Week Ending: Saturday 7th August 2004

RFID: Getting Under Your Skin?
Some people consider radio-frequency identification (RFID) chips to be cutting-edge technology. But bleeding-edge? Mexican Attorney General Rafael Macedo de la Concha announced recently that he, several members of his staff, and some 160 employees of a new, $30 million anticrime computer center in Mexico City, had all been implanted with RFID chips.

Anthrax Probe Shuts Army Lab
FBI agents combed laboratory suites at Fort Detrick - home to the Army's biological warfare defense program and a source said they were again looking for evidence in the 2001 anthrax attacks. The labs at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases have been closed since Friday, Fort Detrick spokesman Charles Dasey said.

Halliburton Accused of Accounting Fraud
Halliburton Co. and several top executives intentionally engaged in "serial accounting fraud" from 1998 to 2001, including when it was led by Vice President Dick Cheney. The filing accuses Halliburton of systematic accounting misdeeds far more wide-ranging than those charged in a recent civil lawsuit by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Anti-US rage casts doubt on Iraq leaders' ability to restore order
After the past two days of fighting in southern and central Iraq, the difference between firebrand cleric Muqtada al Sadr and Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi couldn't be any more clear: Al Sadr has an army, and Allawi does not.

Israeli army leaves Gaza's bread basket in ruins
The Israeli army left a trail of devastatation in Beit Hanun after a five-week siege and occupation of the Gaza Strip's traditional bread basket which failed to put a halt to rocket attacks by Palestinian militants. An Israeli military spokesman confirmed that forces were being “redeployed” but gave no further details.

USDA told to disclose 'biopharm' locations
The federal government must reveal where companies grow genetically modified pharmaceutical crops in Hawai'i, a judge ruled.Public interest groups are seeking the information to force the government to study the environmental impact of the crops they see as potentially dangerous. The government and industry contend public disclosure could lead to crop vandalism and corporate espionage of trade secrets.

Russian scientist invents camera to take pictures of ghosts and past
The collection of unique photographs includes pictures of dinosaurs, WWII soldiers. Russian geologist, specialist for geophysical devices Henry Silanov founded a photo studio, in which one can see the collection of 80 unusual photographs - aliens, paranormal activities, people from the past eras.

Musharraf steps back from the US
"Pakistan is not sending its troops to Iraq," according to the Pakistani Foreign Office and the clearest signal yet that President General Pervez Musharraf is finally attempting to distance himself from the United States' sphere of influence, even if only for domestic expediency. Just days ago Islamabad refused to make such a categorical statement, as demanded by hostage-takers in Iraq holding two Pakistani contract workers. The two men were subsequently beheaded.

Kerry Vows to Lift Bush Restrictions on Stem Cells
Democratic challenger John Kerry on Saturday marked the third anniversary of President Bush's restrictions on stem-cell research by vowing to lift them for the sake of millions of Americans with debilitating diseases.

Polluted U.S. Beaches Closing in Record Numbers
The number of closings and advisories at U.S. oceans and Great Lakes beaches last year rose 51 percent from 2002, according to an annual survey released Thursday by the Natural Resources Defense Council. The study, based on federal and state data, finds 2003 was the worst year for beach closings and advisories since the environmental organization began monitoring beach water pollution 14 years ago.

Iraq set to use martial law in terror fight
The interim Iraqi government last night looked increasingly prepared to impose martial law on sections of the country as coalition and Iraqi forces fought fierce battles with armed insurgents loyal to the radical Shia cleric Muqtada Sadr.

Khartoum 'behind Darfur killings'
The United Nations investigator on executions has blamed Sudan's government for extra-judicial killings in the western region of Darfur. "The government of the Sudan is responsible for... summary executions of large numbers of people," Asma Jahangir said. The UN investigator on executions said the killings amounted to crimes against humanity.

Iraq Shuts Al-Jazeera Baghdad Office for a Month
Iraq's interim government ordered Qatar-based Al Jazeera satellite television network to close its Baghdad office for one month, a move criticized as unjustifiable by the channel. Prime Minister Iyad Allawi said a commission had been monitoring Al Jazeera for the past four weeks to see whether it was inciting violence and hatred, and that the decision had been taken "to protect the people of Iraq."

