"US authorities have formally given the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) the green light to visit detained former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in prison, the ICRC said yesterday. Technical arrangements for the visit by aid workers to check on Saddam Hussein's treatment in prison were still being made," reported the AFP news agency.
"Iraqi police station and security compound west of Baghdad yesterday, freeing prisoners and sparking a gun battle that killed 21 people and wounded 30, said police and hospital officials. The same security compound was attacked two days earlier by gunmen just as the top US commander in the Middle East, Gen John Abizaid, was visiting the site in Fallujah," reported the AP news agency.
"Russian presidential hopeful Ivan Rybkin plunged poll watchers into more confusion on Friday by saying he had been drugged and filmed in a disgusting video in Ukraine during the five days he was missing without explanation. He decided that he didn't care about his reputation or whatever might happen to him and that he would do all he could to prevent all those incompetents and Putin from destroying his country," reported the Reuters news agency
"US President George W. Bush, trying to stamp out a political firestorm, released all his National Guard files during the Vietnam War on Friday to answer election-year charges from Democrats that he shirked his duty. There was no new evidence, however, to show that Bush spent a lot of time on duty for the National Guard in Alabama during the latter part of 1972, the murky period Democrats have seized on to describe him as AWOL," reported the Reuters news agency
"US President George W. Bush will woo this year's political in-group, Nascar dads, with a visit to Florida today, to attend the Daytona 500, the showcase race of the stock car circuit. Bush, who is to participate in the race's opening ceremonies, will be seeking the attention of some 75 million Americans who follow the sport," reported the Reuters news agency
"Cuban leader Fidel Castro resorted to humour to defend himself from US hostility, ridiculing President George W. Bush for his gaffes. Castro had his audience of 1,400 economists in stitches when he read out some of Bush's statements," reported the Reuters news agency
"Nearly 400 gay couples have been issued marriage licences by the liberal metropolis' city hall since Thursday when Mayor Gavin Newsom began openly defying California laws that ban same-sex marriages," reported the AFP news agency.
"Increasing numbers of Indians have begun celebrating Valentine's Day in recent years, angering Hindu hardliners who have denounced it as a noxious western influence on Indian culture. The hardline Vishwa Hindu Parishad (World Hindu Council) in the central state of Madhya Pradesh, vowed to blacken faces of couples with soot deemed a grave insult if they celebrated what is known as Lover's Day in India. The hardliners won support from an Islamic group, the Students Islamic Organisation of India, whose president Mohammed Asif Iqbal urged couples to save India from moral and cultural decay," reported the news Agencies.
"Pope John Paul II urged young lovers to become engaged and remain chaste until they are married. In a message to the young people of France, the pope said the Roman Catholic Church affirms that love should develop gradually through a period of chaste courtship," reported the news Agencies.
"Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera promote degrading sexuality that makes them bad role models for young girls, US chart-topping Christian singer Stacie Orrico said yesterday. The fresh-faced pop singer from Nashville, Tennessee told reporters in Singapore where she was to perform at the MTV Asia Awards later that day that it worries her to see girls emulating Spears and Aguilera," reported the AP news agency.
"Britain's government is considering a plan to break up the BBC and remove its independent status in the wake of a bitter row with the state-funded broadcaster over the Iraq war, a report said on Saturday. The documents, which the newspaper said had been drawn up by senior civil servants, also suggested that the job of ensuring the BBC's impartiality could be taken away from the corporation's board of governors," reported the AFP news agency.
"Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qorei urged the United States on Saturday not to support an Israeli proposal to evacuate most Jewish settlements from the Gaza Strip. Palestinians fear Sharon is planning to remove settlements from Gaza only to strengthen other settlements in the West Bank," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iraq's neighbours, concerned about its possible partition, called at the start of a two-day meeting here on Saturday for a free and united Iraq to emerge from the ashes of Saddam Hussein's ousted regime. They also said they would urge next month's Arab League summit to take the initiative to help the war-torn country," reported the AFP news agency.
"US soldiers killed one Iraqi and wounded six others yesterday when the Americans opened fire after a roadside bomb went off near a US patrol in Baghdad, a survivor and hospital officials said. The explosion missed the convoy as it drove through a western neighbourhood of Baghdad, causing no injuries," reported the AP news agency.
