastructure ready is not enough, and a legal mandate was needed. According to former Iraqi oil minister Essam Shalabi, the US-British coalition does not even have the right to attempt to resume oil production," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli troops arrested 20 wanted Palestinians, including two militants from the radical Islamic Jihad movement, during overnight operations in the West Bank," reported the AFP news service.
"Islamic Jihad will step up attacks in Israel as a show of support for Iraq, the militant group said yesterday, a day after dispatching a suicide bomber who wounded 49 Israelis outside a packed cafe," reported the AP news agency.
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon ticked off his military intelligence chief at a Cabinet meeting for praising measures taken by the moderate new Palestinian premier," reported the AFP news service.
"Singapore Airlines said Wednesday that it was cutting a total of 125 flights a week in response to falling demand due to the ongoing war in Iraq and the outbreak of a deadly flu-like illness," reported the AP news agency.
"Former Vice President Al Gore, who was elected last month to Apple Computer Inc.'s board of directors, has been granted the quintessential high-tech perk: stock options," reported the AP news agency.
"The United Nations said Tuesday it has identified over US$1 billion worth of top priority humanitarian goods purchased for Iraq before the U.S.-led war began and will be contacting suppliers to see if they can be shipped quickly. But U.N. officials said a Security Council resolution with a 45-day time limit made it difficult to get aid in quickly," reported the AP news agency.
"In spite of being mostly knocked offline, the Web site of Arab satellite news network Al-Jazeera was among the most sought-after on the Internet last week," reported the AP news agency.
"Never mind the enormous U.S. advantage of satellite-guided missiles and smart bombs, the overpowering command of Iraqi skies. The battle in Iraq is becoming a shooting war on the ground, a bloody grind of street fights, ambushes and unpleasant surprises," reported the AP news agency.
"The administration's decision to invade Iraq without the full participation of an Army division that was expected to enter via Turkey has intensified a debate among military analysts over the size of the ground force," reported the AP news agency.
"U.S. soldiers advanced toward Karbala early Wednesday after a night-long bombardment of the strategic city and ground fighting with Iraq's Republican Guard - the first battle with Saddam Hussein's top forces that form the backbone of the defense of Baghdad. There were no immediate reports of casualties, though the 3rd Infantry Division met resistance in its push north toward the capital, 80 kilometers (50 miles) away," reported the AP news agency.
"U.S. troops rescued Army Pfc. Jessica Lynch, who had been held as a prisoner of war in Iraq since she and other members of her unit were ambushed March 23," reported the AP news agency.
"US troops edgy about suicide attacks killed an Iraqi civilian at a checkpoint yesterday, fuelling anger already roused by the roadblock deaths of seven women and children the previous day," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US Marines shot dead an unarmed driver and badly wounded his passenger south of Baghdad, just hours after the previous deaths at a checkpoint near the Shi’ite holy city of Najaf," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The deaths are another blow to US and British hopes of convincing Iraqis to welcome an invasion whose stated goal is to oust President Saddam Hussein, not combat the population," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Twelve days into the invasion of Iraq, there is no sign of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's suspected weapons of mass destruction, the primary rationale for the US-led war now pummelling the country. US officials remain confident those arms will turn up. But if they do not, President George W. Bush's reasons for war will be severely undercut," reported the Reuters news agency.
"TheWashington Post yesterday published an account of Monday's fatal shooting at a checkpoint near Najaf that suggested US troops did not give a speeding vehicle enough warning before opening fire," reported the Reuters news agency.
"After the race to reach Baghdad, the resilience of British and US troops may now be stretched as tightly as their supply lines. They have been harried by guerillas, hit by friendly fire and fear chemical attacks and suicide bombers. They worry no corner of Iraq is safe," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Soldiers on the ground, as well as psychologists, war veterans and defence analysts, believe morale could be dented in a conflict tougher and longer than military planners expected. Some say that within a month, the invaders could be at breaking point," reported the Reuters news agency.
"There is a war on, and danger lurks ahead, and the marines of the 3rd Battalion, 7th Infantry are getting desperate – for tobacco. It's been two weeks since they left they relative luxury of their camp in Kuwait and their supplies of cigarettes and chewing tobacco are running out. They are rationing their precious supplies, and even begging smokes from local farmers," reported the AP news agency.
