"The United States has dropped its demand the UN atomic watchdog declare Iran in violation of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, despite its belief Teheran wants to build an atom bomb," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The devastating suicide bombings here last week were planned in an Internet cafe in the remote eastern Turkish town of Bingol and co-ordinated with al-Qaeda. Turkish police seized records and equipment from the Bingol Internet Merkezi Cafe owned by Gokhan Elaltintas. He is thought to have been one of two suicide bombers who attacked the synagogues here nine days ago," reported the Sunday Telegraph.
"At least one Afghan protester was killed and six wounded yesterday when soldiers fired on a group of demonstrators who broke into the Defence Ministry in the capital," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said yesterday an Australian man, suspected of being a Saddam Hussein loyalist, has been arrested by British troops in Iraq. Downer said the 45-year-old man, who was working for an international company, was detained on Friday after British troops raided a house believed to contain people loyal to the former Iraqi leader," reported the AFP news service.
"Civilian flights to the capital were suspended yesterday after a missile slammed into a DHL cargo jet in the first successful strike on a civilian plane of the seven-month-old insurgency. The crew emerged miraculously unscathed from the hit by the SA-7 ground-to-air missile after an emergency landing at the airport here on Saturday. But the attack prompted the now German-owned express courier to halt its service for at least 48 hours for a security review," reported the AFP news service.
"Insurgents slit the throats of two US soldiers yesterday as warplanes pounded targets in central Iraq, and at least three people were wounded when mortar shells hit an oil company compound in the northern city of Kirkuk," reported the AP news agency.
"US troops arrested the wife and daughter of a top Saddam Hussein deputy suspected of masterminding attacks on US troops and a major pipeline linking northern Iraqi oilfields to the country's biggest refinery," reported the AP news agency.
"Hours after large explosions shook the centre of Baghdad near US headquarters, the visiting British Foreign Secretary said Iraq will be a safer place once the US- and British-led coalition hands over power to an Iraqi government," reported the AP news agency.
"Saudi Arabia said it foiled a car bombing in saudi on Tuesday when security forces shot dead two terrorists it said were on the verge of launching an attack," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iran will escape being reported to the UN Security Council for violating its non-proliferation obligations, but arms experts suspect Iran has more nuclear skeletons in its closet that will come to light. But the resolution, which was put to the board after a week of haggling between France, Germany and Britain and Washington, also welcomes Iran's offer of active co-operation and openness," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The United Nations nuclear watchdog condemned Iran yesterday over an 18-year cover-up of its nuclear energy programme and said future violations of non-proliferation obligations would not be tolerated," reported the Reuters news agency," reported the AP news agency.
"An American surgeon who has patented a device that triggers an orgasm has begun a clinical trial approved by the Food and Drug Administration in the United States and is looking for female volunteers," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra yesterday dismissed a report Thailand was on alert for 220 international terrorists including key figures linked with al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiah," reported the AFP news service.
"A Jordanian charged with helping plan terror attacks in Germany was sentenced to four years in prison yesterday – less than half of the maximum term – after giving what prosecutors said was valuable testimony about al-Qaeda during his trial," reported the AP news agency.
"Saudi police have arrested more than 10 people over the last two weeks believed to pose a security threat and with alleged links to the al-Qaeda terror network," reported the AFP news service.
"A transport helicopter packed with American soldiers crashed near a military base just north of the capital, killing at least five of them and wounding seven others, the US military said yesterday. The cause of Sunday's crash, about 11km east of Bagram Air Base, was not immediately known. The US military said it was investigating, and it refused to take journalists from the base to the crash site," reported the AFP news service.
"From Bali to Istanbul, New York to Casablanca, the ferocious chain of terror that has choked the world since Sept 11 has stemmed from a single source – camps like this one just south of Kabul, where thousands of young men were indoctrinated in Osama bin Laden's brutal vision. An Afghan link can be traced to nearly every major terrorist attack since the 2001 strikes in New York and at the Pentagon, although not all have been carried out directly by Osama's al-Qaida, US, European and Asian officials said," reported the AP news agency.
