"Israeli soldiers snatched at least one Palestinian militant from a hospital in the West Bank yesterday in a raid launched after three soldiers were killed in an attack in the Gaza Strip. The arrest followed a week of escalated violence which dealt a further blow to a US-backed peace plan that has failed to gain momentum since its June launch," reported the Reuters news agency.
"North Korea's foreign ministry said yesterday it was ready to consider US President George W. Bush's offer of a written security assurance in return for dismantling the communist country's nuclear programme," reported the AFP news service.
"Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes on Friday as a raging wildfire fanned by fierce winds crept into residential areas north-east of Los Angeles," reported the AFP news service.
"Muslims across the Middle East are rushing to stock up on dates, dried fruit, pistachios and other delicacies for Ramadan but price increases in several countries are making shopping harder. Average Egyptians are complaining that they are having trouble paying for the food which is served at the evening iftar, or breakfast, and sahur, the last meal before dawn," reported the AFP news service.
"The two sons of Britain's Princess Diana launched an unprecedented attack on her former butler on Friday, accusing him of a “cold and overt betrayal” of their mother in his new book. Princes William, 21, and Harry, 19, said that Diana, who died in a 1997 car crash in Paris, would have been mortified at a string of revelations by her ex-butler Paul Burrell," reported the AFP news service.
"The report that Diana had feared there was a plot to kill her prompted Egyptian-born tycoon Mohammed Al Fayed, the father of Diana's lover Dodi Fayed, who also died in the 1997 car crash in Paris, to call for an independent public inquiry. But that was ruled out by the British government on Tuesday," reported the AFP news service.
"Sealing a miserable week for the royal family, one of Prince Charles's most senior former aides claims that the heir to the British throne is a weak figure who lacks self-belief and is incapable of standing up to his courtiers. Mark Bolland, the prince's former deputy private secretary, claimed in his first newspaper interview that Charles was indirectly responsible for the airing of the embarrassing revelations in former butler Paul Burrell's book because he failed to stop his prosecution for alleged theft of Diana's possessions," reported the Guardian.
"A Moscow court ordered the arrest and detention yesterday of Russia's richest man on fraud and tax evasion charges, after prosecutors hauled him in for interrogation from a Siberian airport," reported the AFP news service.
"Most Iraqis regard the US-led forces in their country as occupiers rather than liberators, with many more now taking that view than did so just after US troops overthrew Saddam Hussein in April, according to a poll. The survey by Iraq's Centre For Research and Strategic Studies, a think tank set up by a group of Iraqi professors after Saddam's fall, also showed only a small portion of Iraqis felt safest in the presence of US troops or local police," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Five US soldiers were wounded in Iraq yesterday in a rocket attack on a Black Hawk helicopter near Saddam Hussein's home town of Tikrit. As the aircraft blazed on the ground within sight of a major US base, said that a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) hit it in the air. But a US military spokesman here said it was unclear what brought it down, only that RPGs were fired on the wreck," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Coalition authorities announced yesterday plans to lift the curfew and re-open a major bridge here to ease conditions for Iraqis ahead of Ramadan, despite continued violence. Meanwhile, US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz said he was hopeful that American troops would get more money to train Iraqis to assume a greater role in security as they fight resistance forces," reported the AP news agency.
"Two thousand South Korean workers, students and activists rallied here yesterday to protest their government's decision to send more troops to Iraq. Also yesterday, North Korea called the South's decision little short of selling out the sovereignty and the interests of the country and the nation," reported the AP news agency.
"Rice farmer Nguyen Dam still remembers the day when 10 elderly farmers were gunned down by American soldiers while tending their fields in July 1967 during the Vietnam War. The killings in the central Vietnam village were among the biggest atrocities committed against civilians in the province by an elite US army unit known as the Tiger Force for their striped camouflage uniforms," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Anti-American guerillas blasted the hotel where US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying here with a barrage of rockets yesterday, but the number two Pentagon official survived unharmed. The brazen attack killed a US soldier but a defiant Wolfowitz vowed that the United States would not be cowed into abandoning Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Angry at US occupation, Iraqis expressed regret at what they saw as an assassination attempt which had failed. I wish Wolfowitz had been killed. I wish all Americans here would be killed. The Americans are not human beings, they are monsters. They lied to the Iraqi people, said Ali Hussein, a grocer in central Baghdad. Escalating guerilla violence in Iraq has eroded President George W. Bush's popularity among Americans worried at the rising US death toll," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Israeli troops blew up scores of apartments in Gaza city yesterday after three soldiers were killed as they guarded a nearby Jewish settlement. Some 2,000 Palestinian residents living nearby were evacuated from their homes as three 13-storey buildings in the town of Al-Zahara were dynamited in a single massive explosion," reported the AFP news service.
