"Despite security upgrades, new surveillance systems and tightened explosives regulations, the United States remains vulnerable to a terrorist attack like the deadly bombings on Spanish trains," reported the AP news agency.
"US-led forces have launched a new operation across a broad area of the south and east of Afghanistan aimed at capturing top al-Qaeda and Taliban militants such as Osama bin Laden," reported the Reuters news agency.
"An al-Qaeda claim of responsibility for the deadly Madrid bombings, if verified, is the nightmare scenario for countries which backed the United States over the Iraq war, who are left wondering who will be next," reported the AFP news service.
"Bomb attacks in Baghdad killed four US soldiers, the army said yesterday, bringing to nine the number of troops killed in Iraq in the last four days by explosives planted by guerillas to target American patrols," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Two Palestinian suicide bombers blew themselves up in this closely guarded Israeli port yesterday, killing nine Israelis and wounding 18 in the first deadly attack on a strategic installation in more than three years of Israeli-Palestinian fighting. The bombings raised serious questions about Israel's vulnerability. Police said the bombers may have been trying to blow themselves up near chemicals, causing far greater loss of life," reported the AP news agency.
"Iran warned yesterday that it might further adjust its co-operation with the UN nuclear agency, a day after freezing international inspections in protest of a critical resolution by the agency," reported the AP news agency.
"Israeli helicopter gunships struck two metal foundries in the Gaza Strip yesterday in apparent retaliation for a double suicide bombing that killed 10 people in Israel's second-biggest port," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon yesterday ruled out peace negotiations with the Palestinians, charging that they are doing nothing to stop attacks against Israelis. Sharon said he would co-ordinate his steps with the United States, but ruled out such talks with the Palestinians," reported the news Agencies.
"Election winner Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said yesterday he would probably withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from the disaster in Iraq and attacked US and British leaders George W. Bush and Tony Blair. He also indicated a swing away from Madrid's recent pro-American stance towards a pro-European foreign policy," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prime Minister John Howard clashed yesterday with his own experts over whether Australia's support for the US-led war in Iraq places the country at greater risk of terrorist attack in the aftermath of the Madrid bombings. The row flared as a conference of police and intelligence officials called by Howard began a review of security, particularly at rail stations and airports, after the attacks in Spain which claimed 200 lives and injured 1,500," reported the AFP news service.
"Plain-clothes anti-terrorist officers are to patrol the London underground rail network as part of stepped-up security measures in the British capital," reported the AFP news service.
"An ambitious effort to create a central terror suspect database for use by all US federal and local officials has been struggling for months because of challenges as mundane as merging Microsoft spreadsheets and as sensitive as protecting people's privacy," reported the AP news agency.
"Twenty-six detainees were released in Afghanistan and Pakistan on Monday after being transferred from a US military detention centre in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, Pentagon officials said. Those released included 23 Afghans and three Pakistanis," reported the AFP news service.
"Islamic militants discussed the possibility of a terrorist attack timed to affect the Spanish general election as long ago as December, Britain's independent Channel 4 News reported. A message on an Internet newsgroup called Global Islamic Media suggested that attacks could help bring about a Socialist election victory and the withdrawal of Spain's troops from Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"Saudi security forces killed two militants, including one considered al-Qaeda's chief of operations on the Arabian Peninsula, in a shootout in the capital. The two were killed in eastern Riyadh in an exchange of fire with security forces on Monday," reported the AP news agency.
"It was not sending troops to Iraq that made Australia a potential al-Qaeda target but its role in the 1999 liberation of East Timor from Indonesian control, the Sydney Olympics intelligence chief said yesterday. Neil Fergus, now a private intelligence analyst, said he did not believe that Prime Minister John Howard's decision to send 2,000 troops to Iraq had made it a more likely terrorist target," reported the dpa news agency.
"Two Palestinians were killed and a dozen wounded when Israel unleashed an airborne raid on Gaza yesterday in retaliation for a double suicide attack in the port of Ashdod two days earlier. Witnesses said an Israeli helicopter fired at least three rockets on a house in the Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza City," reported the AFP news service.
"Spain's opposition Socialists prepared for power yesterday after a sensational election upset sparked by anger over the government's handling of a suspected al-Qaeda attack on commuter trains that killed 200 people," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Election winner Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said yesterday he would probably withdraw Spain's 1,300 troops from the disaster in Iraq and attacked US and British leaders George W. Bush and Tony Blair. He also indicated a swing away from Madrid's recent pro-American stance towards a “pro-European” foreign policy," reported the Reuters news agency.
