* Fresh explosions rock central Baghdad, hit presidential
palace; U.S. says cruise targets Information Ministry
* Three U.S. Marines killed, one injured as Marine
helicopter crashes in southern Iraq, says U.S. war HQ
* British soldier killed in action near Basra;
Iraq says it has destroyed two U.S. or British tanks and nine
armoured personnel carriers over the past day
* Rumsfeld says no plans for pause or ceasefire; Iraq's
banned weapons stockpiled in Baghdad, Tikrit
* Powell urges Syria to abandon support for "terrorist
groups" and Iraqi regime, reiterates tough U.S. line on Iran

QUOTES
Rumsfeld on Iraq's possible possession of banned weapons:
"The area in the south and the west and the north that coalition
forces control is substantial... It happens not to be the area
where weapons of mass destruction were dispersed."
Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Aziz: "They are surprised that
the Iraqi people are resisting them courageously with a great
determination to deter them. We are not surprised, we expected
that, we said that."
Powell: "Syria can continue direct support for terrorist
groups and the dying regime of Saddam Hussein, or it can embark
on a different and more hopeful course."

EVENTS (TIMES IN GMT)
Monday -
* British Defence Secretary Hoon takes questions in
parliament (1330)

CASUALTIES
* U.S. - At least 45 killed, 17 missing
* Britain - 24 killed
* Iraqi military - no confirmed figures
* Iraqi civilians (Iraqi estimates) - 589 killed, 4,582
injured

MILITARY ACTION
BAGHDAD: Explosions rock Baghdad, large oil-filled trench
ablaze; government targets hit.
SOUTHERN IRAQ: British Royal Marines clash with
paramilitaries south of Basra, says British spokesman.
Defence official says troops from U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne
Division placed near Nassiriya to protect supply lines.
NORTHERN IRAQ: B-52 bombers pound positions near Mosul,
Kirkuk. U.S.-led forces seen scouting Iraqi front-line
positions. The United States says it had destroyed a "massive
terrorist facility" in northern Iraq which could have been used
by the militant groups Ansar al-Islam and al Qaeda to make
chemical weapons.