Canada struggles with deadly bug
Canadian health officials are trying to cope with a bacterial infection found in hospitals and nursing homes. It has been blamed for the deaths of a 189 patients in the past 18 months. In a new study, infectious disease experts say cases of Clostridium difficile that causes diarrhoea and colon inflammation are increasing.

Israel opens Gaza-Egypt entry, and Palestinians return
The Israeli military opened the border crossing between the Gaza Strip and Egypt on Friday, permitting an estimated 2,000 stranded Palestinians to return home for the first time since July 18. Israel kept the crossing closed during that time, saying it was concerned about a possible attack.

Witness to the Great Unraveling of America
Paul Krugman would be the last to lay claim to any heroic insight into the radical, incompetent Bush administration.  In fact, he is constantly amazed that others don't see through the impostors in the White House. Coming upon a Krugman column in The New York Times reassures us that there are some sane people out there in the mainstream media who deviate from the Kafkaesque enabling of the dangerous ship of fools currently at the helm of America.

Veteran retracts criticism of Kerry
Commander George Elliott is quoted as saying that Kerry ''lied about what occurred in Vietnam . . . for example, in connection with his Silver Star, I was never informed that he had simply shot a wounded, fleeing Viet Cong in the back."

Springsteen rocks against Bush
Rocker Bruce Springsteen has stayed out of party politics for 25 years, but now he says the stakes are too high and he's urging fellow Americans to vote President George W. Bush out of office in November. A day after he announced he would join two dozen other stars in nine "battleground" states for a rock 'n' roll tour aimed at ousting Bush, the man known as "The Boss" explained his decision in a sharply worded editorial.

'Terror' on Election Day!
Thursday's request by New York senator Hillary Clinton for an independent study of the nation's voting system before the November election comes amid growing fears that the Bush administration may try to fix the vote in a tight election. Clinton and a group of other top congressional Dems asked the Government Accountability Office "for a thorough independent review."

BSkyB shares crash land as Murdoch warns on profits
£2bn wiped off shares as subscriber growth falls short and huge investment planned. One-fifth was wiped off the value of BSkyB yesterday after the pay-television company warned that profits would be hit as it invested for future subscriber growth.

Oil Prices Hit a New Record
Oil prices notched up fresh record highs on Wednesday, fanning concern that consistently high prices are denting global economic growth. Brent crude rose 35 cents to $40.99 a barrel, its highest level since London's International Petroleum Exchange launched trading in Brent futures in 1988, before edging back to $40.86. U.S. crude struck $44.30 a barrel.

Oil threat to world economy
Fears that the world economy could be derailed by higher energy costs intensified last night after the price of oil set fresh records on both sides of the Atlantic. With petrol prices set to reach record levels within days, the chancellor, Gordon Brown, was said to be monitoring the situation from his holiday in Scotland. Oil cartel Opec last night tried to soothe the market, saying it could - and would - pump more oil.

America's shadow government
During his farewell address in the year 1961 outgoing President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned that "In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Locusts invade Mauritania capital
A swarm of locusts has invaded the Mauritanian capital, Nouakchott, after devouring crops in rural areas. The insects - which can eat their own body weight in 24 hours - descended on the city, also stripping bare what little greenery the desert capital has.

Torture, for fun: Bush regime sinks lower by the day
That US soldiers serving the Bush regime considered that the systematic torture of prisoners of war was  fun,  no big deal, to  vent their frustration,  not serious  and  just joking around, does not surprise anyone any longer.

Bush Approves $25 Billion Emergency Funds for Iraq
President Bush approved another $25 billion in emergency funds for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan on Thursday, while appealing to key military constituents as he signed a new $417 billion Pentagon spending bill. At a ceremony near the White House, Bush underscored new protections afforded to U.S. troops by the emergency funding package.

Anomalous ground holes appear in the Russian province
One morning shepherd Pyotr Malinkin took his cows out to the pasture as usual. Having gone five kilometers into the field the man was shocked to find a huge hole in the ground six meters in diameter. The pit was not on the spot the day before, it appeared overnight. The shepherd said the animals were scared to approach the hole, they did not eat the grass nearby.

New 'Bushism' Born at Bill Signing
President Bush offered up a new entry for his catalog of 'Bushisms'. He declared that, 'Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we,' continuing, 'They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.'

