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Military commanders tell Brown to withdraw from Iraq without delay
Senior military commanders have told the Government that Britain can achieve 'nothing more' in south-east Iraq, and that the 5,500 British troops still deployed there should move towards withdrawal without further delay. Last month Gordon Brown said after meeting George Bush at Camp David that the decision to hand over security in Basra province – the last of the four held by the British – 'will be made on the military advice of our commanders on the ground'. He added: 'Whatever happens, we will make a full statement to Parliament when it returns .' Two generals told The Independent on Sunday last week that the military advice given to the Prime Minister was, 'We've done what we can in the south '. Commanders want to hand over Basra Palace by the end of August.

Pakistan in anti-Taliban air raid
Pakistan army helicopters have struck near the country's border with Afghanistan two hideouts of pro-Taliban fighters, killing three of their number, a military spokesman says. Major-General Waheed Arshad said that the pre-dawn attack continued for several hours on Sunday, near Mir Ali, a town in the North Waziristan tribal region. Arshad said: 'They were carrying out attacks on security forces from the two compounds and we're targeting them.' He said three fighters were killed in the strike, though intelligence officials in Mir Ali said that two women and two children had also died. Residents have also said that two suspected Uzbek fighters were killed.

The Devil worshippers of Iraq
I'm in a community hall, on the outskirts of Celle, a north German town. On the walls are pictures of dark blue peacocks. Sitting at various tables around the room are dozens of Devil worshippers. At least, that's what some people call them.
Though we don't know it yet, right now several suicide bombs are going off near Mosul in Iraq, killing maybe 400. The victims belong to the same faith as those gathered here today. Yezidi women from where north-western Iraq borders Syria. The faith may go back 6,000 years They are Yezidi. And I'm here to unearth the reality of their fascinating religion. Why do they have such troubled relations with outsiders? Do they really worship the Devil?

For Giuliani, Ground Zero as Linchpin and Thorn
As Rudolph W. Giuliani campaigns around the country highlighting his stewardship of New York City after the Sept. 11 attacks, he is widely hailed for bringing order to a traumatized city. But he has also raised the hackles of rescue and recovery workers by likening his experience to theirs. On at least three occasions, in responding to accusations that the city failed to adequately protect the health of workers in the wreckage, he has boasted that he faced comparable risks himself. In one appearance he declared that he had been in the ruins “as often, if not more” than the cleanup workers who logged hundreds of hours in the smoldering pile.
Another time he brushed aside safety claims by asserting that his long hours at the site had left him susceptible to “every health consequence that people have suffered.” So, how much time did Mayor Giuliani spend at ground zero?

Two Firefighters Die in 7-Alarm Fire at Skyscraper Near Ground Zero
A seven-alarm fire in an abandoned skyscraper killed two firefighters and sent a plume of gray smoke trailing above Ground Zero Saturday afternoon. Officers at the scene were preventing nearby residents from returning to their homes even to rescue pets, telling them that authorities were concerned the former Deutsche Bank office building, vacant since Sept. 11 turned it into a toxic nightmare, could fall. Mayor Michael Bloomberg said that fear turned out to be unfounded. Bloomberg sought to reassure residents that the chemicals in the building did not present a significant health risk, saying officials saw no need for a 'frozen zone' around the site.

Iran hangs 30 over 'US plots'
Iran has hanged up to 30 people in the past month amid a clampdown prompted by alleged US-backed plots to topple the regime. Many executions have been carried out in public in an apparent bid to create a climate of intimidation while sending out uncompromising signals to the West. Opposition sources say at least three of the dead were political activists, contradicting government insistence that it is targeting 'thugs' and dangerous criminals. The executions have coincided with a crackdown on student activists and academics accused of trying to foment a 'soft revolution' with US support.

UK troops 'stretched but winning'
British troops are 'stretched' but they are winning the tactical battle in Afghanistan, the head of the Army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, has said. During a visit to the country, he told the BBC that operations in Iraq and Afghanistan meant soldiers were being deployed more often than he would like. But their skill and determination were defeating the Taleban, he said. Gen Dannatt also backed calls for special recognition for those involved in the battles in southern Afghanistan. He said he had 'pride and admiration' for all the young soldiers in the British army and said there was no other force that could be doing such a difficult task in the country.

Shock toll of British injured in Afghan war
The human cost of the war in Afghanistan to British soldiers can be revealed today as figures show that almost half of frontline troops have required significant medical treatment during this summer's fighting. In a graphic illustration of the intensity of the conflict in Helmand province, more than 700 battlefield soldiers have needed treatment since April - nearly half of the 1,500 on the front line. The figures, obtained from senior military sources, have never been released by the government, which has faced criticism that it has covered up the true extent of injuries sustained during the conflict.

Abu Ghraib interrogator faces court-martial
A court-martial will start Monday for a U.S. Army intelligence officer charged with abuses at Iraq's Abu Ghraib prison, where he headed the interrogation center, the Army said on Saturday. The trial of Lt. Col. Steven Jordan will be convened at Fort Meade, Maryland, outside Washington, the Army said. Jordan is charged with cruelty and maltreatment of detainees as well as making false statements and obstruction of justice, disobeying a superior officer and failure to obey orders. The charges stem from violations of the Uniformed Code of Military Justice alleged to have taken place at the Joint Interrogation Debriefing Center at Abu Ghraib on or about September 17, 2003 to August 19, 2004. A lawyer for Jordan could not immediately be reached for comment.

