"A third of British voters appear to have lost confidence in Prime Minister Tony Blair over his handling of the war on Iraq and the issue of weapons of mass destruction," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US pop star Britney Spears is to get a pair of inflatable, throbbing breasts that will pulsate in time to her dancing, at least her waxwork model will at Madame Tussauds museum in London," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Political opponents and the head of a major lawyers' association criticised Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday for announcing plans to reorganise the British judiciary without consulting experts or the public," reported the AP news agency.
"Former US first lady Hillary Clinton says she feels sorry for Monica Lewinsky and everyone who was caught up in the sex scandal over her husband and Lewinsky," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton's book deal paid her US$1.1mil last year, but that pales in comparison with the more than US$9mil her husband, Bill Clinton, earned from dozens of speeches around the world," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A US truck driver who worked for the Coca-Cola Bottling Company has been sacked after being spotted glugging down a soft drink made by the rival Pepsi company," reported the AFP news service.
"Israel and the Palestinians are resuming top-level security talks despite a bloody week of bombings and missile strikes that left 60 people dead on both sides," reported the AP news agency.
"Czechs voted overwhelmingly to join the European Union in a binding referendum," reported the AP news agency.
"US forces stepped up their battle against pro-Saddam Hussein loyalists and other opponents of their occupation, as a deadline for Iraqis to surrender weapons ran out yesterday with meagre results. US troops unleashed a new operation, codenamed Desert Scorpion, overnight against forces in northern Iraq loyal to the ousted president," reported the AFP news service.
"Israel and the Palestinians pursued a security deal yesterday focussed on an Israeli troop pullback in return for a crackdown on Islamic militants after a week of violence that battered a US-backed peace plan. In another challenge to the road map affirmed at a June 4 peace summit in Jordan, Jewish settlers have quietly set up five new outposts in the occupied West Bank since Israel began dismantling such sites last week," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Widespread use of depleted uranium weaponry by US and British forces in Iraq could pose serious health and environmental risks to troops and residents, nuclear and medical experts warned on Saturday. Dr Helen Caldicott, president of the Nuclear Policy Research Institute, an anti-nuclear group, said the hazards of using the radioactive material included pollution and severe consequences for kidney function," reported the AP news agency.
"A British inquiry into two trailers found in northern Iraq has found they are not mobile germ warfare labs, but were for the production of hydrogen to fill artillery balloons, the Observer reported yesterday. The London-based weekly newspaper said the conclusion by biological weapons experts was an embarrassment for Prime Minister Tony Blair," reported the AFP news service.
"Raghad Hussein, Saddam's eldest daughter, told the London-based weekly she was no longer in touch with her father or brothers Uday and Qusay but believed they had all survived," reported the AFP news service.
"Iran's normally feuding officials closed ranks yesterday to criticise the United States for backing five nights of pro-democracy protests by thousands in Tehran. There were reports of smaller demonstrations in at least three other cities, a sign the momentum of the protests, which Washington hailed as a cry for freedom, may be gathering pace," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iran's Foreign Ministry accused the United States of flagrant interference in Iran's internal affairsnd said US officials were overstating the significance of the events. The Americans ignore the presence of millions of people to welcome the supreme leader and president, but they call the protests of a few individuals the voice of the people," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Mormon crickets, the plague of the western United States, are on the march again, ravaging farms and turning roads blood red. This year's cricket infestation already had caused US$25mil in damages from lost crops in Utah," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The US and French defence establishments have traded new barbs, as a chill that crept into their relationship in advance of the Iraq war continues to dog efforts to engineer a detente between the old-time allies. The opening shot was fired on Saturday by French Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie, who accused her US counterpart, Donald Rumsfeld, of espousing a US-centred vision of the world," reported the AFP news service.
"Cubans marched, held ceremonies, watched television programmes and in other ways paid tribute to legendary leftist guerilla Ernesto Che Guevara on Saturday, the 75th anniversary of his birth. Che became one of President Fidel Castro's most important commanders during the cigar-chomping rebel's successful 1959 revolution against the US-backed dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Saudi troops and security agents raided an apartment building here where terror suspects had holed up, killing five of the suspects, arresting seven – including one wearing a suicide bomb belt – and seizing a large cache of weapons," reported the AP news agency.