Another F.B.I. Employee Blows Whistle on Agency
Mike German always had a knack for worming his way into places few other agents could go. In the early 1990's, he infiltrated a group of white supremacist skinheads plotting to blow up a black church in Los Angeles. A few years later, he joined a militia in Washington State that talked of attacking government buildings. Known to his fellow militia members as Rock, he tricked them into handcuffing themselves in a supposed training exercise so the authorities could arrest them.

Abu Ghraib General Claims Conspiracy
The general who headed the U.S. military prison at Abu Ghraib said in an interview broadcast Tuesday that there had been a conspiracy to prevent her knowing about prisoner abuse at the jail. Brig. Gen. Janis Karpinski, who was suspended by the Pentagon in May, has denied knowing about any mistreatment prisoners until photographs surfaced at the end of April. U.S. investigators have not implicated Karpinski directly in any of the abuses.

Miracles and Wonders: 9/11 cell phone calls
A joint effort between Qualcomm and American Airlines' allows passengers to make cellphone calls from aircraft in flight. The satellite-based system employs a "Pico cell" to act as a small cellular tower. Before this new "Pico cell," it was nigh on impossible to make a call from a passenger aircraft in flight. Connection is impossible at altitudes over 8000 feet or speeds in excess of 230 mph.

Saudi to hold polls in November
Saudi Arabia has announced it will holds its first nationwide elections starting in November. Council elections will be held in the capital Riyadh after the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan in mid-November, the official SPA news agency reports. A second stage will take place in the east and south before the annual Hajj, which begins in January, and the rest of the country will vote after that.

Shocking prisoner abuses are revealed
Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay were subjected to Abu Ghraib-style torture and sexual humiliation in which they were stripped naked, forced to sodomise one another and taunted by naked female American soldiers, according to a new report. Some of the abuse has been captured on videotape

FCC: Net Phone Calls Must Be Able to Be Tapped
Internet phone carriers should set up their systems so U.S. law enforcers can monitor suspicious calls, the Federal Communications Commission ruled on Wednesday. By a vote of 5-0, the FCC said "voice over Internet protocol" providers should be subject to the 1994 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, which ensures that law enforcers will be able to keep up with changing communications technologies.

The woman who wants to be Afghan president
The campaign headquarters of Afghanistan's only female candidate for president are a borrowed flat pocked with bullet holes in a run-down suburb of Kabul built by the Russians. She has no money for campaigning and almost no coverage on television stations and in newspapers owned by rivals. Islamic fundamentalists hate her.

A nation in danger. Or a president in peril?
America was bracing itself last night after intelligence agencies warned al-Qa'ida could be planning to attack financial institutions on the East Coast and that its operatives had already carried out surveillance missions on the targets.

Another F.B.I. Employee Blows Whistle on Agency
s a veteran agent chasing home-grown terrorist suspects for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mike German always had a knack for worming his way into places few other agents could go.

Can't Blair see that Iraq is about to explode? Can't Bush?' - Robert Fisk
The war is a fraud. I’m not talking about the weapons of mass destruction that didn’t exist. Nor the links between Saddam Hussein and al-Qa’ida which didn’t exist. Nor all the other lies upon which we went to war. I’m talking about the new lies.

John Kerry and the Art of Brainwashing
The New World Order increasingly resembles a '50's Sci-Fi movie where the protagonist discovers his family and neighbors have been brainwashed and he begins to question his own sanity. Fifty per cent of Americans, and probably 80% of Democrats, believe Iraq is a tragic and unnecessary blunder, yet John Kerry promises more of the same, only better.

Storm sewage kills fish in Thames
Thousands of fish have been killed after 600,000 tonnes of untreated sewage was forced into the Thames during storms. The Environment Agency said the dead fish were visible in the river at Kew, Brentford and Isleworth in west London. It said the sewage, which flowed into the Thames due to inadequate drainage systems in London, used up the water's oxygen reserves, killing the fish.

Baghdad rocked by bomb blasts
A senior Iraqi police officer and two US soldiers have been killed in roadside bomb attacks in Baghdad. Colonel Moayad Mahmoud Bashar, chief of the Mamoun police station, was driving to work when his car was hit. Two of his bodyguards were injured.

Egyptian, Jordanian leaders deny saying that Saddam had WMD
Egypt on Monday denied remarks by retired U.S. General Tommy Franks that President Hosni Mubarak told him that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction. 'Such a claim is void of truth,' said Egyptian presidential spokesman Magad Abdel Fattah.

