WASHINGTON - The White House said the attack on Iraq had
begun. President Bush is to go on television at 0315 GMT, his
spokesman said.
BAGHDAD - A handful of explosions rocked Baghdad at dawn as
jets roared overhead, Iraqi anti-aircraft batteries opened up and
air raid sirens sounded.
UNITED NATIONS - France and Germany said it was illegal for
the Bush administration to depose Iraqi President Saddam Hussein
and Russia said there was no proof Iraq posed a threat to the
United States.
UNITED NATIONS - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the
United States it was responsible for protecting Iraqi civilians
in war but said the United Nations should get ready to help soon.
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LONDON - Britain issued a global terror threat alert as its
troops stood poised with U.S. forces on the Iraqi border for the
signal to strike north towards Baghdad.
KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian police have found four tonnes of
ammonia nitrate, an explosive fertiliser material favoured by
truck bombers, in the southern state of Johor bordering
Singapore, the Star newspaper said.
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SINGAPORE - Oil prices skidded, the dollar climbed and stocks
ticked higher as investors bet a U.S.-led invasion of Iraq would
be quick and decisive but were wary about possible acts of
terror.
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WASHINGTON - Dozens of people were arrested when hundreds
marched in cities across the United States to protest over the
looming U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.
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MIAMI - A Cuban DC-3 airliner carrying 35 people landed in
Key West, Florida after a possible hijack, the U.S. Federal
Aviation Administration said.
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WASHINGTON - Doctors said they were homing in on a possible
cause and source of a mysterious global outbreak of pneumonia,
naming a family of viruses responsible for everyday measles and
more exotic diseases such as Nipah virus.
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WASHINGTON - The United States plans to provide Israel with
$10 billion in grants and loan guarantees as part of a massive
war budget which President Bush will send to Congress soon after
any military action is taken against Iraq, U.S. and Israeli
officials said.
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RAMALLAH, West Bank - Prominent Palestinian moderate Mahmoud
Abbas accepted his appointment by Yasser Arafat as the
Palestinians' first prime minister to implement key reforms, a
close aide to Arafat said.
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WASHINGTON - The U.S. Senate narrowly voted against opening
the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, defeating
the centrepiece of President Bush's energy policy.
OTTAWA - The Canadian government welcomed the U.S. Senate
vote that rejected drilling for oil in an Arctic wildlife refuge
near its borders, an idea that Ottawa has consistently and loudly
opposed.
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DALLAS, Texas - Texans firmly back the death penalty, but as
the state nears the sombre milestone on Thursday of its 300th
execution since resuming capital punishment 21 years ago,
questions are arising about a process some believe is deeply
flawed.
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BOGOTA - More than 300,000 children work as domestic servants
in Colombia, most for more than 48 hours a week and for less than
the country's $112 monthly minimum wage, the International Labor
Organisation said.
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HAVANA - The United States said it was outraged that Cuba had
arrested dozens of U.S.-backed dissidents in a crackdown on what
the island's communist government sees as increasing American
interference.
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LONDON - Three newly discovered drawings by master British
landscape artist John Constable fetched over 350,000 pounds
($545,000) in London, auction house Sotheby's said.
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LOS ANGELES - After two weeks of contract wrangling, HBO
finally made actor James Gandolfini an offer he couldn't refuse
to appear as mob boss Tony Soprano for a fifth season on the hit
show "The Sopranos," spokesmen for both sides said.
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Moments after the explosions began, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told
reporters in Washington, "The opening stages of the disarmament of the Iraqi
regime have begun."
No airplanes were visible in the skies over Baghdad as the air raid sirens
blared. Yellow and white tracers from anti-aircraft fire were seen in the sky,
and a number of strong explosions went off in the city.
Cable News Network reported that the U.S. was using cruise missiles in the
attacks.
One explosion raised a ball of fire toward the southern part of the capital.

A handful of explosions rocked
Baghdad at dawn today as jets roared overhead, Iraqi anti-aircraft
batteries opened up and air raid sirens sounded.
Reuters correspondent Nadim Ladki, reporting from the city
centre, said the blasts appeared to come from the southern suburbs.
He heard two or three explosions, followed by a similar number
at about 5:30am local time, an hour and a half after a US deadline
for war on Saddam Hussein had passed.