"Up to 24 people were killed and 146 wounded when car bombs shattered two synagogues here as worshippers celebrated the Jewish Sabbath yesterday. Turkish Interior Minister Abdulkadir Aksu said he could not rule out the possible involvement of Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda, which has been blamed for attacks on other Jewish targets in the past 18 months," reported the Reuters news agency.
"President George W. Bush promised on Friday the United States would stay in Iraq until it was free and peaceful as he sought to allay concerns from Congress he was trying to get out of Iraq too rapidly. Bush met Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi two days after 16 Italians were killed in southern Iraq in a suicide bombing that caused Italy's worst military losses since World War II," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The al-Qaeda terror network is determined to use chemical and biological weapons and is restrained only by the technical difficulties of doing so. rulers appear to be too limited to prevent them from obtaining weapons and explosives, said the report, obtained on Friday by The Associated Press," reported the AP news agency.
"A 5,000-strong police operation to ensure the safety of US President George W. Bush when he comes here next week will be unprecedented, Britain's most senior police officer said on Friday. Bush's state visit – the first ever by a US president – from Tuesday to Friday will take place amid fears of an attack by Islamic extremists and as campaigners against the conflict in Iraq predict that tens of thousands will take to the streets in a mass demonstration," reported the AFP news service.
"A federal judge said on Friday that accused Sept 11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui could no longer represent himself because he had violated her orders by filing repetitive motions with contemptuous language. She said the court-appointed lawyers who had been ordered to assist Moussaoui – and who had originally been appointed to be his attorneys – would again represent him," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Frank Dunham, the public defender who will head up Moussaoui's defence team, called the ruling a mixed blessing. It makes life harder and easier at the same time. It means you could be trying a case for a client who hates you. At the same time, you know your destiny," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A third person died on Friday and nearly 500 others who ate at a restaurant have fallen ill in the biggest known outbreak of hepatitis A in US history, making people so scared they are lining up by the thousands for vaccinations and no longer eating out. Health investigators are focusing on whether contaminated produce – perhaps scallions – caused the outbreak at a Chi-Chi's restaurant in the Beaver Valley Mall, about 40km northwest of Pittsburgh," reported the AP news agency.
"Fifty gay men and women went on a kissing demonstration in central Athens in protest against a 100,000 euro fine imposed by the Greek TV regulator for scenes in a drama that included a kiss between two men. The watchdog criticised the sexually charged language and portrayal of a relationship between gay men in the hit series Close Your Eyes, which deals with the lives of a group of 20-somethings," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Workmen scrambled to repair Bogota's upscale nightclub district Sunday after grenade explosions at two crowded bars frequented by foreigners killed one person and wounded at least 72 others in the first such attack by suspected rebels in the area. A white banner that read Never give in to the violent ones hung outside Palos de Moguer, one of the microbreweries targeted in the Saturday night attack. The owner urged his customers to keep frequenting the bar," reported the AP news agency.
"I was against the US troops during the war and I’m still against them,”, said the 27-year-old Yazer Muid, one of the policemen working side by side with the US troops at the mayor’s office. Yazer gets US$100 a month from the coalition forces but insists the money does not come from them. No, the Americans are not paying my salary. It is Iraqi money. I am not helping the Americans. I don’t even talk to them. I’m here to help the people in my area – just them," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Like many Iraqis working with the US troops, Yazer fears that he may become a target when the resistance groups go for those at the mayor’s office in this town 60km west of Baghdad. However, he makes a distinction between two groups of fighters – the mujahideen (freedom fighters) and the Saddam Fedayeen. The Saddam Fedayeen will shoot even us Muslims if we are with the Americans, so we are afraid of them, but the mujahideen are different – they don’t want to kill Iraqis. So if the mujahideen come to kill the US soldiers here, we won’t fight them. They are not coming to kill us, so we’ll let them do what they want," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, when he commented on the war against Iraq, at an international forum in Okinawa, Japan, last week, seated with former Soviet Union president Mikhail Gorbachev and representatives of several other nations, started his address by saying that the war on Iraq had nothing to do with weapons of mass destruction but domestic politics. The Sept 11 incident, he said, had made President George W. Bush extremely popular and he had to keep that up. While it was linked to Afghanistan initially, the United States later on, needed to find a new enemy so that Bush’s image in his country would still be good, the former premier said. Whatever the excuse, it still attacked Iraq. He (Bush) knew he would not find weapons of mass destruction, and if the weapons could not be found that could only mean Iraq was hiding them," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"US forces retrieved bodies and wreckage yesterday after at least 17 soldiers died when two Black Hawk helicopters crashed in this northern Iraqi city. The latest disaster for US forces, involving their single heaviest loss of life since the Iraq conflict began, occurred only hours after Washington set the country on a swifter passage to self-rule in a bid to calm Iraqi anger at occupation. But Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld insisted that US forces would not begin leaving when a transitional government takes power in June under a plan unveiled on Saturday by Iraq's US-appointed Governing Council," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Turkish police were combing through the wreckage of the deadly double synagogue bombings here that diplomats said yesterday bore the hallmarks of an al-Qaeda-type suicide attack. One diplomat familiar with the probe said Turkish police believed that suicide bombers had detonated giant bombs while driving trucks past the synagogues as Jewish worshippers were holding Sab- bath prayers," reported the AFP news service.