"Several suspected accomplices of the suicide bombers who struck here last week would have been brought before a court to face charges yesterday, a leading Turkish newspaper reported," reported the AP news agency.
"Hinting at a shift in position, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told his Cabinet he is ready to take unilateral steps in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and officials told Israeli media this may include the evacuation of somesettlers. Critics dismissed the leaks as a public relations stunt by Sharon, who is under growing criticism at home for his failure to end the conflict with the Palestinians. The prime minister has pushed for the expansion of settlements throughout his career," reported the AP news agency.
"The jury in the trial of convicted Washington-area sniper John Muhammad recommended yesterday he be sentenced to death for one of 10 fatal shootings that terrorised the US capital last year. Muhammad, 42, stood impassively in front of the jury as the ruling was read out, his hands clasped in front of him. He later shook hands with his attorney, Jonathan Shapiro, before being led away," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The embattled leader of Australia's opposition Labor Party resigned Friday, a victim of his failure to dent Prime Minister John Howard's supremacy in opinion polls. Howard is riding high on the back of his strong support of the U.S.-led war on terror and Australia's participation in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also popular because of Australia's strong economy and his tough stance on national security and asylum seekers," reported the AP news agency.
"In Baghdad so far, three professors of Al Mustansariyah University have been killed. Two were shot at the entrance of the university and the third, who was the dean of the college of education at Al Mustansariyah, was gunned down in front of his home. The scarier part is that the motive of the murders is unknown. Maybe it’s just a case of I don’t like you, I kill you or an act of revenge," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"The head of Iraq's Governing Council met the country's most revered Shi'ite Muslim imam yesterday to try to overcome his objections to a new US road map for the return of sovereignty to Iraqis. While planning for the transition, the United States said it would send thousands more Marines next year to fight insurgents it blames for violence against the occupying forces," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday Israel would have to give up some occupied land for peace with Palestinians but vowed to speed up work on a disputed West Bank barrier it deems vital to its security. He also raised the possibility, in a question and answer session with Israeli editors, that he would take unspecified unilateral steps should talks with the Palestinians on advancing a US-backed peace road map fail," reported the news Agencies.
"Israel is in the final stages of legalising new West Bank settlements, a top official said yesterday, a clear violation of its commitments to the United States and to an internationally backed peace plan. Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said the moves undermine the road map, and called on the United States to halt the Israeli measures," reported the AP news agency.
"A week after the suicide attacks on British interests in Istanbul, investigators believe they have identified the mastermind behind them and the fourth bomber, Turkish press reported yesterday. Information on the probe has been difficult to obtain amid a state-ordered media blackout, but newspapers here said the leader of the group was Abu Mussab al-Zarkawi, a suspected ally of Osama bin Laden," reported the AFP news service.
"US-based Chinese scholar Gao Zhan, once convicted by Beijing of spying for Taiwan, admitted in a US court on Wednesday to illegally exporting militarily sensitive US computer technology to China," reported the AFP news service.
"Rasta poet Benjamin Zephaniah has publicly rejected an OBE from the queen in protest at Britain's colonial history and at its current policy in Iraq. Writing in the Guardian yesterday, Zephaniah went public with his rejection, saying the very name of the Order of the British Empire reminded him of thousands of years of brutality. Zephaniah said You can't fool me, Mr Blair. You want to privatise us all; you want to send us to war; you stay silent when we need you to speak for us, preferring to be the voice of the USA," reported the dpa news agency.
"Australia unveiled yesterday new high-security passports featuring floating kangaroos and other anti-tampering technology it said would help foil terrorists, people smugglers and other criminals. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer launched the new document in Canberra, declaring it the most secure Australian passport ever produced," reported the AFP news service.