"US occupation forces came under fire here yesterday, a day after insurgents launched a stunning raid in a troubled town to the west that killed 22 US-backed Iraqi police," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Paul Bremer, the US administrator in Iraq, said the United States was awaiting a UN recommendation for the handover of sovereignty, still insisting it take place by June 30 as President George W. Bush has demanded, while Iraq and six neighbours called for a central role for the United Nations in the transfer of power," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Three decades on, the Vietnam War has returned to haunt the US presidential campaign, pitting a decorated combat veteran against an incumbent president embroiled in a controversy over his own military service. Beyond that, Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe has accused Bush of going absent without leave from the National Guard," reported the AFP news agency.
"Bobby Mueller, president of the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, said The Republicans are freaking out because it's being publicly recognised that Bush, who defines himself as a war-time president, a hero of the war against terrorism, playing macho man, is in fact a chicken-hawk," reported the AFP news agency.
"The Soviet Union's 10-year invasion of Afghanistan was a mistake, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev acknowledged on the eve of the 15th anniversary of Soviet withdrawa," reported the AFP news agency.
"US Democratic presidential candidates shifted their fire on Sunday from one another to President George W. Bush, blasting him for launching the Iraq war under false pretences and failing to protect American jobs. The content of the nationally televised debate at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, appeared to reflect a realisation among contenders that Massachusetts Senator John Kerry had developed an almost unassailable lead that would be difficult to trump," reported the AFP news service.
"Sunni politicians speak angrily of US bias towards their Shi'ite rivals. Kurds are more outspoken in demanding self-rule if not independence. Rivalry and resentment among Iraq's ethnic and religious groups have become much more pronounced since Saddam's ouster last April. And those tensions are rising as various groups jockey for position with the approaching June 30 deadline for Iraqis to retake power. The fault lines are emerging for a possible civil war," reported the AP news agency.
"Iraq will ask the United States to remove Saddam Hussein's status as a prisoner of war (PoW) and hand him to Iraqis for trial, the nation's foreign minister said on Sunday. Hoshyar Zebari said in Kuwait that the new Iraqi government would request that Saddam be handed over to Iraqi justice," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Two US soldiers were killed in separate bomb attacks in central Iraq yesterday, and two children also died in what a senior US army official said was a bomb attack in Baghdad," reported the AFP news service.
"Thousands of anti-war protesters took to the streets across Spain on Sunday calling for the government to withdraw its 1,300 troops from Iraq and for the United States to end its occupation there. With general elections due on March 14, the Iraq war remains a hot issue in Spain, a year after the ruling centre-right party defied public opinion and backed the US invasion. The demonstrations in major cities like Madrid, Barcelona, Seville and Valencia as well as smaller towns marked the anniversary of massive anti-war protests last year," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The dried blood on the streets of Sydney's black ghetto yesterday following an overnight riot by Aborigines was a stark reminder of the continuing deep, and at times violent, divide between white and black Australia. Senior Aboriginal leaders yesterday condemned the violence, but said the riot reflected a wider issue the alienation of black Australia. Black Australia calls the arrival of white settlers in 1788 the invasion. Thousands were massacred by white settlers or evicted from their ancestral lands," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Simmering tension in Australia's black communities could spark more of the violence witnessed this week when Aborigines clashed with police in Sydney, the country's biggest city, a key black leader warned yesterday. Aden Ridgeway, the sole Aboriginal member of the national parliament, said anger over the lack of progress in narrowing the social divide between black and white Australians over the past decade was growing, creating potential hotbeds of violence," reported the Reuters news agency.
"With Saudi security forces hunting a car full of explosives in Riyadh, the British government has warned that terrorists may be in the final stages of preparing more attacks in the turbulent kingdom and urged Britons to stay away. The Gulf state's controlled media made no mention yesterday of the British Foreign Office advisory, as the hunt for the vehicle goes on under an offer of a 7mil riyal reward for information leading to its discovery," reported the AFP news service.