"Three British newspapers, all claiming an exclusive, reported in Sunday's editions that Prince William has maintained a long-distance romance with a young woman in Kenya for two years," reported the AP news agency.
"Palestinian Foreign Minister Nabil Shaath said yesterday he hoped the Palestinian militant group Hamas, responsible for many attacks on Israelis, might accept a full ceasefire as early as today," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Outgoing EU Middle East peace envoy Miguel Angel Moratinos was quoted by the Spanish daily El Pais yesterday as saying the 15-nation bloc should add Hamas to its list of terrorist organisations, whose assets may be seized. British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made a similar call last week but several member states have misgivings, fearing it might only aggravate violence," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A leading US Republican lawmaker, Senator Richard Lugar, the chairman of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on Sunday US forces may have to help root out terrorism in the Middle East conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, including taking aim at Hamas, the main group behind a campaign of suicide bombings against Israelis," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iran said yesterday it was considering accepting the stricter UN inspections of its nuclear programme demanded by the international community, but had yet to make a final decision. Tehran is only obliged to open up sites it has declared to the IAEA but the widespread suspicions over its programme have resulted in demands for Iran to unconditionally sign an additional protocol to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty allowing inspections of suspect sites," reported the news Agencies.
"Iran said yesterday it has sent an official protest to the United States over what it calls blatant interference in its internal affairs after Washington cheered six nights of pro-democracy protests," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Saudi police have arrested seven suspected Islamic militants in the Muslim holy city of Mecca where five other militants were earlier killed in a police raid. Saudi officials declined to say if the militants were linked to Saudi-born Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda group, which has been blamed for suicide bombings in Riyadh in May against foreigners," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Members of Britain's House of Lords, angry at Prime Minister Tony Blair's shock judicial reforms announced last week, may try to hold up legislation in protest," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Police in Northern Ireland said yesterday they had arrested two men following the discovery of a massive bomb in the province's second city Londonderry. The discovery of the 540kg device – more than twice the size of the devastating 1998 Omagh bomb – came on the eve of a crunch meeting of the province's main Protestant party which could derail efforts to revive the flagging peace process," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Macy's, the world's largest store, is facing a US$500m (RM1.9bil) lawsuit over claims that it operates a policy of racial profiling which targets black, Hispanic and Asian shoppers as suspected shoplifters. The huge class action is being led by African-American Sharon Simmons-Thomas, who was handcuffed to a bench in a windowless cell in the Manhattan department store, despite having receipts for her purchases," reported the Guardian.
"Prostitution is legal in some parts of Australia but brothels need to meet certain standards to earn a licence. An Australia bordello, the Daily Planet, became the world's first publicly owned brothel last month when it listed on the Australian stock exchange," reported the Reuters news agency.
"An Australian brothel, the Viper Room in the east coast city of Brisbane, is offering pensioners a 5% discount in what it boasts is a world first," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Arab satellite TV stations characterise heightened attacks against US soldiers in Iraq as natural resistance against an occupation. Newspaper headlines in the region describe US military strikes as terrible massacres and editorials warn Americans are only worsening the tension in this corner of the world," reported the AP news agency.
"US troops scoured the hostile territory around the capital yesterday for diehard Saddam Hussein loyalists blamed for recent attacks, after a new ambush on an American convoy wounded several soldiers. Iraqis in the troubled areas say they have no love for Saddam but that anger is mounting towards US soldiers," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A two-week amnesty for Iraqis to hand in heavy weapons without punishment ended on Sunday, and now those caught with illegal firearms face a fine and up to a year in jail. But few Iraqis heeded the amnesty. Many say they dare not give up their guns until security is restored after weeks of lawlessness following the overthrow of Saddam," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A group of 11 nations has endorsed a US-Australian plan to crack down on North Korea's illicit trade in nuclear material and narcotics. Diplomats meeting in Madrid last week endorsed the initiative under which ships suspected of being involved in the illegal trade will be stopped and aircraft forced down," reported the AFP news service.