"What the Israeli army has done this morning – destroying three housing projects – is a war crime and a major violation of the Geneva Convention, Erakat said. However, the Israelis were unrepentant, with one senior source saying that plans to demolish the buildings had been drawn up 11 months ago but had been put on hold to allow the Palestinian Authority (PA) time to stop militants from using them as observation posts," reported the AFP news service.
"Syria will strike back if Israel attacks again, and could hit Israeli settlements in the Golan Heights, Foreign Minister Farouq al-Shara said in a British Sunday newspaper interview," reported the Reuters news agency.
"year from the US presidential election, books condemning George W. Bush and his administration are thriving. Opposition pundits have their political lie detectors fixed permanently on Bush's speeches and statements. The alarms go off regularly, feeding the anti-Bush books that are riding high in the US bestseller list but without appearing to upset the president's hardcore Republican supporters," reported the AFP news service
"Some 25,000 protesters rallied on Saturday in US cities against the US-led occupation of Iraq, demanding troops be brought home and labelling President George W. Bush a liar. Among those who spoke at the rally near the White House were Democratic presidential contender Al Sharpton and former US attorney-general Ramsey Clark. Clark demanded that Bush be impeached, saying the president has made us international outlaws," reported the AFP news service
"US infants are eating fattening foods such as french fries and drinking soft drinks instead of milk, which may help explain the country's growing obesity problem. A survey of the eating habits of 3,000 youngsters aged four to 24 months found their diets were surprisingly similar to that of older children – heavy on soft drinks, sweet candy, and other junk foods, and light on vegetables and fruits," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prince William and Prince Harry want to meet Paul Burrell, the former royal butler, because they believe that he is still in possession of secrets not included in his new book. Prince Charles and his sons fear that Burrell has an inside knowledge of more highly sensitive events that took place during his two decades of royal service," reported the Sunday Telegraph.
"Emergency teams in southern Russia spent the night digging a tunnel to free 13 coal miners trapped underground but hopes for their survival were fading yesterday as water kept gushing into the mine," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Attacking by land, sea, and air, police raided a slain gang leader's slum on Monday and arrested a dozen of his cronies in retaliation for a police station attack the day before," reported the AP news agency.
"Authorities in an Outback tourist town remained on alert Tuesday, after two wild fires in four days destroyed a luxury hotel and forced guests to flee for safety at the local airport. The fires raged through the town of Yulara, the resort outpost close to Uluru, the giant red rock in central Australia also known as Ayers Rock. Nobody was injured but the fires caused millions of dollars worth of damage," reported the AP news agency.
"Firestorms roared through California yesterday, after killing at least 13 people, forcing tens of thousands from their homes and disrupting air travel across North America, officials said. US President George W. Bush promised federal resources to help fight the flames. He said his office had assured Governor Gray Davis and other lawmakers that the federal government will provide all resources necessary at the request of the state to work and fight these fires," reported the AFP news service.
"Muslims in the Middle East mark the holy fasting month of Ramadan this year in a sombre mood amid warnings of imminent militant attacks in the birthplace of Islam. In the Palestinian territories, Ramadan began on a sombre note after last week's Israeli air strikes in Gaza that killed 13 Palestinians, including militants and civilians," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday backed prosecutors who arrested Russia's richest tycoon, but sought to calm fears that the move could herald a reversal of post-Soviet privatisation and threaten democracy," reported the AP news agency.
"European Union officials expressed outrage after a bomb exploded yesterday outside the international Red Cross buildings in Baghdad but said security in Iraq was not out of control," reported the AP news agency.
"Acting on a complaint from Adel Smith, a Muslim activist who did not want his two children to see crucifixes at their primary school, a court in the central city of L'Aquila said on Saturday the symbols had to go. He said, I have no fight with the crucifix. I have simply been granted a constitutional right that religious symbols should not be on display in the classroom where my children study. Italian government ministers and cardinals lined up to defend the presence of crucifixes in Italy's classrooms on Sunday after a judge ruled that a school should remove crosses from its walls," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Around 10,000 students thronged the streets here on Sunday in a demonstration against a controversial government plan to treble the cost of studying at many universities," reported the AFP news service.
