"Iraqi police have arrested four men in connection with the bombing of Iraq's most holy Shi'ite Muslim shrine, and all four have connections to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network," reported the AP news agency.
"Iraq's Shi'ite majority mourned yesterday for their revered Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim. In the holy city, thousands thronged the streets in anger, crying for revenge and denouncing the United States' failure to bring law and order to the country," reported the AFP news service.
"Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim had just delivered a sermon calling for Iraqi unity, and Friday prayers were under way at Iraq's holiest Shi'ite shrine when a car bomb exploded," reported the AP news agency.
"The assassination of leading Shiite cleric Ayatollah Mohammad Baqer al-Hakim in a deadly car bombing, the third in less than a month, has fuelled a growing impression that US troops are unable to stop the chaos and anarchy of post-war Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"Afghan President Hamid Karzai entered a vault at his Kabul palace to inspect a valuable treasure trove that has remained untouched through civil war and Taliban rule. If all of the gold and silver on the inventory is there, it could be worth US$90mil to the war-shattered country, said central bank governor Anwar-ul-Haq Ahady. That compares to total Afghan foreign exchange reserves of around US$600mil," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Afghan and US-led special forces have surrounded a group of Taliban fighters in the southern province of Zabul after another day of persistent bombardment of rebel positions," reported the Reuters news agency.
"An aged Russian nuclear submarine being towed to a scrapyard sank in a gale in the Barents Sea yesterday and the defence minister said nine of the 10 crew aboard died in the accident that raised concerns of environmental damage and further dented the deteriorating navy's prestige," reported the AP news agency
"Late night comic David Letterman was the latest to poke fun at the surreal politics of a state which even before its descent into the quagmire of a recall election had been regarded by everyone else in America as the world capital of weirdness. The New York funny man raised doubts about a recent poll that put the state's portly Lieutenant Governor ahead of the action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger," reported the dpa news agency.
"US authorities on Friday announced they had charged an 18-year-old in connection with the spread of the Blaster virus that hit hundreds of thousands of computers around the world. Parson admitted during an interview with FBI and Secret Service agents that he had modified the original Blaster infection earlier this month and created a version known by different names, including Blaster.B," reported the AFP news service.
"Idealistic young Americans and Europeans have long ventured to Latin America to try to make a difference building houses, vaccinating children or digging wells. But your average upper-middle-class Latin American was not noted for volunteer spirit or solidarity with the poor. Now a group of young Chileans who have built 18,000 shelters in six years for the poorest of the poor are inspiring their counterparts in other countries in the region to roll up their sleeves and do something about poverty," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The World Trade Organisation approved yesterday a deal to ensure poor countries have access to cheap drugs to fight killer diseases, resolving a long-standing dispute," reported the AFP news service.
"British newspapers hailed yesterday the departure of top government media handler Alastair Campbell as offering Prime Minister Tony Blair a chance to shake off a reputation for putting style before substance. They said Blair, in the midst of political turmoil over his policy on Iraq, should seize the moment and relaunch his government as he battles to regain the public's trust," reported the Reuters news agency.
"More than 300,000 outraged mourners yesterday began a funeral march in Baghdad for a cherished Shi'ite Muslim leader who was assassinated in a car bombing in Najaf that killed at least 85 people. Their journey was expected to last two days as they walked more than 180km from here to Najaf," reported the AP news agency.
"Bodyguards of firebrand Iraqi cleric Moqtada Sadr opened fire yesterday on a car at a checkpoint in the holy city of Najaf, killing two people and seriously wounding two others, according to hospital sources and relatives of the dead," reported the AFP news service.
"Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, the leading Shiite Muslim politician killed in a massive bomb attack in Najaf, accused US forces of not doing enough to maintain security in Iraq in an interview with Egypt's Al-Ahram newspaper a day before his death, published yesterday," reported the AFP news service.
"Osama bin Laden held a terror summit in Afghanistan to outline plans to use biological weapons in his next unbelievable attacks, according to Taliban sources quoted by Newsweek magazine yesterday. The magazine quoted senior Taliban officials as saying that Osama held his terror summit in a mountain stronghold in Afghanistan in April following the fall of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein," reported the AFP news service.
"Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov yesterday laid the blame for the sinking of a mothballed nuclear submarine in which nine sailors died on a characteristic Russian tendency for carelessness and trusting in chance. The submarine K-159, which had been decommissioned in 1989, sank on Saturday morning in a fierce storm in the Barents Sea while being towed to a scrapyard where its nuclear reactors were to be removed and dismantled," reported the AP news agency.