Turkish drivers pull out of Iraq
Turkish truck drivers have called an immediate halt to deliveries to Iraq after video footage apparently showed the killing of a Turkish hostage, Murat Yuce. The video, which appeared on the internet on Monday, showed masked men shoot a man in the head three times.

Iraqi group claims over 37,000 civilian toll
An Iraqi political group says more than 37,000 Iraqi civilians were killed between the start of the US-led invasion in March 2003 and October 2003. The People's Kifah, or Struggle Against Hegemony, movement said in a statement that it carried out a detailed survey of Iraqi civilian fatalities during September and October 2003.

US terror plot intelligence 'old'
There are claims that new warnings of al-Qaeda attacks on US cities are based on old intelligence. Security has been tightened around financial institutions in three cities, following the discovery of detailed information about them. President George W Bush described the US as a "nation in danger".

I was right on Iraq, says Bush
US President George W. Bush defiantly defended the war in Iraq today, saying the invasion was 'the right decision' and holding out hope that weapons of mass destruction might yet be found. 'Knowing what I know today, we still would have gone on into Iraq. We still would have gone to make our country more secure.'

Iraq property disputes 'critical'
US-based group Human Rights Watch is warning that unresolved property disputes in northern Iraq have produced a crisis which may turn violent. The crisis stems from decades of forced displacement of Kurds, Turkmen and Assyrians.

Police gunned down in restaurant
Three Iraqi policemen were shot dead and four wounded today as they were eating on the terrace of a restaurant in Kirkuk. Gunmen in two Opel cars fired a hail of bullets at members of two police patrol units as they were having supper at the Kabab Rashid restaurant, said police General Mones Ishaq.

Mass graves found in Ivory Coast
The UN's Ivory Coast mission says three mass graves containing at least 99 bodies have been found near the northern rebel-held town of Korhogo. The town was the scene of fighting between rival factions in June. A UN statement said some of the dead had been shot, but it quoted witnesses as saying others had been suffocated.

Reveal terror threat, Blair urged
The government was today urged to spell out the exact nature of the terrorist threat to Britain as speculation continued that recently discovered documents meant that an al-Qaida strike was imminent. Fears were raised yesterday when the US issued a high alert based on attack plans for US financial institutions found on an arrested al-Qaida suspect's computer.

Kenyan anger over hostage 'hoax'
Newspapers in Kenya have demanded the resignation of the foreign minister who on Sunday said that seven hostages seized in Iraq had been released. There has still been no sign of the truck-drivers - three Kenyans, three Indians and an Egyptian.

Saudi diplomat 'should have immunity waived'
The former home office minister Barbara Roche today called on the Saudi government to waive immunity for a Saudi diplomat alleged to have indecently assaulted a young girl. He was arrested last week after being accused of attacking an 11-year-old girl but was released after claiming diplomatic immunity.

Doctors Without Borders says it has had enough
Doctors Without Borders says it has had enough and is pulling out of Afghanistan.  The organization is a humanitarian organization of Medical Doctors who devote their time going into troubled spots to bring badly needed medically treatment, this writer has learned from the CNN newsmedia feed.

US woman faces Iraq charges
One of the US soldiers at the centre of the Iraqi prison abuse scandal is due to go before a military court. At Tuesday's hearing in North Carolina, Lynndie England will hear the evidence against her and it will be decided if it is sufficient to send her to trial.

Home PCs hijacked to spread spam
There is a good chance that your home computer has been hijacked by spammers if you have a broadband net link, but are not using a firewall or anti-virus software to protect your PC. Careful where you click, that e-mail could be loaded. Even if you use anti-virus software but do not keep it up to date, there is every possibility that you are helping to keep spam alive and spreading.

Tunnel collapse at India dam site
At least 11 people have died after a tunnel collapsed in the northern Indian state of Uttaranchal. Several others are feared to be trapped under the debris. The incident took place at the site of a controversial dam in the state's Tehri district.

US banks under new terror threat
Employees of some of the most famous financial institutions in the US have been urged to report for work despite "credible" threats from al-Qaeda. The security alert has been raised to "high" - the second-highest level - in parts of Washington DC and New York. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said the intelligence received involved "extraordinary detail".

The mask of altruism disguising a colonial war
The absence of anti-war scepticism about the prospect of sending troops into Sudan is especially odd in view of the fact that Darfur has oil. For two years, campaigners have chanted that there should be "no blood for oil" in Iraq, yet they seem not to have noticed that there are huge untapped reserves in both southern Sudan and southern Darfur.