"A New Jersey couple on Sunday faced charges of starving their four adopted sons, aged nine to 19, authorities said, in a case that has raised fresh questions about the state's child welfare system. The boys, who suffered from stunted growth, rotten teeth and distended bellies, were surviving by supplementing their meagre diet of uncooked pancake batter and oatmeal with chips of paint and pieces of wall insulation," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Paul Burrell, the former butler condemned by princes and much of the press for his tell-all book about Princess Diana, says the royal family could have stopped the project simply by giving him more attention. Charges and counter charges over the weekend gave a final burst of publicity for the book, "A Royal Duty", which went on sale yesterday," reported the AP news agency.
"Left-leaning politicians from around the world worked Tuesday on a declaration against U.S.-style regime changes and the spread of unfettered capitalism. Speakers at the 22nd Socialist International Congress criticized a new world order where rich countries and corporations benefit while the planet's legions of poor only grow larger," reported the AP news agency.
"Malaysia has brushed aside a US Senate decision on Monday to place restrictions on some American aid as a way of showing American displeasure over remarks by Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad that Jews control the world by proxy. Asked whether the Government was worried with the development, Dr Mahathir said there was no reason to be unduly worried. He said Malaysia did not need the kind of military training provided by the US," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Dr Mahathir said what the US Senate was trying to do was to dictate to the world what to do and what not to do. With his legendary sarcasm, he said: We are run by the US Senate. It is not good having our own elections. Better vote in the US election, then we can be sure to get the right representatives," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"An army of 10,000 firefighters struggled yesterday to contain the worst wildfires in California in years, keeping a wary eye on unpredictable winds that could change course at any moment and whip the flames toward suburban neighbourhoods," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Lebanese army said on Monday it had agreed with Syria on ways to confront enemy threats, hours after Israel and Hizbollah guerrillas traded fire in the latest sign of rising tensions with the Jewish state. Syrian Chief of Staff Lt-Gen Hasan Turkmani, who earlier this month put the Syrian armed forces on alert against any new Israeli attack, held meetings on Monday with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud and top military officials," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A paediatrician was arrested after thousands of images of child pornography were found on his computers, federal prosecutors said on Monday. Dr H. Marc Watzman, 37, allegedly also had a hidden panel in his car that contained drugs such as morphine, compounds used to induce unconsciousness and a substance used to induce temporary muscular paralysis," reported the AP news agency.
"Australia has started withdrawing troops from the Solomon Islands as a multinational peacekeeping mission restores law and order in the South Pacific island nation," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The United States said yesterday it had credible information of a threat of attacks on aviation and other Western interests in Saudi Arabia. It also said Americans should defer non-essential travel to the Gulf Arab state, the world's largest oil exporter," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A suicide bomber killed himself and at least four more people in Iraq yesterday. Faris al-Assam, the deputy mayor of Baghdad, was killed in a drive-by shooting on Sunday night," reported the Reuters news agency.
"President George W. Bush blamed both loyalists to Saddam Hussein and foreign terrorists for the recent rash of devastating attacks in and around Baghdad. Speaking nearly six months after he declared major combat operations to have ended in the wartorn country, Bush denied that he was surprised at the continuing level of violence," reported the AP news agency.
"US troops and Iraqis were still collecting body parts around the blasted Red Cross headquarters in Baghdad yesterday, 24 hours after suicide bombers killed 35 people there and at three police stations. The bombings, in which a US soldier died, followed the killing of three US troops on Sunday night and the death of another in a rocket attack on Sunday on a Baghdad hotel where US Deputy Defence Secretary Paul Wolfowitz was staying," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US President George W. Bush, seeking re-election next year amid growing criticism over his Iraq policy, vowed not to retreat after the apparently co-ordinated attacks and said the success of the US-led forces had triggered a violent response," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Some Security Council diplomats have criticised the CPA for shrouding the fund in secrecy since it was first set up in May – as an account at the US Federal Reserve Bank of New York, rather than at the Central Bank of Iraq, as specified by the resolution. Iraq's US administration, under fire for secrecy in its handling of Iraqi oil money, released figures on Monday showing proceeds of US$1.4bil from oil sales since Saddam Hussein's ouster," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Wildfires threaten California mountain towns as weather changes; death toll up to 18. The fires have burned more than 620,000 acres (248,000 hectares) and destroyed 1,800 homes. More than 12,000 firefighters and support crew were fighting what Governor Gray Davis said may be the worst and costliest disaster California has ever faced. He estimated the cost at $2 billion so far," reported the AP news agency.