"Speaking late on Saturday at the opening of a four-day conference of the International Association of Lawyers here, the president of the association, Antoine Akl, said the veto right was totally unadapted to the current reality of international society. He said the changes were needed to enable the United Nations to function more effectively," reported the AFP news service.
"While Bible scholars might insist the wages of sin is death, one British brokerage firm has a somewhat different interpretation: It merely brings investment returns significantly above the stock market average. A so-called vice fund newly launched by London-based firm Willis Owen offers people the chance to increase their earthly possessions by staking money in sectors such as drinking, gambling, tobacco and defence," reported the AFP news service.
"Two U.S. soldiers from a military police brigade were killed in a roadside bomb attack on their convoy in southern Baghdad, the military reported Tuesday. The deaths bring to 70 the number of American forces killed in Iraq since May 1 when U.S. President George W. Bush declared an end to major fighting. In all 282 U.S. soldiers have died in the Iraq war, 147 of that number since the end of heavy fighting," reported the AP news agency.
"Hundreds of thousands of mourners converged on the holy city of Najaf Tuesday for the funeral of a beloved Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Mohammad Baqir al-Hakim, as the moderate ayatollah's son warned that Iraq was entering a dangerous, new period," reported the AP news agency.
"US President George W. Bush faced on Sunday growing calls from within his own party and from men running for his job to bring more international troops into Iraq, amid mounting US casualties and costs. The rising death toll for US troops caught Americans' attention this week, as the number of soldiers killed during the occupation topped the number killed during the war," reported the AFP news service.
"Arabic television channel Al Jazeera aired yesterday an audio tape purportedly from ousted Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in which he denied he or his followers were involved in last week's car bombing in Najaf," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraq's Governing Council yesterday announced the names of the 24 men and one woman who will act as ministers until elections are held, as the funeral march for Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim continued its three-day course towards it final resting place. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), meanwhile, said it would probe links between the bomb massacre in Najaf that killed the revered Muslim Shi'ite cleric and deadly attacks on the UN's headquarters and Jordan's embassy," reported the AFP news service.
"A withdrawal of British soldiers from Iraq is backed by 61% of Britons, with 29% saying the troops should be pulled out as soon as possible, according to an ICM poll published yesterday in The Mirror tabloid. The other 32% said the British soldiers should leave Iraq gradually but with a final date set, while a similar number said they should stay as long as necessary," reported the AFP news service.
"The widow of British weapons scientist David Kelly testified yesterday that her husband felt betrayed when the Defence Ministry allowed him to be named as the source of a BBC report that Prime Minister Tony Blair's government exaggerated the threat of Saddam Hussein's Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"Saudi militants, facing a clampdown at home long demanded by Washington, are heading to Iraq for a holy war against the American Satan, clerics and analysts said. thousands of Saudi veterans of the war against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in the 1980s, who at that time were supported by the government, were now being targeted," reported the Rueters news agency.
"American Muslim leaders, stung by the government's scrutiny of their community during the domestic hunt for terrorists, have pledged to express their anger at the polls. Leaders of the Islamic Society of North America announced plans on Sunday – during their annual meeting – to register a million Muslim voters and make civil rights a top issue in any endorsement of a presidential candidate," reported the AP news agency.
"After the Sept 11 attacks, Bush won points with American Muslims by visiting a mosque and declaring Islam a peaceful religion. But since then, the federal government has detained hundreds of immigrants, shut down US Muslim charities suspected of terrorist ties and gained broad new powers to monitor citizens under the USA Patriot Act," reported the AP news agency.
"A power struggle between Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and prime minister Mahmud Abbas has become so bitter that the two are no longer able to work together, according to the speaker of the Palestinian parliament," reported the AFP news service.
"In a landmark report on Israel's treatment of its Arab minority, a commission of inquiry found yesterday that police used excessive force in quelling Arab riots three years ago and that Israel's leaders badly underestimated the community's anger after decades of systematic discrimination," reported the news Agencies.
"France confirmed yesterday that Libya had agreed to pay Lockerbie-style compensation to the relatives of those killed in the 1989 bombing of a French airliner over Niger, a move expected to pave the way for the lifting of UN sanctions against Tripoli," reported the AFP news service.
"President Bush focused on the economy and national security on his first day back at work in the White House, and the administration said it was still struggling to come up with figures on the cost of rebuilding Iraq and the number of troops needed for the job. The president had no public appearances after his vacation," reported the AP news agency.
"A federal appeals court threw out more than 100 death sentences in the states of Arizona, Montana and Idaho on Tuesday because the inmates were sent to death row by judges instead of juries," reported the AP news agency.
"Devastating testimony by the widow of weapons expert David Kelly at an inquiry into her husband's death could be enough to seal the fate of Britain's embattled Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon," reported the AFP news service.