"Saddam Hussein's aides denied yesterday US reports that some of the president's family have fled abroad and said the fate of Saddam and his relatives remained tied to that of the Iraqi people," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Saudi Arabia's foreign minister, Prince Saud al-Faisal, said on Monday that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein should make a war-ending “sacrifice” by stepping aside," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Their faces shine with the pure innocence and raw pain only children can express. Those images, broadcast on television and captured by photographs, are the most telling evidence yet of the price paid by Iraqi children for adults waging war," reported the AP news agency.
"A wave of suicide bombings threatened by Iraq could entrap US-led forces in a cycle of attack and response, prolong the war and hamper crucial efforts to win the trust of Iraqi civilians, Israelis and Palestinians said, drawing on their experience from scores of such attacks over the years," reported the AP news agency.
"Arab League secretary-general Amr Moussa said on Monday that any US military action against Syria or Iran would wreak havoc in the Middle East and elsewhere," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Thousands of Bangladeshis are ready to join forces with the Iraqis to fight the US-led invasion, saying they want to join a jihad, or holy war," reported the AFP news service.
"Britain's Daily Mirror said yesterday it had hired veteran US reporter Peter Arnett, sacked by American TV network NBC after he told Iraqi television the US war plan against Saddam Hussein had failed," reported the Reuters news agency.
"France has made a string of comments in recent days to attempt to smooth relations with the United States, which have been tense for months over Paris' high-profile opposition to military action in Iraq," reported the AP news agency.
"France's prime minister told lawmakers yesterday that displays of anti-Americanism in protests against the war in Iraq would be unacceptable. Raffarin on Monday said that despite that opposition, France is not an enemy of the US," reported the AP news agency.
"Cuban authorities were negotiating early yesterday with a man, armed with two hand grenades, who hijacked a domestic airliner with 46 passengers and crew in an attempt to reach the United States," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The US Supreme Court was to decide yesterday whether race could be used in university admissions, in the most significant test of racial preferences in 25 years," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Firefighters dug lagoons in the desert Wednesday as they prepared to extinguish the last two fires at sabotaged oil wells in Iraq's Rumeila South oil field," reported the AP news agency.
"Crude oil futures fell Wednesday, with traders interpreting progress by U.S. troops marching on Baghdad as a sign the war in Iraq could end soon," reported the AP news agency.
"Share prices rose on the London Stock Exchange Wednesday. Wall Street shot higher as U.S.-led forces closed in on Baghdad Wednesday, boosting investor optimism that the two-week-old war with Iraq might soon end," reported the AP news agency.
"A convoy of trucks packed with 60 tons of blankets and food essentials pulled out from the foot of the Eiffel Tower on Wednesday, marking the first batch of French humanitarian aid for Iraq," reported the AP news agency.
"US forces smashed through elite Iraqi divisions to within 30km of Baghdad yesterday, using fearsome air power to back the swiftest advance of the war to oust President Saddam Hussein. However, Iraq dismissed as illusions reports US forces had crossed the Tigris or made gains elsewhere, and an army spokesman said the Baghdad Division was in control and enjoys high morale to fight the enemy and destroy it," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US missiles struck a Red Crescent maternity hospital in Baghdad and other civilian buildings yesterday, killing several people and wounding at least 25. US military spokesman Brigadier General Vincent Brooks told reporters in Qatar: I am not aware of the Red Crescent report, so I cannot address it," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Eleven bodies were found with American prisoner of war Jessica Lynch when the Army supply clerk was rescued in a US commando raid on an Iraqi hospital," reported the AP news agency.
"A call to world Muslims to wage holy war read out in the name of Saddam Hussein intrigued US and British leaders but only deepened the mystery surrounding the whereabouts of the Iraqi president, dead or alive," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraqi state-run television had provided a big build-up to the address on Tuesday, only for Information Minister Mohammed Said al-Sahhaf to pop up and do the honours, as he had done on previous occasions, delivering a blistering message," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraqi President Saddam Hussein chaired a meeting yesterday of top officials, including his two sons Uday and Qusay. No footage of the meeting was shown and there was no independent confirmation that it had occurred," reported the Reuters news agency.