"Turkey's Jews have lived mostly in peace since their forefathers fled the Spanish Inquisition, but car bombs that struck two of their synagogues on Saturday underscore their vulnerability in the Muslim nation. The attacks killed at least 20 people and wounded more than 300 others, shaking the tiny community to its core. But many Jews said the bombings would not frighten them away from this city, their home for half a millennium," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US President George W. Bush said foreigners were fighting in Iraq because they wanted to install a Taliban-style government or were seeking revenge for getting whipped in Afghanistan," reported the Reuters news agency.
"With Bolivia's bloody popular revolt fresh in their minds, Latin American leaders meeting over the weekend faced up to their failure to fight poverty over the last 20 years when the region embraced free-market policies. As host of the annual summit of 19 Latin American countries, Spain and Portugal, Bolivia put poverty and unrest at the top of the agenda after violent protests by its own poor majority toppled a pro-market president and key US ally last month," reported the Reuters news agency.
"More than one in three Britons think George W. Bush is stupid and a majority branded the US president a threat to world peace, opinion poll results published yesterday showed. With widespread demonstrations being planned by protesters, British Prime Minister Tony Blair conceded that some opponents of US policy in Iraq are rubbing their hands at the scope for embarrassing him," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Israeli and Palestinian public were poring over the text of an alternative Middle East blueprint yesterday after copies were mailed out to households and the entire document was published in newspapers," reported the AFP service.
"Piyush Jindal narrowly lost his bid on Saturday to become governor of the southern US state of Louisiana and the first Indian-American governor in the history of the United States," reported the AFP service.
"A corruption probe was launched yesterday into a now-quashed electoral fraud conviction that temporarily put firebrand right-wing politician Pauline Hanson behind bars. Peter Beattie, premier of Queensland state, referred the case to the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC) last week after Hanson's conviction was overturned and Court of Appeal officials voiced concerns over her prosecution," reported the AFP news service.
"Armed police turned the British capital into “Fortress London” yesterday amid heightened fears of a guerilla attack on the eve of a visit by US President George W. Bush. Tens of thousands plan to demonstrate against Bush, whose decision to invade Iraq was opposed by a majority of Britons, though backed by staunch US ally Prime Minister Tony Blair. A YouGov poll showed just what poor regard Bush is held in by Britons. He was branded a threat to world peace by 60%, while 37% said he was stupid," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Queen Elizabeth rejected a request from President George W. Bush's security advisers to bolster Buckingham Palace's structural defences against a terrorist attack during his state visit to Britain this week. Senior courtiers say that the Queen was not willing to countenance bomb and airborne assault proofing which would have involved substantial building work at her London home," reported the Sunday Telegraph.
"Children, lawmakers, peace activists and anarchists are all planning to join protests against US President George W. Bush during his state visit beginning today. The rallies are expected to be loud, colourful – one plan is to pull down an effigy of Bush in Trafalgar Square in central London –and well organised," reported the AP news agency.
"This is the man who is in charge of the administration that's killed 8,000 Afghans and 10,000 Iraqis, said Ghada Razuki of the Stop the War Coalition. He is adding insult to injury by coming to our country and he's going to find out that he's not welcome," reported the AP news agency.
"Tokyo stocks opened lower Wednesday as investors were discouraged by overnight losses on Wall Street and the U.S. dollar's weakness against the Japanese yen," reported the AP news agency.
"George W. Bush and Tony Blair will mount a defiant show of solidarity after the US president flew to London yesterday for his first visit to a major European capital since war in Iraq polarised the world. Tens of thousands of protesters have vowed to give the president his first taste of European anger at the war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"In a key foreign affairs speech last week he said critics of the war should accept that Iraqis were better off without Saddam and denounced what he called a propaganda monster about America," reported the Reuters news agency.