"Many foreign governments are offering stiff resistance to a United States drive to win funds to rebuild Iraq, The Washington Post said yesterday, quoting diplomats and aid officials," reported the AFP news service.
"Israel's hawkish defence minister Shaul Mofaz said yesterday that he was in favour of expelling Palestinian President Yasser Arafat, possibly by the end of the year, because he was complicating peace moves," reported the news Agencies.
"Brazilian women care more about their appearance than any other women in the world, with half prepared to undergo plastic surgery to keep their looks, a recent study shows," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Three firefighters have died in raging forest blazes near the Riviera resort of St Tropez as more than 1,000 of their colleagues battled to contain the latest fires to hit France's southern coast this summer," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A luxury cruise ship docked in Manhattan yesterday after 350 passengers and crew members came down with a gastrointestinal virus of the type that ruined a dozen cruises last year," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A bizarre crash between two trams and a bus caused rush-hour chaos in Australia's second-largest city yesterday and injured 25 people," reported the AFP news service.
"American R&B star Beyonce Knowles and British newcomer Terri Walker lead a record number of female nominees for the Music of Black Origin (Mobo) awards with four nominations each, organisers said late on Monday," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Saudi Arabia's de facto ruler, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, met Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday for historic talks aimed at easing tensions between two of the world's largest oil-exporting giants. Relations between the two countries have been undermined over past decades by the Soviet Union's war in Afghanistan, a nation supported by Riyadh, and by more recent concerns here that Saudi Arabia officials have had links with separatist rebels in the Russian republic of Chechnya," reported the AFP news service.
"A giant asteroid is heading for Earth and could hit in 2014, US astronomers have warned British space monitors. But for those fearing Armageddon, don't be alarmed, the chances of a catastrophic collision are just one in 909,000," reported the Reuters news agency.
"An Indonesian court jailed Abubakar Ba'asyir for four years on treason charges yesterday, but said there was not enough evidence to prove he led the radical Jemaah Islamiah network blamed for bombings in South-East Asia. Abubakar, wearing a white cap and shawl over a black jacket and sarong, urged his supporters before proceedings began to stay calm. Believe me, we will win, as long as we uphold God's law. My message is stay calm, let us show our Muslim behaviour, he said into a microphone when the panel of judges allowed him to make a statement before taking his seat," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat declared the road map for peace plan dead, only because of Israeli military aggression in recent weeks as his moderate premier and power rival Mahmud Abbas prepared yesterday for a crucial defence of his record before parliament," reported the AFP news service.
"The British Embassy here was closed yesterday morning after being hit by gunfire from the street. Some 20 police officers were deployed in front of the building following the shooting, which came amid rapidly deteriorating relations between the two countries," reported the AFP news service.
"A Polish-led force took over a chunk of central Iraq from US marines yesterday as Washington sought to relieve the burden on its troops by widening international participation in Iraq's security. The marines, in charge of the area for several months, handed over control of a south-central zone of Iraq to the Polish-led multinational force," reported the Reuters news agency.
"David Kelly, 59, ingested a potentially fatal dose of painkillers, about 30 tablets of coproxamol, 10 times the recommended dose, in addition to apparently slashing his left wrist, a toxicologist testified yesterday," reported the AP news agency.
"A federal appeals court on Tuesday overturned the death sentences of about 100 inmates in the western United States as it applied a recent US Supreme Court decision that juries and not judges must decide whether convicted criminals should be executed," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The United States' rocky economy sent 1.4 million more people into poverty last year, a US Census Bureau survey found. Nearly half of the newly impoverished were children. The increases in poverty were not out of the ordinary for a recession, and less severe than expected, said Sheldon Danzinger, co-director of the National Poverty Centre at the University of Michigan," reported the AP news agency.
"Bold plans by two British adventurers to ride the world's biggest balloon to the edge of space were foiled again yesterday when a helium leak was discovered an hour before ascent. The setback meant that Andy Elson and Colin Prescot's attempt to set a new world manned balloon altitude record 40km above Earth would be postponed for a second year running," reported the AFP news service.
"A transformer problem left at least four million people in five states without electricity on Tuesday, energy and civil protection officials said. The blackout occurred before dawn in Mexico's southern states of Yucatan, Campeche, Quintana Roo and parts of Tabasco and Chiapas," reported the Reuters news agency.
"SARS could re-emerge this fall as cold temperatures in the Northern Hemisphere allow respiratory illnesses to spread, international health experts and US intelligence officials say. Unlike the outbreak earlier this year, the next time the disease could take hold in countries without adequate public health systems, says a report by the National Intelligence Council, which comprises senior analysts who report to CIA chief George J. Tenet. While the World Health Organisation says all human chains of SARS transmission were stopped, the virus could still exist in animal populations and be retransmitted to humans," reported the AP news agency.