BNP faces internal revolt and financial turmoil
Plan to admit non-white members may prove fatal for far-right leader as demoralised members begin to rebel. The British National party, which fielded a record number of candidates in this year's local and European elections, is in disarray, with senior figures leading a revolt against the chairman, Nick Griffin, and growing concern about the organisation's financial situation.

Bridgewater pair ordered to pay for jail 'lodgings'
Two men wrongly jailed for the murder of the newspaper boy Carl Bridgewater were ordered yesterday to pay "board and lodgings" for the 18 years they were in prison. In a ruling condemned as "sick" by prison campaigners, the Court of Appeal agreed with a Home Office-appointed assessor that the cousins Michael and Vincent Hickey should lose a quarter of loss-of-earnings compensation for their free food and accommodation inside.

Watergate 'Bagman' Fred LaRue, 75, Dies
Frederick Cheney LaRue, 75, the shadowy Nixon White House aide and "bagman" who delivered more than $300,000 in payoffs to Watergate conspirators, died of coronary artery disease in a Biloxi, Mississippi, motel room, where he lived.

Refusal to eat cooked food lands environmental activist in hot water
Tre Arrow, 30, who is wanted in the United States for ecoterrorism acts, has been banished to five days in solitary confinement for keeping contraband in his cell. The illegal stash that alarmed prison authorities at the North Fraser Pretrial Centre consisted of two apples, a plate of zucchini and carrot sticks - and six apparently dangerous bananas.

Aloe vera may treat battle wounds
The aloe vera plant could give trauma victims such as soldiers the fluid needed to stay alive until they can get a blood transfusion, a study suggests. Rapid blood loss on the battlefield is hard to replace quickly and can lead to organ failure in wounded soldiers. University of Pittsburgh scientists found juice from aloe vera leaves preserved organ function in rats that had lost massive volumes of blood.

Animal rights groups fight US activist ban
Animal rights campaigners yesterday said they would fight any move by the home secretary, David Blunkett, to ban American activists from entering the UK. The Home Office has written to a number of US campaigners, warning them that they may not be allowed in if they are deemed to have made statements inciting violence in the UK.

Confusion surrounds Iraq hostages
Conflicting reports are emerging about the status of seven lorry drivers taken hostage by Iraqi militants. Kenyan government officials say the men - three Kenyans, three Indians and an Egyptian - have been freed. But the drivers' Kuwaiti employers flatly denied this, saying talks to secure their release were continuing.

500,000 face struggle to survive after floods sweep away homes and crops
Officially, 544 Bangladeshis have been killed, although the officials concede the real death toll is likely to be much higher. Disease, spread by foul water, will greatly increase the number of victims. There has been an alarming rise in the number of registered diarrhoea cases: nearly 47,000 have been afflicted since July 12.

'Turkish hostage killing shown'
A website has shown pictures of what it says is the killing of a Turkish hostage in Iraq, according to reports. The images, seen by news agencies Reuters and AP, show a group of masked men shooting the kneeling figure in the head three times.

Audit: Spending Records on Iraq Lacking
U.S. authorities in Baghdad spent hundreds of millions of Iraqi dollars without keeping good enough records to show whether they got some services and products they paid for. Officials of the former Coalition Provisional Authority did not have records to justify the $24.7 million cost for replacing Iraq's currency.

Paraguay shop fire toll nears 300
At least 283 people have died in a fire at a shopping centre in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion, police say. Hundreds more are injured and the death toll is set to rise as firefighters bring charred bodies out of the debris. It is thought the fire was caused by a gas explosion when the Ycua Bolanos centre was packed with weekend shoppers.

All children to go on ‘big brother’ computer
A national database containing confidential details about every child in Britain is to be set up by the government. An identifying number will be assigned to each child so that the authorities can access their records.

Japan endgame for US chess star
Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer is set to appeal against Japanese moves to deport him. Mr Fischer has been on the run from the US authorities for more than a decade and faces a possible fine or even a jail term. The controversial genius is accused of breaking international sanctions by visiting Yugoslavia in 1992 to play his former arch-rival Boris Spassky.