"As a traumatised Spain hunted its attackers and buried its dead, the impact of the Madrid bombings was still being felt more and more around the world. With Europe struggling to digest the consequences of what looks like the first al-Qaeda-style attack in the West since Sept 11, France was threatened with a possible attack by an Islamist group named after a dead Chechen guerilla," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Australia's intelligence agencies will get a boost in funding while the government steps up its campaign against terrorism, Prime Minister John Howard said yesterday. The announcement came as Australia tightens security after last week's deadly bombings in Madrid that killed at least 200 people. With investigations into the attacks focusing on Islamic militants with links to al-Qaeda, many fear that Australia could be the next target because, like Spain, it has been a staunch supporter of the US invasion of Iraq,"
"Iraqi leaders have agreed to invite the United Nations back here to advise the country on its transition to self-rule," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A powerful blast ripped through a Baghdad hotel and neighbouring houses last night, killing several people and sending flames and smoke into the night sky in the heart of the Iraqi capital. Up to 10 people were killed," reported the news Agencies.
"Palestinian President Yasser Arafat accused Israel yesterday of trying to destroy Gaza by pursuing a fresh offensive in the territory before a proposed evacuation of Jewish settlers," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A year after the war to oust Saddam Hussein, Iraqis have started to benefit from their newfound freedoms but huge attacks like Wednesday night's suicide bombing fuel ambivalent feelings about America. At least 17 people were killed and scores wounded when a powerful bomb blew up outside a hotel, just three days ahead of the first anniversary of the US-led invasion of Iraq that toppled the former dictator," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraq and the war on terrorism took centre-stage in the US presidential election battle between Republican incumbent George W. Bush and the Democrats' John Kerry. With Wednesday's devastating bomb blast in Baghdad casting a shadow over Bush's aim to use the first anniversary of the invasion of Iraq to hail his efforts, Kerry said that Iraq remained in a dangerous condition," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraq's interior minister said on yesterday a car bomb that devastated a central Baghdad neighbourhood three days before the anniversary of the US-led invasion killed six people – well below US estimates of 27. Another bomb attack in Baquba, northeast of Baghdad, yesterday morning killed three people and wounded 10 near the offices of a US-funded local television station," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Poland, which strongly backed the US-led invasion of Iraq, was misled about the alleged threat from Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction, its president said yesterday. President Aleksander Kwasniewski's remarks were the first by any Polish leader to direct such criticism at the United States and Britain, though he mentioned no country by name," reported the AP news agency.
"Bomb attacks on trains in Madrid were a consequence of Spain's support for Washington and should serve as a warning to other US allies, a jailed Indonesian Muslim preacher linked to al-Qaeda said. In an interview secretly recorded in a Jakarta prison cell, Abu Bakar Bashir told Australia's Seven television network that any effort to attack the United States was good, but the methods should be adapted to the situation," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Australia and Japan remained defiant yesterday in the face of an apparent new al-Qaeda threat which named them among America's lackeys to be hit with attacks similar to last week's Madrid bombings. Asian allies in the US-led war on terror were already stiffening security against possible attack as a warning attributed Osama bin Laden's network listed follow-up targets to the carnage in Spain that left 201 people dead," reported the AFP news service.
"The US government wants to begin testing in June a programme that would allow certain airline travellers not considered terrorist threats to avoid extra security inspections at airports, a federal official said. Under the registered traveller programme passengers would pay a fee and submit to government background checks," reported the AP news agency.
"Faced with wavering allies and a divided America, President George W.Bush on Friday urged all to stand firm against terrorism in Iraq and around the globe. A visit to the bedsides of wounded soldiers underscored the one-year toll of 570 American deaths in Iraq. The White House invited the ambassadors of 84 countries involved in the U.S.-led war on terror to the White House for Bush's call for resolve," reported the AP news agency.
"President George W. Bush is expected to soon slap tough economic sanctions on Syria, going beyond the minimum requirements of a bill approved by Congress last year, according to congressional sources. The penalties, which could be announced next week, would mark a reversal for an administration that initially opposed the sanctions legislation," reported the AP news agency.
"Three Moroccan suspects held in connection with the train bombings here were accused yesterday of 190 murders and of belonging to a terrorist group,” High Court sources said. Another two suspects, both Indians, were accused of co-operating with a terrorist group," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A teenager was charged with attempted murder after police found him outside school with 20 home-made bombs, a rifle and a note saying he wanted to injure everyone at his high school except for three friends. Authorities believe they averted what could have been the worst school shooting since the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School," reported the AP news agency.
"Thousands of Pakistani troops met fierce resistance yesterday from fighters who could be protecting al-Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahri in a tribal village near the Afghan border, the military said. The militants appear to be well dug-in in mud fortresses. They appear to be determined to fight until the end," reported the AFP news service.
"A spokesman for al-Qaeda claimed responsibility for a hotel bombing, which killed seven people, as South Korea yesterday joined Spain and Poland in rethinking troop commitments to Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraq faces unbelievably bad days ahead with more suicide bombings and devastating attacks that US-led forces may be powerless to prevent, said Britain's envoy to the occupied country. But we have to be determined to outlast them. There is a cost to this and it has to be borne and they (insurgents) are not going to win this war. Are we going to put our hands up to this? Are we just going to withdraw? The huge majority of Iraqis want us to stay," reported the Reuters news agency.