"Dr Tadeusz Petelenz, a researcher in Poland, said the technique, called cough CPR, forces blood to the brain while the heart is starting to fail and keeps patients conscious long enough to call for help. It may also rectify their heart rhythm, he told a meeting of the European Society of Cardiology. He recommended Cough CPR be taught to the public, but other experts said the concept needs more study," reported the AP news agency.
"Attorneys for Abubakar Ba'asyir, who was convicted of sedition but cleared of charges of heading a South-East Asian terror group, said yesterday the verdict was a compromise between foreign pressure for a conviction and insufficient evidence of serious wrongdoing," reported the news Agencies.
"Indonesia is given access to a top al-Qaida suspect in U.S. custody, police said Friday. Indonesia and other Southeast Asian countries have sought access to interrogate him, so far without success," reported the AP news agency.
"Taiwanese voters are equally split about how the island's tense and complicated relationship with China should be described," reported the AP news agency.
"Blasts shook a building in the West Bank city of Nablus as Israeli troops killed at least one suspected militant in a siege of the building early Friday, witnesses said. Troops were ambushed during an arrest raid, with Palestinians opening fire and throwing hand grenades, military sources said on condition of anonymity," reported the AP news agency.
"Britain is considering sending more troops to Iraq to bolster its forces after a string of attacks. Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon has ordered a review of troop levels, his ministry said, as concerns grow that British forces in the south of the country are becoming over-stretched. Hoon's review, announced yesterday, followed newspaper reports that Foreign Secretary Jack Straw has asked Prime Minister Tony Blair to send more troops to Iraq or risk strategic failure," reported the AP news agency.
"Brian Jones, a former official from the Defence Ministry's secretive intelligence wing, testified on Wednesday that British intelligence officials were worried that a government dossier on Iraq's weapons ahead of war was exaggerated and that significant concerns were ignored. Prime Minister Tony Blair's case for invading Iraq was in tattersafter Jones' damning evidence," reported the AFP news service.
"The United States faces tough negotiations on its proposed UN resolution that seeks troops and money from all nations for Iraq's post-war reconstruction but doesn't relinquish political or military control of the country. France, which led opposition to the war on Iraq, has made clear that if the United States wants to share the burden of restoring peace to Iraq, it must share information, authority and decision-making," reported the AP news agency.
"Democratic presidential hopeful John Kerry angrily denounced President George W. Bush as dead wrong on Iraq. Kerry, who voted in the US Senate for the war in Iraq but has since criticised Bush's handling of it, has taken political heat for trying to have it both ways," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, struggling to win more power from Yasser Arafat and push a US-backed plan for peace with Israel, called on Palestinian lawmakers yesterday to back him or sack him. Pledging his commitment to salvage the battered peace plan, Abbas sought new powers he sees as vital to diplomacy but which the Palestinian president has been reluctant to give him," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Some 27.3 million Americans have been victims of identity theft in the last five years, including 9.9 million people in the past year alone, according to a government report released on Wednesday. The survey suggests identity theft is a wider problem than had been believed," reported the AFP news service.
"California Governor Gray Davis bitterly criticised leading Republican rival Arnold Schwarzenegger on Wednesday for missing the first debate of an unprecedented recall vote at which the governor admitted mistakes while rivals vowed to do better," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Unrepentant and smiling, anti-abortion extremist Paul Hill died by lethal injection on Wednesday, becoming the first person executed in the United States for murdering an abortion doctor," reported the AFP news service.
"A key suspect in the Bali bomb attacks, Mukhlas, also called Ali Gufron, told an Indonesian court yesterday he was just a tiny terrorist and the world should worry more about US President George W. Bush and Washington's allies. He argued that there are still many big fish out there, like Ariel Sharon, Tony Blair and George Bush, if these terrorists are allowed to continue having their way, they will drop their nuclear bombs in the coming war, in the near future. His comments come the day after Indonesian Vice President Hamzah Haz, a conservative Muslim politician, branded America the terrorist king, in remarks at odds with Jakarta's support for the international war on terror," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Chinea's northeast province of Jilin will use corn to feed automobiles beginning from Oct 17, the result of a 3bil yuan project. According to local government sources, the project, launched two years ago, is aimed at mass-producing ethanol – also known as grain alcohol – from corn, and to commercialise it as auto fuel. This makes Jilin the pioneer province in popularising grain alcohol gasoline for auto use," reported the the China Daily.