A village green? Yes, if locals have their way
Legal gambit aims to halt £200m holiday development. The sandy beach at Carlyon Bay, which sweeps down from rocky cliffs topped with heathland to crystal-clear water, may not be the archetype of an English village green.

The medical timebomb: 'too many women doctors'
The medical profession is in danger of losing its power and influence because too many women are scaling its ranks, according to the astonishing warning made by Professor Carol Black, the president of the Royal College of Physicians, only the second woman to hold the post in the college's 500 year history.

Leaders condemn Iraq church bombs
Christian and Muslim leaders have condemned Sunday's wave of bomb attacks on churches that killed 11 people. A spokesman for Pope John Paul II said the bombings were "terrible" and said this was the first time Christian churches had been targeted in Iraq.

Argentina blames IMF for crisis
International Monetary Fund policies are to blame for impoverishing 15 million people in Argentina, the country's president has said. Nestor Kirchner's comments came after an internal IMF report criticised the fund's relationship with the country over the past decade. The report said the IMF had exacerbated the country's economic crisis, which struck in December 2001.

Doctors and Torture
There is increasing evidence that U.S. doctors, nurses, and medics have been complicit in torture and other illegal procedures in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay. Such medical complicity suggests still another disturbing dimension of this broadening scandal.

Iraq Funds Are Focus of 27 Criminal Inquiries
A comprehensive examination of the U.S.-led agency that oversaw the rebuilding of Iraq has triggered at least 27 criminal investigations and produced evidence of millions of dollars' worth of fraud, waste and abuse, according to a report by the Coalition Provisional Authority's inspector general.

US court reveals Libya 'terror plot'
A plea bargain in a US court has revealed details of an alleged Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's de facto leader Crown Prince Abdullah. Leading US Muslim activist Abdurahman Alamoudi admitted taking part in the plot, as he pleaded guilty to three charges of illegal dealings with Libya.

Disaster at sea: global warming hits UK birds
Hundreds of thousands of Scottish seabirds have failed to breed this summer in a wildlife catastrophe which is being linked by scientists directly to global warming. The massive unprecedented collapse of nesting attempts by several seabird species in Orkney and Shetland is likely to prove the first major impact of climate change on Britain.

Attack on Pakistan PM-designate
At least five people were killed and 25 injured in an apparent suicide attack on Pakistan's Prime Minister-designate Shaukat Aziz, police say. Mr Aziz, the current finance minister, is said to have escaped unhurt. His motorcade was attacked as he left an election rally in Attock, northern Punjab, ahead of a crucial by-election scheduled for 18 August.

NY given al-Qaeda attack warning
The authorities in New York are warning residents and businesses that al-Qaeda may be planning a fresh suicide attack in the city. Officials say they have received intelligence that is "credible", although not specific. Police urged companies to be vigilant - warning against possible car bombs and chemical agents in ventilation systems.

Venezuela army officers arrested
A Venezuelan court has ordered the arrest of 59 military officers on charges of conspiracy, civil rebellion and instigating insurrection. The men took part in a protest against President Hugo Chavez in October 2002 by taking over a square in Caracas and urging civil disobedience. Some of those charged by judge Rita Hernandez also backed a failed coup against Mr Chavez in April 2002.

US travel curbs force Cuba exodus
Hundreds of Cuban Americans have been returning to the US, as tough new curbs on travel to Cuba imposed by Washington come into effect on Sunday. Cuban Americans will only be allowed to go back to the island once every three years instead of once a year. President George W Bush says the new policy is designed to restrict the flow of money to what he describes as Fidel Castro's repressive regime.

Thai PM admits 'excessive force'
Thailand's prime minister has conceded soldiers may have used excessive force when they stormed a mosque in April, killing 32 young Muslims. The raid marked the bloodiest day of an uprising that began in January. Thaksin Shinawatra said troops had felt under pressure to quell violence by militants in the Muslim-majority south.

World trade talks reach agreement
World Trade Organization members have agreed a revised draft deal that aims to revive stalled talks on freeing up trade between rich and poor nations. Key WTO members accepted proposals to cut the subsidies wealthy countries give their farmers for exports.

Car bomber attacks Mosul police
A car bomb targeting an Iraqi police station in the northern city of Mosul has killed at least four people and wounded about 50 others. Many of the casualties were police, hospital sources say. Over the past year Iraqi insurgents have repeatedly attacked security forces, whom they view as collaborators supporting US forces.