"American humanitarian aid groups yesterday complained that attempts to force them to operate under the Pentagon in Iraq would complicate their ability to help the Iraqi people and jeopardise aid workers. In an unusually tough statement, InterAction – which with 160 members is the largest US alliance of non-governmental relief groups – expressed deep concern about military-driven plans for bringing humanitarian aid to Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Four Western journalists who had been detained by Iraqi authorities while covering the war from Baghdad have turned up safe in Jordan, according to a statement from the newspaper that employed two of them. They said they were never physically mistreated or abused although the conditions were harsh," reported the dpa news agency.
"US Secretary of State Colin Powell said yesterday that he had agreed with Nato ally Turkey on measures to ship supplies through Turkish territory to US forces fighting in northern Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A US military programme in Hungary that was to train up to 3,000 Iraqi exiles to take part in the war against Saddam Hussein was closed down abruptly on Tuesday after dispatching less than 100 recruits to the war zone. While Iraqi exiles are reported to be flocking home to join the fight against the United States and Britain, the failure of Washington to attract exiles to the US banner appeared to be an embarrassment," reported the Guardian.
"US Secretary of State Colin Powell met his Turkish counterpart Abdullah Gul yesterday as part of efforts to dissuade Turkey from sending any large force into Kurdish-controlled northern Iraq. The United States is worried that a large-scale Turkish incursion could undermine the US-led war against Iraq by stirring conflict with the Kurds and creating a war within a war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"As the United States pressed on with its war on Iraq, plans for relief aid and reconstruction that are considered critical to long-term peace there are threatened by internal disputes within the Bush administration," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prominent black figures ranging from Congress members to rappers and the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People have spoken out against the war," reported the AFP news service.
"Ron Walters, a political science professor at the University of Maryland, told the Washington Post that Black Americans are routinely told that there's not enough money for housing, medicine, education and rebuilding the inner city, but ... considerable sums can be raised for war and rebuilding Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"Police used capsicum spray on anti-war demonstrators yesterday as radical students rallied in central Sydney despite an official ban on their activities following rioting at a similar protest last week. There was anger among Australian youths, particularly those with relatives in the Middle East, at Prime Minister John Howard's decision to join the United States and Britain in invading Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"Acting out of respect for US armed forces in Iraq, pop star Madonna on Tuesday pulled the release of her controversial new music video, in which she tosses a hand grenade to a President George W. Bush look-alike," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Thousands of mostly Latin American soldiers fighting for the United States in Iraq will get more than just their pay: they will earn fast-track US citizenship, key to their American dream," reported the AFP news service.
"Police in San Francisco, a city long known for its politics of dissent, have been barred from wearing US flag bandannas on duty. The city's police force, which has arrested more anti-war protesters in recent days than anywhere else in America, has detained more than 2,000 demonstrators in the past two weeks," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A self-styled Spiderman defied strong winds to scale a 47-storey Paris skyscraper without safety equipment on Tuesday to protest against the war in Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Israeli troops rounded up at least 1,000 Palestinians in the West Bank city of Tulkarm yesterday in a fresh sweep for wanted militants after a suicide bomber from the region struck a nearby Israeli town. Palestinian officials denounced the army swoop, accusing Israel of intensifying its clampdown on Palestinians seeking independence while the world's attention was turned to war in Iraq. Israel said the sweep was justified by security concerns," reported the Reuters news agency.
"France braced for massive strikes by civil servants on Thursday expected to drastically reduce public transport and ground some 80 percent of commercial air traffic. All major unions but one were taking part in the strike, called to defend France's retirement system that the government is trying to reform," reported the AP news agency.
"A landslide triggered by heavy rains in a remote gold-prospecting town in northern Bolivia has killed 14 people, with 400 others feared buried beneath tonnes of mud and rock," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Qantas cabin crews have been given the option of refusing to service flights to countries hit by the deadly Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS)," reported the AFP news service.
"India has become the world's fifth nation to have a supercomputer capable of processing one trillion calculations per second. Only the United States, Japan, Israel and China have supercomputers capable of processing more than one trillion calculations per second, known as a teraflop," reported the AP news agency.
"At least 13 people were killed and 35 others injured in an explosion yesterday that ripped through a wharf in the southern Philippine city of Davao," reported the AFP news service.
"Two loud explosions were heard outside the gates of a US military base close to Tokyo late on Thursday but a US official said there had been no casualties or damage to the facility. Japanese police said it might have been an attack by local radicals opposed to the Iraq war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"North Korea reported yesterday leader Kim Jong-il's first public appearance in 50 days, a visit to a military medical university that analysts said underscored Pyongyang's belief it will be the next US target after Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