"Intelligence officials warned Australia's foreign minister at a briefing just months before last year's Bali bombings that the Indonesian holiday island was a potential terrorist target, according to an intelligence report released yesterday. A spokesman for Foreign Minister Alexander Downer acknowledged that the minister was given a general terrorist warning about Bali, but said it contained no specific evidence that something was being planned," reported the AP news agency.
"The study by Physicians for Human Rights and the Bellevue/New York University Programme for Survivors of Torture interviewed 70 asylum-seekers detained on their arrival by immigration authorities. The report found the overall mental health of asylum-seekers was very poor and the longer they were detained, the more anxious and depressed they became," reported the Reuters news agency.
"New US Middle East envoy John Wolf met Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas yesterday in a fresh bid to salvage a US-backed peace road map jeopardised by a week of violence. Egyptian mediators failed to persuade Palestinian radical factions on Monday to call a ceasefire with Israel. While US officials counselled restraint, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon vowed Israel would keep up its pursuit of militants," reported the Reuters news agency.
"talian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lashed out yesterday at a court trying him for corruption, saying it was like a murder trial without a corpse and calling the prosecution's chief witness a pathological liar. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi lashed out yesterday at a court trying him for corruption, saying it was like a murder trial without a corpse and calling the prosecution's chief witness a pathological liar," reported the AFP news service.
"Demonstrations against Iran's clerical rulers appeared to die down on their seventh night on Tuesday with uniformed police reining in Islamic militants who attacked protesters with clubs and chains on previous nights. Hundreds of cars once more formed thick traffic jams around Teheran University, the focus of the unrest, with drivers blaring their horns to show support for the students, but their numbers were fewer than before and there was less tension in the air," reported the Reuters news agency.
"People going on long-haul flights with small children should try and ensure that takeoff is in the evening. Babies should be given a dummy, the mother's breast or a bottle for both takeoffs and landings, the magazine says. Small children should be given a drink. This has the effect of reducing the pressure in the ears, which can be painful for children," reported the dpa news agency.
"Masked and heavily armed French police raided the offices yesterday of an Iranian opposition group accused of links to terrorism, rounding up 165 members and seizing US$1.3mil in American currency. On the orders of France's leading anti-terrorism judge, some 1,300 police poured into the streets and blew down doors of offices of the People's Mujahideen of Iran in a vast sweep early yesterday of sites north and west of Paris," reported the AP news agency.
"Men named David Nelson are having a hard time travelling in the United States these days because their name crops up on a security watch list. The Transportation Security Administration reportedly denied the name was on a watch list and blamed a glitch in the name-matching technology airlines use for heightened security checks after the Sept 11, 2001 attacks," reported the dpa news agency.
"A former House of Commons leader, Robin Cook, accused the British government yesterday of making selective use of intelligence information to justify its decision to go to war with Iraq," reported the AP news agency.
"The US army has rounded up more than 400 people as part of Operation Desert Scorpion, the biggest military operation to root out armed resistance from Saddam Hussein diehards in Iraq since the end of the war. Paul Bremer, the top US civilian in Iraq, insisted yesterday after the latest raids that attacks against US troops would not stop coalition forces from rebuilding post-war Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas held separate meetings with leaders of the main Islamic militant groups in Gaza on Wednesday to persuade them to stop attacks against Israelis, a day after gunmen killed a 7-year-old Israeli girl in a highway ambush. In a two-hour meeting with Hamas leaders, Abbas pressed for a halt to all attacks, but Hamas insisted on its right to target Israeli soldiers and settlers in the West Bank, said Hamas official Ismail Abu Shanab. However, he said, serious discussions were underway," reported the AP news agency.
"U.S. forces have captured Saddam Hussein's top aide and presidential secretary, a man who American officials believe knows the fate of the deposed Iraqi leader and has information about banned weapons. Abid Hamid Mahmud al-Tikriti was No. 4 on the U.S. most-wanted list of Iraqi leaders, behind only Saddam and sons Qusai and Odai. It provided no details on the operation that led to his capture, nor did it say precisely where he was taken," reported the AP news agency.