China troops parade in Hong Kong
More than 3,000 Chinese troops have for the first time staged an Army Day parade in Hong Kong. Some 15,000 people bought tickets to watch a display of military hardware and precision marching by the People's Liberation Army.
The troops marched at their barracks in sweltering heat, clapped by the crowds.

'Turkish drivers seized in Iraq'
A militant group in Iraq claims to have taken two Turkish truck drivers hostage and will kill them unless their firm leaves the country, al-Jazeera TV says. The threat was made by a group led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi - a suspected ally of the al-Qaeda network. The group said the men's Turkish firm, which supplies goods to the US in Iraq, had 48 hours to leave the country.

Remand for French Guantanamo four
Four French men repatriated from the US detention centre at Guantanamo Bay have been remanded in prison. The four are under formal investigation for links with terror groups.Defence lawyers say the four men are in good physical condition but that they are concerned for their psychological state.

Gadhafi urges Muslim nations not to send troops to Iraq
Libyan leader Colonel Moammar Gadhafi has urged fellow Arab and Muslim nations not send troops into Iraq. "Arab and Muslim troops should not be sent to Iraq unless the occupation forces withdraw," JANA quoted Gadhafi as saying in a statement. He also said that a United Nations resolution was also needed to sanction sending these troops to the war-torn Arab country.

Iran resumes centrifuge building
Iran has resumed building centrifuges used for enriching uranium, Foreign Minister Kamal Kharrazi has announced. He said the move was in response to a failure by European countries to honour a pledge to help close an international dispute over Iran's nuclear activities. However, Mr Kharrazi said Iran had not resumed actually enriching uranium.

Officers vetoed inquiries into 23 deaths
Army officers blocked police investigations into the deaths of more than 20 Iraqis during incidents involving British troops, raising concerns about the Army's right to stop inquiries into fatal shootings.

Terror cartoon plunges Blunkett into race row
Muslim leaders accused a Home Office terrorism document of being "deeply offensive" about their religion yesterday, plunging David Blunkett into a new race row. The document "plays into the hands" of white racists and Islamic extremists by portraying all Muslims wearing beards and traditional headgear as terrorists, they said.

He welcomed the liberators. Then heard them kill his friend
Kifah Taha al-Mutari remembers buying five flowers for his family to wave when British troops took control of Basra on 7 April last year. To him, like hundreds of thousands of others in the city, the British were liberators.

India sends hostage envoy to Iraq
An Indian diplomat is going to Iraq to try to free three Indian hostages whom militants are threatening to kill. But Delhi did not confirm reports that the rebels had extended by 24 hours - until 1500 GMT on Saturday - a deadline to start executing the hostages. The militants have warned the men will die if the Kuwaiti firm that employs them does not pull out of Iraq.

Fair price for a life? Army pays Iraqi family £390 after shooting girl dead
The Army has paid out £390 to the family of an eight-year-old Iraqi girl who was killed after being hit by a bullet fired by a British soldier. Hanan Saleh Matrud died in an alleyway near her home in northern Basra after a British soldier with the King's Regiment opened fire nearby. The ricocheting bullet left a deep wound across her stomach, and she later died in hospital.

Iranian dissident freed on bail
eading Iranian dissident Hashem Aghajari, who spent two years in jail facing the death penalty for blasphemy, has been freed on bail. Mr Aghajari, 47, was sentenced to hang in 2002 after he urged people not to follow their religious leaders blindly. That verdict provoked the biggest student protests in years, forcing Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei to order a review.

Animal rights arsonist to face UK ban
FBI called in as UK attacks rise 40-fold. A convicted arsonist who holds workshops on how to make firebombs faces being banned from entering Britain as part of a government crackdown on the extreme wing of the animal rights movement.

Council on Foreign Relations to Bush: Stop Israeli strike on Iran's nuke sites
A report by the New York-based Council on Foreign Relations urged the Bush administration to stop any Israeli attempt to strike Iran's nuclear facilities. The council warned that such an Israeli attack would be blamed on the United States and hurt its interests in the region.

Belarus deports Chernobyl expert
British scientist who studied the Chernobyl disaster in the former Soviet Union has been mysteriously deported from Belarus while on a lecture tour. The decision to rescind his visa was made by the former Soviet republic's interior ministry. Dr Alan Flowers, a specialist in radiology based at Kingston University, said he was being removed because of his contact with non-government groups.