"At least 18 people have died in a wave of wildfires that has destroyed 2,000 homes in southern California and spread into neighbouring Mexico, officials said on Tuesday. Around 217,200ha of land was burned up by 14 fires that have engulfed vast swathes of the state, notably around San Diego and in San Bernardino. The fires were also affecting the northern Mexican city of Tijuana, and at Ensenada where two of the victims died after fire crossed the international border on Saturday," reported the AFP news service.
"Civilian office workers, bus drivers and cooks were dressed up as police during the operation to protect US President George W. Bush when he visited the Australian capital last week, senior officers said yesterday. Police acknowledged as correct a report in the Canberra Times newspaper yesterday that 46 civilians who work in police stations were dressed as police officers during the visit. But Australian Federal Police commissioner Mick Keelty denied the claims by the newspaper that it was to back up police numbers which were stretched by the massive security operation," reported the AP news agency.
"Two American soldiers were killed when their Abrams battle tank was damaged by resistance fighters and seven Ukrainian soldiers were hurt in the first ambush of a multinational unit in the Polish sector south of Baghdad. It was believed to be the first M1 Abrams main battle tank destroyed since the end of major combat on May 1," reported the AP news agency.
"The traditionally neutral Red Cross, reeling from a devastating car bomb attack on its Baghdad headquarters, said yesterday it would pull some foreign staff out of Iraq but would continue to operate there," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The war with Iraq is making many Americans less comfortable about President George W. Bush's ability to handle other big problems, a poll says," reported the AP news agency.
"US President George W. Bush told ambassadors from Muslim states that his administration does not tolerate anti-Muslim bigotry, but he stopped short of condemning a senior Pentagon official for his anti-Muslim remarks. Several Muslim-American leaders, who were not invited to the Ramadan dinner at the White House, protested outside the gates by holding their own breaking of fast and rally," reported the Reuters news agency.
"CAIR, America's largest Islamic civil liberties group, called the White House event window dressing, while the Muslim American Society criticised Bush for not reassigning Lt-Gen William Boykin for his anti-Muslim remarks. Society spokesman Raeed Tayeh said Bush might be going easy on Lt-Gen Boykin for fear of upsetting his religious (Christian) right base," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Lt-Gen Boykin, an evangelical Christian, sparked an international uproar by giving speeches while in uniform referring to the US war on terrorism as a battle with Satan as the enemy, and saying Islamic radicals wanted to destroy America because we're a Christian nation
"Several Muslim-American groups criticised Bush's handling of the controversy. There are strong forces inside the administration and outside the administration seeking to marginalise the American Muslim community and unfortunately those voices are being listened to, said CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper. Bush has also come under fire from Muslims over what they see as heavy-handed law enforcement tactics used in the campaign against terrorism and unbalanced US policies in the Middle East," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Neither a full-on military response by US forces nor even the killing of ousted Iraqi president Saddam Hussein will be enough to halt a series of bloody attacks in Iraq, French international relations experts say. And for these experts, the Iraqi governing council is resented as an institution in the service of the United States that represents Iraq very badly in the eyes of the Iraqisand thus has been incapable of establishing their credibility," reported the AFP news service.
"Rebel MPs within Britain's main opposition Conservative Party on Tuesday forced a vote of confidence in their leader Iain Duncan Smith, blaming him for the Tories' inability to exploit the woes of Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair. If the embattled Duncan Smith failed to garner a simple majority among all 163 Conservative members of parliament during the vote yesterday, he would be forced to step aside while his party sought another chief," reported the AFP news service.
"The press here reported yesterday that the Kremlin's powerful chief of staff has resigned in protest over the arrest of a top oil tycoon in a widening political scandal on the eve of Russian parliamentary elections. The Vedomosti business daily said President Vladimir Putin had accepted Alexander Voloshin's resignation on Monday after meeting with top Kremlin officials," reported the AFP news service.
"A group of senators on Tuesday urged the government to immediately withdraw Thai troops from Iraq, fearing they could become victims of bomb attacks following the string of blasts that shook Baghdad earlier in the week. Kraisak Choonhavan, chairman of the Senate committee on foreign affairs, said the panel was seriously concerned about the situation in Iraq and wanted Thai military personnel posted there to return home as soon as possible," reported the Nation and the Asia News Network.
"A former mobster has turned himself in to police for shooting and seriously injuring an American marine in the western Japanese city of Hiroshima. The suspect, Tomoyuki Matsumoto, 37, showed up at Hiroshima Higashi police station on Tuesday, saying he had shot the American who was walking down the street with fellow servicemen in a bar district on Sunday," reported the AFP news service.