"Iranian President Mohammad Khatami said Wednesday that Iran was not trying to build nuclear weapons but that he expected the international community to recognize his country's right to acquire advanced peaceful nuclear technology. Iran insists its nuclear program is for peaceful, electrical power purposes, and accuses Washington of using its influence to block that technology," reported the AP news agency.
"Hundreds of Iranians demanding more freedom demonstrated for the eighth consecutive night early yesterday and scores of protesters were arrested and some injured in rallies in seven cities. Iran's government and most parliamentary deputies accused the United States of blatant interference in Iran's internal affairs. But demonstrators said they were not on the streets for the sake of Washington," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The United Nations nuclear watchdog began yesterday its debate of a damning report on Iran's failure to comply with nuclear safeguards obligations amid allegations Teheran is seeking to acquire nuclear weapons," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The US case was seemingly bolstered on Tuesday by an Iranian exile opposition group, which released information it said came from reliable sources inside Iran who had already given accurate tip-offs about facilities that Iran later declared to the IAEA," reported the Reuters news agency.
"An Iranian woman who set herself on fire here yesterday in protest at a French crackdown on the Iranian armed opposition group, the People's Mujahedeen, has died of her injuries. Marzieh Babakhani, a political refugee living here, had suffered severe burns to her face and chest after spraying herself with petrol and igniting it," reported the AFP news service.
"Israel has agreed to curb track-and-kill operations against Palestinian militants in a deal struck with US officials to help them salvage a new peace plan torn by violence. But security sources said Israel would now target only militants identified as likely to carry out a suicide bombing or other attack imminently, not top political figures," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Police have charged two people with turning three Indonesian women into sex slaves as the government came under mounting pressure to stamp out an industry estimated to involve 1,000 women nationwide. A court heard yesterday that the three were lured with the offer of jobs in bars or restaurants but then made to work as prostitutes," reported the Reuters news agency.
"An ancient burial box purported to have held the bones of Jesus' brother, James, is a fake.The ossuary, which bore the inscription James, son of Joseph, brother of Jesus, had been touted by some scholars as the oldest archaeological link to New Testament figures. But Israeli officials said its inscriptions date from modernity and called them forgeries," reported the AP news agency.
"The United States and several African nations are busy looking for a Boeing 727 passenger jet stolen in Angola last month, fearing it could fall into terrorist hands. The CIA and the State Department have joined in the continent-wide search for the aircraft US authorities said was likely stolen from the airport in Luanda as part of a business dispute or financial scam," reported the AFP news service.
"War and lawlessness have driven Afghanistan to become the world's largest opium producer, and the poppy production is unlikely to fall significantly this year despite a government ban on the crop, the head of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime said. Antonio Maria Costa on Tuesday warned the UN Security Council that the government's commitment to eliminate drug production by 2013 and prohibit the drug trade will only succeed if security and stability spread throughout the country," reported the AP news agency.
"US security concerns have clashed with Iraq's traditional culture in a potentially volatile flap over American men frisking Iraqi women. The issue is being talked about throughout the country – in homes and cafes and during sermons by religious readers at Friday prayers," reported the AP news agency.
"William Beeman, an anthropologist who heads Middle East studies at Brown University, condemned any searches of women by men as extraordinarily ignorant and offensive to Muslims, who may view the searches as a violation of a woman's honour. Rather than preventing violence, the practice could spark more clashes, said Juan Cole, a history professor and Mideast specialist at the University of Michigan," reported the AP news agency.
"US troops fired on protesters in Baghdad Wednesday, killing a former Iraqi soldier, as a British minister warned that lack of security 10 weeks after the fall of Baghdad was hampering rebuilding efforts. One of the protesters, Essam Mansur Hussein, a 49-year-old officer under the ousted regime, warned that they were now prepared to take up arms against the US troops occupying the city," reported the AFP news service.