School deaths that stunned black America
Newark is a 25-minute train ride across the Hudson River from the skyscrapers of Manhattan. But its tough streets, scarred by violence and drugs, feel a world away.
Now, after a brutal multiple murder in a school playground, Newark is at the centre of a bout of national soul-searching about life in urban America and the violence that marks so much of the experience of inner-city black youth. The crime has caused shock across the nation not because the victims were involved in a tit-for-tat piece of ghetto violence, but because they were not. They were four young black Americans who had done everything right to grow up unscathed by Newark's social problems. Beating the odds, they had emerged with clean records, bright futures and university degrees ahead of them. But even they could not succeed.

Hopes dim for 180 trapped miners in China
More than 180 Chinese coal miners trapped in flooded shafts have slim hopes of survival, but officials said they would press on with frantic rescue efforts after one of the nation's worst mine disasters. Angry relatives of the miners in the eastern province Shandong said more could have been done to protect the 172 miners that are pinned down after the rain-swollen Wen River overcame flood defenses and surged down the shaft on Friday. Nine others were trapped in a shaft nearby. By early Sunday, rescuers had sealed a more than 50-metre (160-foot) gash in the levee after hundreds of troops piled sacks of cement, trees, rocks and even trucks into the gap.

The Convenience of Denial
The man who ran CNN's news operation during the invasion of Iraq is now doing damage control in response to a new documentary's evidence that he kowtowed to the Pentagon on behalf of the cable network. His current denial says a lot about how 'liberal media' outlets remain deeply embedded in the mindsets of pro-military conformity. In mid-August, the former CNN executive publicly defended himself against a portion of the 'War Made Easy' film (based on my book of the same name) that has drawn much comment from viewers since the documentary's release earlier this summer.

Co-defendants of Posada’s main accomplice in El Salvador released
If the courts continue to be this complacent, Francisco Antonio “El Panzón” Chávez Abarca, the main accomplice of international terrorist Luis Posada Carriles in El Salvador, now being held for being the chief of a car-theft ring, is soon to be released, so that he can once again disappear out of the reach of justice. Mirian del Carmen Urbina, a worker at the Transport Protection Division of the Salvadoran police, and three criminals linked to the gang of thieves were just released by a court in San Salvador, after a lightning trial in which the judge abstained from considering most of the evidence collected during the police investigation.

Mob lays siege to police station
A police station in Norfolk came under siege in the early hours of the morning when a group of about 100 people hurled beer and wine bottles at the building.
The attack in Great Yarmouth, happened after police arrested three people in a van carrying sound equipment. Police later attended an 'unlicensed music event' at an industrial estate. Ch Supt Bob Scully said the arrested people were not involved in the police station attack, but they were linking the two incidents. The attack was declared a major incident by Norfolk Police and Ch Supt Scully said: 'We acted swiftly to control the situation and restore order.'

Fathers 4 Justice members arrested in US
Two British Fathers 4 Justice activists were arrested as they protested at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC yesterday. The men, wearing Captain America and Batman costumes, had scaled the memorial and unfurled a banner which read: 'For the Fathers of the Nation: Fathers 4 Justice has arrived.' US Parks Police officers evacuated dozens of tourists from the memorial, which has been the site of many famous speeches, including Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' address. The men were later identified as Jolly Stanesby, from Ivybridge, Devon, and Mike Downes, from Manchester. Both men have been arrested in the UK for similar protests.

Patriot Act used to search for evidence in cockfighting case
Just after midnight on May 13, 2004, a small team of FBI agents crept into the legendary Del Rio Cockfighting Pit in Cocke County. The illegal gambling arena was closed, and agents were able to copy a computer hard drive before slipping away. They didn’t notify the property’s then-owner, Michael Maynard of Hot Springs, N.C., of the search for another three months. Acting under the authority of the Patriot Act, the agents had obtained a search warrant that allowed them to clandestinely enter the property, search for evidence and not tell anyone about it until the government or a judge was ready to let the owners know they’d been there.

Drama over Casualty plot as BBC bans terror script
The BBC has abandoned plans to screen a fictional terrorist attack by Muslim suicide bombers in the primetime drama Casualty after internal clashes over whether the highly sensitive subject matter would cause offence. BBC drama executives were keen to push the storyline and may even have started filming, a source close to the production told The Observer. But they were overruled by the corporation's editorial guidelines department, which ordered that the episode be changed so that the Muslim characters were replaced by animal rights extremists. Channel 4 will screen a suicide bomber story by a Bafta star as its rival retreats over Muslim plotline

The return of Swampy: Underground eco-hero joins the Heathrow protest
The talking is over. The plans have been made. The mass direct action promised by the environmentalists camping near the perimeter of Heathrow airport will take place from noon today, they promised yesterday - although nobody could rule out a maverick group going off to chain itself to something in the meantime. Six people were arrested on suspicion of burglary after apparently breaking into the warehouse of a fruit importer, and police linked the break-in to the Camp for Climate Action. Protests would take place around the airport, a camp spokesman said. Some would be big, some small. 'We are still seeing people arriving,' he said. 'There are about 1,200 here.'