"With the UN humanitarian programme for Iraq set to end at midnight tomorrow, the US-led coalition gave assurances that Iraqis will continue to receive the food that the majority of the population relies upon through June," reported the AP news agency.
"A Palestinian gunman, his rifle wrapped in a prayer mat, walked to a West Bank checkpoint and killed two Israelis at close range yesterday, just a day after both sides hinted a progress toward a truce and a quick Israel-Palestinian summit. In the Gaza Strip, troops raided a refugee camp, setting off a gun battle that wounded nine Palestinians, one critically," reported the AP news agency.
"The United Nations launched an appeal yesterday for governments to donate about US$3bilto ease humanitarian crises in 21 hot spots around the world next year. The annual appeal, launched every November, is intended to lessen the impact of humanitarian emergencies in countries particularly ill-equipped to deal with them and that never make it to the world's front pages," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A Saudi cleric detained this year for promoting al-Qaeda-style militancy has apologised for his radicalism, saying on television that suicide bombings and attacks against the kingdom were sinful. Sheikh Ali al-Khodeir said on Monday he had volunteered to speak out after realising that what he had preached was wrong," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The UN refugee agency began pulling foreign staff out of southern and eastern Afghanistan yesterday in the wake of the killing of a French worker, a decision that could affect hordes of Afghan returnees," reported the Reuters news agency.
"US forces used bombs, mortars and artillery to try to break guerilla resistance in Iraq yesterday. US commanders say they believe most of their adversaries are former members of Saddam's regime, although several hundred foreign Islamic militants may also be involved," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Some of the most violent criminals, including murderers, are to be taught non-criminal thinking in an attempt to subdue their violent behaviour. In the course, criminals will admit to their violent behaviour, learn anger management and non-criminal thinking, empathise with victims and learn to break their lifestyle cycle of crime," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Turkish media yesterday named and published photos of four foreign-trained Turkish Islamic militants they said were involved in the suicide bombings of two Istanbul synagogues that killed at least 25 people. But police held back from formally declaring the four as suspects until DNA testing of skin remnants was completed," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A jury on Monday found Gulf War veteran John Muhammad guilty of two counts of capital murder in last year's string of sniper shootings that killed 10 people and terrorised the Washington area. Muhammad was convicted of one of the killings and also on conspiracy and a weapons charge. He faces the death penalty or life in prison without parole," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Japan has issued a warning to its nationals travelling abroad following an alleged al-Qaeda threat to attack Tokyo, a foreign ministry official said yesterday. The foreign ministry issued the warning late on Monday after a London-based Saudi newspaper, Al-Majallah, said it had received an e-mail from Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, purporting to be an al-Qaeda leader," reported the AFP news service.
"Italy ground to a grim halt yesterday from the Alps to Sicily as the nation bade an emotional farewell to 19 Italians killed in Iraq in its worst military slaughter since World War Two. Minutes of silence were observed, stores pulled down their shutters and millions were glued to their television screens in schools and offices as a solemn state funeral began in Rome," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Doctors get little respect in Baghdad these days. Under the new-found freedom in Iraq, doctors at hospitals now have to put up with getting beaten up by patients or relatives of patients who die. Dr O. Dlair, a senior house officer, said there was a difference in the type of patients coming to the hospital now compared to during the war. During the war most were victims of bombings, he said, but now most were killers and thieves. Lack of security, he believed, was the most crucial problem facing the hospital right now. People badly understand freedom. They think it is the freedom to beat people. They have been suppressed for 30 years and do not know the meaning of the word. They know only guns and fights. It is going take a long time to solve this," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"A television documentary claiming Lyndon B. Johnson helped plot the Kennedy assassination was condemned as an absurd smear by Johnson's family and former staff members. A History Channel film which aired on Monday alleges that then Vice-President Johnson and members of his staff were responsible for President John F. Kennedy's 1963 killing," reported the AP news agency.
"A panel of prominent US politicians and educators has decried what it called America's ignorance of outside world, arguing that Americans' reluctance to study foreign civilisations could eventually become a threat to national security. The scathing report produced by the Strategic Task Force on Education Abroad marked the first attempt to question Americans' ability to grasp the meaning of world events since the Sept 11 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington," reported the AFP news service.
"The report points out that the gap separating Americans from the rest of the world became particularly evident on that tragic day when most Americans were forced to ask themselves the anguished and confused questions: Where did this come from? and How could anyone want to do this to us? The answer is that Americans are largely ignorant about the Middle East and suffer from a pervasive lack of knowledge of the world at large, task force members insisted," reported the AFP news service.