"A group calling itself the Iraqi Resistance Brigades claimed responsibility for all attacks against the occupation forces in Iraq since the end of the war, Qatar's Al-Jazeera satellite TV channel reported. In a statement screened by Al-Jazeera, the group denied that the spate of attacks on US troops in recent weeks was the work of loyalists to the deposed regime of Saddam, whom it described as an enemy," reported the AFP news service.
"Seeking to learn the lessons of the West's deep disarray over Iraq, an EU summit will this week consider for the first time a US-style security strategy to deal with international crises in the future," reported the AFP news service.
"This week's agreement on WMDs, and the possible use of force, was seen by some as a move towards US thinking, and also proof of Europe's keen desire for reconciliation with Washington. That desire may even extend to acceding to US requests to discuss the thorny problem of the International Criminal Court, which the US feared could jeopardise its troops," reported the AFP news service.
"An Iranian dissident group may have planned attacks on Teheran's embassies in Europe, France said on Wednesday following a round-up of dissidents which prompted three Iranian exiles to set themselves ablaze. The three exiles were badly burned after setting fire to themselves during a day-long protest against Tuesday's mass round-up by French authorities of dissidents opposed to Islamic rule in Teheran," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The UN nuclear monitoring agency urged Iran yesterday to allow continued inspections of its suspect facilities and desist from enriching nuclear fuel – a key step in making atomic arms.
"In a statement endorsed by the United States and other agency members, the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency said it expected Iran to grant the agency all access deemed necessary by the agency to defuse suspicions that Teheran was operating a clandestine nuclear weapons programme," reported the AP news agency.
"US President George W. Bush said on Wednesday that the United States will not quietly stand by while Iran develops nuclear weapons and urged the rest of the world to do the same," reported the dpa news agency.
"A suicide bomber blew himself up in an Israeli grocery store yesterday, killing one man, despite an intense push by Palestinian and international leaders to persuade militant groups to end such attacks. Several hours later, Israeli paratroopers and police began dismantling the West Bank settlement outpost of Mitzpeh Yitzhar, the first inhabited Jewish outpost it has targeted in accordance with a new peace plan," reported the AP news agency.
"Authorities in a small mid-western town, Benton Harbour, Michigan, rocked by two nights of rioting imposed a curfew on all residents under 17 on Wednesday as the town's mayor appealed for calm. The curfew was accompanied by a large show of force as officials acted to head off what they feared might be a third night of violence following the death of a young black motorcyclist in the culmination of a high-speed police chase," reported the AFP news service.
"Rights group Amnesty International said on Wednesday The United States annually locks up over 5,000 children who enter the country illegally and alone, often holding them in harsh conditions without access to lawyers, Some were jailed with criminals, strip-searched, shackled and physically abused, in violation of international accords and of a 1985 US court ruling that children in immigration custody must be treated with dignity, respect and special concern for their vulnerability as minors," reported the Reuters news agency.
"According to a study released on Wednesday.Britain suffered more losses due to shoplifting over the past year than any other European nation," reported the AFP news service.
"Nearly a third of Australians rely on alcohol, prescription medicine and illegal drugs each day to help them cope with psychological stress. The alarming figures were discovered after researchers at the Australia Institute studied data gathered during a national health survey last year. Institute chief Dr Clive Hamilton said it was a worrying trend," reported the AFP news service.
"Three more Iranians set themselves on fire yesterday in European capitals to protest a crackdown on an exile group in France, and Paris police detained nearly 100 people to prevent further attempts at self-immolation," reported the AP news agency.
"A genetic designer baby has been born in Britain to a couple desperate to cure their young son who has a rare form of anaemia, rekindling debate over the ethics of stem-cell research," reported the AFP news service.
"Convicted rapist Andrew Luster, heir to a US cosmetics empire, was arrested on Wednesday in Mexico, ending almost half a year on the run after he skipped bail during his trial," reported the dpa news agency.
"Afghanistan is at risk of reverting to control by warlords and the United States of suffering a defeat in the “war on terrorism” unless Washington strengthens the Kabul government, a non-governmental report said on Wednesday. It recommended the Bush administration bolster President Hamid Karzai and quickly build more international support for economic, diplomatic and security reconstruction," reported the Reuters news agency.