"Neil Bush, a younger brother of US President George W. Bush, has a US$400,000-a-year consulting contract with a Chinese computer chip manufacturing firm, The Los Angeles Times reported on its web site on Wednesday. Citing court documents filed in the course of Neil Bush's divorce proceedings in Houston, Texas, the newspaper said the president's brother had agreed to strategise with China's Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corp at the same time the Bush administration is trying to help US firms compete more effectively against the Chinese," reported the AFP news service.
"In Hobart, a disgraced Anglican priest was imprisoned yesterday for a chilling litany of devious sexual abuse against teenage boys, including three who were 13 at the time the offences took place. Judge Peter Underwood sentenced Garth Stephen Hawkins to seven-and-a-half years jail, accusing the defrocked priest of betraying boys who had come to him for help and guidance," reported the AP news agency.
"President George W. Bush flew to Iraq under extraordinary secrecy and security to spend Thanksgiving with US troops and thank them for defending the American people from danger. The unannounced visit on Thursday brought wild cheers from battle-worn soldiers, stunned the nation and even surprised the president's parents, who had been expecting him at the Thanksgiving table at his Crawford, Texas ranch," reported the AP news agency.
"Separated only by the Tigris River but truly a world apart, members of Iraq's Sunni former elite criticised George W. Bush's visit as a cowardly swift stopover for fear of insurgents while many in the long oppressed Shiite majority hailed the US president. On the other bank of the Tigris river, in Kazhamiyah's mostly Shiite lower-middle class neighbourhood, residents also complained the US-led coalition had failed to bring back security," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is considering the annexation of large West Bank settlement blocs and the evacuation of isolated settlements in the Gaza Strip, Maariv newspaper reported yesterday. The paper, quoting political sources, said the premier could decide to annex the settlement blocs of Gush Etzion and Maale Adumim, in exchange for withdrawals from Gaza Strip communities," reported the AFP news service.
"Turkey said yesterday it had arrested several people in connection with twin truck bomb attacks on British targets in Istanbul that killed 27 people, including Britain's top diplomat in the city," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Police in Germany and Italy arrested three North Africans suspected of recruiting suicide bombers to carry out attacks in Iraq yesterday. Two other suspects, an Iraqi and a Tunisian woman, were still being sought after news of the sweep leaked out prematurely," reported the AFP news service.
"British anti-terror police questioned a suspected suicide bomber yesterday after finding explosives in the house in southwestern England where the man was arrested in a co-ordinated raid. Police, who can hold the 24-year-old Muslim man for up to seven days under sweeping anti-terror laws, declined to comment on the nature or target of any planned attack. But that didn't stop newspapers speculating that the man may have been planning the country's first suicide attack on a soft target such as a sports stadium or the royal family," reported the news Agencies.
"The UN nuclear agency is probing a possible link between Iran and Pakistan after Teheran acknowledged using centrifuge designs that appear identical to ones used in Pakistan's quest for an atom bomb, diplomats say. Diplomats said the agency was trying to determine whether the drawings had come from someone in Pakistan or elsewhere," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A convicted money smuggler was a key fund-raiser for an Islamic charity he knew financed terrorism, and once used an airport bathroom to secretly deliver US$10,000 to the group, prosecutors allege," reported the AP news agency.
"Children will be banned from sitting on Santa Claus' knee in traditional fashion at a Christmas market tomorrow in a small New Zealand town, because organisers fear molestation allegations in the years to come. Organiser Gail Thompson, a businesswoman in Mosgiel near Dunedin, was quoted in yesterday's Otago Daily Times as saying that she feared children coming back with allegations about Santa's behaviour," reported the dpa news agency.
"Australians call their nation God's own country, but the outspoken Anglican Archbishop of Sydney said yesterday that Jesus and his family probably would not be allowed in now if they tried to apply for asylum. In a statement released ahead of a Christmas speech in Sydney, Archbishop Peter Jensen harshly criticised the government's policy of turning away asylum seekers caught trying to sneak into the country," reported the AP news agency.