"More than 4,000 US priests were accused of child sexual abuse between 1950 and 2002, according to a draft survey for the US Conference of Catholic Bishops, CNN reported on Monday. The study, to be released Feb 27, said 4,450 priests were the subject of 11,000 child sex abuse allegations. That means some of the priests were repeat offenders, the draft report said, according to the network," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraq's US administrator suggested he would block any move by Iraqi leaders to make Islamic law the backbone of an interim constitution. During a visit to a women's centre in Karbala, administrator L. Paul Bremer said the current draft of the interim constitution, due to take effect at the end of this month, would make Islam the state religion and a source of inspiration for the law but not the main source for that law. However, Mohsen Abdel-Hamid, the current president of the Iraqi Governing Council and a Sunni Muslim hardliner, has proposed making Islamic law the principal basis of legislation," reported the news Agencies.
"Israeli policies have pushed many Palestinians out of parts of the West Bank city of Hebron, an official of an international monitoring group based in the city said on Monday. Roar Sorensen of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron, said difficult conditions in the area of the city under Israeli control had led to an exodus, but he did not know how many have left. In a lengthy response, the Israeli military insisted soldiers take pains not to harm civilians but did not address the claim that thousands of Palestinians have left parts of Hebron under Israeli control. The Palestinian governor of the Hebron area, Arif Jaabari, said many Palestinians have fled because of Israeli curfews and other harsh security measures," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Troops opened fire yesterday on two explosives-laden trucks that tried to plough through a Polish military camp south of Baghdad, triggering blasts that killed at least 13 people, including the two drivers and Iraqi civilians in a nearby neighbourhood, coalition officials said. More than 64 people were injured in the blasts, including at least 31 Iraqis, 12 Filipinos, 10 Poles, 10 Hungarians and an American, officials said. Polish Gen Mieczyslaw Bieniek, commander of the 9,500-strong Polish military contingent, called it a well-co-ordinated terrorist attack," reported the AP news agency.
"A disgraced US Roman Catholic bishop was on Tuesday found guilty of hitting a pedestrian with his car and fleeing the scene of the crash as the victim lay dying. O'Brien hit carpenter Jim Lee Reed, 43, as he crossed the street while drunk early on June 14 last year but failed to stop his car after the deadly accident," reported the AFP news service.
"UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan yesterday ruled out holding elections in Iraq before US forces hand over power in June after two suicide bombs at a Polish military base killed at least seven Iraqis and wounded dozens of others," reported the AFP news service.
"Meanwhile, the 25-member interim Governing Council was debating whether Islamic law should serve as the foundation for its new temporary constitution, or fundamental law. Such a prospect would be anathema to the United States, which hopes to set up Western-style democracy in Iraq. US civil administrator Paul Bremer warned on Monday he would veto the fundamental law if it was based only on Islam," reported the AFP news service.
"British soldiers in Iraq kicked and punched hooded prisoners as they screamed for mercy, a witness to an incident in which one Iraqi detainee was allegedly beaten to death was quoted as saying. The serving British soldier, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Thursday's edition of The Sun he had been sick to his stomach after witnessing the beatings in the southern Iraqi city of Basra," reported the AFP news service.
"The beatings continued over two days, with a number of British troops shouting racist abuse at the prisoners who were prevented from sleeping or lying down as they kicked, punched and slapped them. The soldier, who added that maltreatment of Iraqi prisoners was common, said he saw the dead prisoner after his hood had been pulled off," reported the AFP news service.
"With only days to go before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) starts hearings on the legality of Israel's West Bank barrier, international law experts and even the Israeli justice minister predict defeat for Jerusalem. Israel has consistently rejected the ICJ's competence in the matter, arguing the court should not rule on what it regards as a purely political issue and asserting their fundamental right to self-defence. International law experts dismiss Israel's arguments," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon presented his proposals to evacuate most of the Gaza Strip settlements as part of his controversial disengagement plan to a team of senior US envoys yesterday. After the talks with Sharon, the envoys then met with senior Palestinian officials, who expressed their misgivings about the project. With only days to go before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague starts hearings on the legality of Israel's West Bank barrier, international law experts and even the Israeli justice minister predict defeat for Jerusalem," reported the AFP news service.