"One of the lead authors, Frank Wisner, a former US ambassador to India, said US credibility was on the line and if Washington did not get it right in Afghanistan it will be a lot harder to convince others to work with us to get it right in Iraq. The authors said the Bush administration policy of excluding US troops from peacekeeping responsibilities outside Kabul fails to address the growing security challenge that the Karzai government faces," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Canada banned three Sikh militant groups as terrorist organisations on Wednesday, including one allegedly linked to the 1985 bombing of Air India Flight 182," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A truck driver with ties to al-Qaeda who was allegedly involved in plots to blow up an aircraft and sabotage the Brooklyn Bridge, pleaded guilty to two felony charges. None of the planned attacks occurred," reported the AP news agency.
"Attackers fired a rocket propelled grenade at a US military ambulance, killing a soldier and injuring two others yesterday, a US military spokesman said. It was the third reported attack on US personnel or their offices in the past 24 hours," reported the AP news agency.
"A mortar shell slammed into a coalition-run humanitarian aid office north of here, killing an Iraqi and wounding 12 others, the latest of several attacks targeting Iraqis working with US forces, the military said yesterday. No US forces were hurt," reported the AP news agency.
"The United States insists die-hard supporters of Saddam Hussein are behind a spate of deadly attacks on US troops – but many Iraqis believe American blunders are more to blame. They argued it was heavy-handed American raids, along with the failure to restore basic services, that were fuelling the violence and insecurity, not Saddam loyalists," reported the Reuters news agency.
"President George W. Bush nominated an Arab-American general to replace General Tommy Franks as commander of US forces in Iraq and elsewhere in a region that stretches from Egypt to Afghanistan," reported the AFP news service.
"War crimes lawsuits have been filed in Belgium against eight top officials including US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Apart from Bush and Blair, the officials named in the suits were US Secretary of State Colin Powell, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, Rumsfeld's deputy Paul Wolfowitz, Attorney-General John Ashcroft, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and General Tommy Franks, who led US forces in Iraq. Bush, Rumsfeld, Ashcroft, Rice and Wolfowitz were also accused over the US-led campaign in Afghanistan that toppled the Taliban regime. But the Belgian government has refused to handle the cases, referring them on to the US and British governments," reported the AFP news service.
"A rocket-propelled grenade slammed into an electrical transformer near US troops in Fallujah, injuring two soldiers and sending a tower of flame into the night sky," reported the AP news agency.
"American combatants in Iraq shot people in civilian clothes, killed the wounded and left Iraqis to die on the battlefield, US soldiers told the British Evening Standard newspaper on Thursday. There was no dilemma when it came to shooting people who were not in uniform, I just pulled the trigger. If they were there, they were enemy, whether in uniform or not. Some were, some weren't, Specialist Corporal Michael Richardson told the daily newspaper. Sergeant John Meadows said the soldiers've already seen psychiatrists and the chain of command has got letters back saying these men need to be taken out of this situation, but nothing happened," reported the AFP news service.
"Iran's nuclear chief welcomed a statement by the UN nuclear watchdog on Thursday, saying it amounted to a victory for Iran over the United States," reported the AP news agency.
"While Iran denies it seeks a nuclear bomb, prominent Iranian analyst Saeed Leylaz believes his country does want nuclear weapons as a deterrent, saying The United States attacked Iraq because it didn't have nuclear weapons, but Washington didn't attack North Korea because it's already suspected of having an atomic bomb," reported the AP news agency.
"Protests against Iran's clerical establishment appeared to have ended yesterday with no reports of demonstrators gathering in the capital for a 10th night," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Human torches ignited around Europe this week are dramatising to the world the struggle of Iran's main armed opposition group, but Iranians and Western governments have little time for the rebels and their cause," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US Secretary of State Colin Powell called the militant group Hamas an enemy of peace during a troubleshooting mission to the Middle East yesterday and appealed for urgent action to prop up a battered peace plan," reported the Reuters news agency.