"Moreover, almost half of Americans who study abroad go to Britain, Italy, Spain and France, ignoring such emerging nations as China and India, or the Arab world. The panel decried the fact that some Americans had made speaking only English a point of national pride instead of a disgrace. According to the panel, the United States needs military personnel, diplomats and business executives who speak Arabic, French, Spanish, Chinese, Swahili, Russian, Korean, Farsi, Hindi and dozens of other languages," reported the AFP news service.
"The report said to successfully navigate the new millennium, we will need leaders who are able to understand global crises not only from an American vantage point, but also from those of our allies and our adversaries. It does not mention by name either US President George W. Bush or other current US leaders from any of the political parties," reported the AFP news service.
"A British reporter who worked undercover for two months at Buckingham Palace, the royal residence in London, claimed yesterday that security was so lax he could easily have assassinated US President George W. Bush during his state visit to Britain," reported the AFP news service.
"Circling helicopters, rooftop snipers, thousands of police and a few hundred noisy protesters converged in London yesterday as US President George W. Bush officially began his state visit to America's staunchest ally. Police kept a smattering of demonstrators and Bush supporters behind metal barriers several dozen metres from the gates. The real test of anti-Bush sentiment comes today. The Stop the War Coalition hopes for 100,000 or more to march past Parliament and the nearby Downing Street office of Prime Minister Tony Blair, Bush's major ally in the troubled occupation of Iraq," reported the AP news agency.
"Welcomed to Britain with royal pageantry and a smattering of anti-war protesters, US President George W. Bush yesterday defended the war in Iraq, saying military might must at times be used to confront the continuing, global danger of terrorism," reported the AP news agency.
"Eight competing designs for a World Trade Centre memorial were unveiled yesterday, with finalists remembering the dead with quiet gardens, reflecting pools, inscribed names and lights for lost lives. The finalists, whose identities were made public for the first time yesterday, range from local artists to international architects. The proposals were picked by a 13-member jury, which will choose the winning design by the end of the year," reported the AP news agency.
"FBI agents on Tuesday arrested about 48 Wall Street foreign exchange professionals in a sting targeting several top firms thought to have defrauded small retail investors of millions of dollars. A Madison Deane and Associates Inc employee, who asked not to be named, said the FBI arrested seven people at his firm, which offers currency broker services," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Several federal police officers are under investigation for not intervening at a music concert in Managua, Nicaragua, where women reportedly disrobed on stage for money, including one woman who had sexual contact with a member of the audience. Four young women climbed on stage to dance, and one completely undressed to win US$400. A dancer then took her clothes off, and a member of the crowd performed oral sex on her," reported the AP news agency.
"In the nation's most far-reaching decision of its kind, Massachusetts' highest court declared that the state constitution guarantees gay couples the right to marry – a ruling celebrated with the popping of champagne corks and the planning of spring weddings. The ruling was another milestone in a year that has seen a significant expansion of gay rights around the world, including a US Supreme Court decision in June striking a Texas ban on gay sex. The dissenting justices argued that the court was treading on lawmakers' territory," reported the AP news agency.
"The United States said on Tuesday a draft resolution on Iran's breach of UN nuclear obligations was deficient, while an Iranian opposition group accused Teheran of hiding an atomic weapons programme from the United Nations. France, Britain and Germany have circulated a draft resolution criticising Iran's long history of concealing its atomic programme to be discussed by the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) Board of Governors today," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The United States says Iran has a secret weapons programme and wants the 35-nation IAEA board to declare the Islamic republic in non-compliance and report its NPT breaches to the UN Security Council, which has the power to impose sanctions. Iran denies wanting an atomic bomb and urged the IAEA board not to give in to pressure from Washington. America should abandon such useless pressures and stop imposing its ideas on the agency, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi said in Teheran," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed offshoot of the mainstream Palestinian movement Fatah, said yesterday it would reject any agreement for a suspension of anti-Israeli attacks. The group said in a statement that they are committed to the continuation of the resistance and the struggle against the occupation of all of Palestine.. They swear there will be more revenge, more suicide attacks, ... will avenge the blood of ... martyrs, ... will put an end to the occupation, and... answer to (Israeli Prime Minister Ariel) Sharon's massacres will be very tough," reported the AFP news service.
"Gunmen assassinated a provincial Iraqi official in the southern town of Diwaniyah, authorities said yesterday, while some residents here complained of punitive US raids against suspected rebel hideouts," reported the AP news agency.