"A banner proclaiming mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier where President George W. Bush declared an end to major combat in Iraq came back to haunt him on Wednesday as the death toll rises. Bush's attempt to explain the banner at a press conference on Tuesday only heightened the controversy, with the White House attempting to dig itself out. Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota, asked by reporters about the incident, called it one of the most significant embarrassments of the entire Iraq experience so far. The administration said that the navy called for it, and that was a fabrication because they then later acknowledged that it was the White House who created the banner," reported the AP news agency.
"Faced with an increasingly organised enemy and more combat deaths than during the war, US troops in Iraq were hunting yesterday a top former regime official suspected of masterminding an alliance between foreign fighters and Saddam loyalists. The troops were searching for former general Izzat Ibrahim al-Douri, who was officially number two to Saddam Hussein and apart from the ousted president is the highest ranking Iraqi on a US most-wanted list," reported the AFP news service.
"Noted US linguist and left-wing social critic Noam Chomsky said he was surprised at the failed US policy in Iraq, especially after such a relatively easy invasion. The 74-year-old Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor said it took real talent to botch things up as badly as the United States had in Iraq, especially in view of the prostrate state the country was after years of UN sanctions," reported the AFP news service.
"Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was questioned by police yesterday in two corruption investigations, Israeli media reported. Sharon, the third sitting prime minister to be investigated by police, has denied wrongdoing. Previous corruption inquiries against Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak were eventually dropped," reported the AP news agency.
"Fires engulfing swathes of California killed two more people on Wednesday, as firefighters battled to save entire towns from the flames which have devastated an area the size of a small US state. The latest deaths bring to 20 the confirmed death toll from one of the state's worst ever fire disasters that officials said was largely sparked by arsonists," reported the AFP news service.
"Ash and acrid smoke from raging wildfires clogged the region's skies, prompting fresh health warnings for children, pregnant women and asthma sufferers to stay indoors while hundreds of schools were closed until next week. Hollywood icon and California governor-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger visited the US Congress in Washington and pleaded for quick aid for fire victims after President George W. Bush declared a major disaster," reported the AFP news service.
"A Washington doctor warned that he has seen three children complain of headaches caused by the physical stress of relentlessly ploughing through the epic 870-page adventure. After ruling out other potential causes, Bennett told his patients to give their eyes a rest. But the spell cast by the book was clearly too powerful," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Britain's once mighty Conservative Party axed its leader on Wednesday and quickly sought to unite behind an old hand in the hope of mounting a challenge to Prime Minister Tony Blair. Iain Duncan Smith lost a vote of 165 Conservative Members of Parliament by 90 to 75, winning the humiliating distinction of not even getting the chance to fight a general election after two years in charge," reported the Reuters news agency.
"In Sidney, a man was found guilty yesterday of murdering his three children to punish their Philippines-born mother for leaving him. Steven Anthony Fraser, 35, was found guilty of drowning his sons Ryan, five, and Jarrod, four, in the bath of his apartment in 2001 after drugging them with the sedative mogadon. He strangled his daughter Ashley, seven, a day later after she had repeatedly thrown up the sedative," reported the AFP news service.
"The Russian state froze a controlling stake in oil giant Yukos yesterday in a dramatic escalation of a confrontation between the Kremlin and big business. Within an hour of the move by judicial authorities, President Vladimir Putin was reported by Russian news agencies to be in a meeting with foreign investors at the Kremlin," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Veteran right-winger and former minister Michael Howard launched a long-awaited bid yesterday for the leadership of Britain's flailing Conservative Party and pledged to head for the political centre ground to challenge Prime Minister Tony Blair. Having just ousted its ineffectual leader Iain Duncan Smith, the party of former greats Margaret Thatcher and Winston Churchill hopes to anoint Howard as a heavyweight who can restore the party's former glories," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Vietnamese mafia boss Nam Cam will face the firing squad after his appeal was rejected yesterday in the climax to an explosive scandal that exposed the links between organised crime and the communist regime," reported the AFP news service.
"Myanmar's military junta urged the United States yesterday to lift its misguided economic sanctions, saying the sanctions are forcing people into poverty and prostitution and could further destabilise the country. The sanctions – aimed at punishing the junta for detaining pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi – led to a loss of 40,000 jobs for young women, who now feel compelled to enter the “flourishing illegal sex and entertainment industry," reported the AP news agency.
