IRAQ-CONFLICT: Peace rally in Sydney turns violent

A demonstration in Sydney by 1,000 anti-war protesters degenerated into violence Wednesday.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Russia scorns US portrayal of ‘Iraqi liberation’

The US depiction of the war in Iraq as liberation of the Iraqi people is emerging as a fallacy as the conflict deepens, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Wednesday.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Fierce resistance in Al Nassiriyah

The US Marines have come to a very fierce Iraqi resistance which brought to a halt the advance of the US forces to the north and towards Baghdad.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: TV up again after bombing

Iraqi television was functioning again by early Wednesday, BBC radio reported, after it had gone down following a US bombing raid that destroyed one of its main buildings.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: US claims great many Iraqi deaths during battle of Najaf

US commanders claimed on Wednesday their troops had killed large numbers of Iraqis in an overnight battle south of Baghdad, although reports of hundreds of Iraqi deaths could not be independently confirmed.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Calm returns to Baghdad and explosions rock Al Mosal

Al Jazeerah correspondent said calm returned Wednesday after the city of five million saw last night at dawn today a blistering bombardment by US and British planes and targeted the city center and the TV and Information Ministry building consequently cutting off the Iraqi satellite TV transmission.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Mosul under air raids

The northern Iraqi city of Mosul was heavily bombarded Wednesday morning by US-British war planes and missiles, Al Jazeerah satellite news channel reported.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Japan rejects US request to close Iraqi embassy.

Japan conveyed to the United States its rejection to comply with a US request to close the Iraqi embassy, Kyodo News reported Wednesday citing Senior Deputy Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi. (QNA)

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Explosions rock Baghdad at dawn

Seven explosions struck the Iraqi capital Baghdad as dawn broke on Wednesday.

MIDDLE EAST: Call for using saline water in agriculture to save freshwater

Dr. Mohammad Al-Attar, Director General, International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA), called upon delegates at the 3rd World Water Forum (3WWF), in Kyoto, Japan last week, to use brackish and saline water for agriculture to save precious fresh water.

IRAQ-UAE: Dubai launches massive fund-raising campaign

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mohammed Bin Rashid Charity and Humanitarian Organization today launched a huge drive of fund-raising to support the people of Iraq.

IRAQ: UAE humanitarian mission bound for Baghdad

A delegation of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Red Crescent Society (RCS) early this morning crossed the Jordan-Iraq border en-route to Baghdad in a humanitarian mission to distribute medical assistance there and arrange for air lifting of hundreds of tons of relief aid.

IRAQ-POWS: US administration suffers from massive memory lapse, says UAE

The US Administration's plea to the Iraqi government to treat POWs humanely has been slammed by a United Arab Emirates (UAE) English daily.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Second British soldier killed in action

A British soldier from the 1st Battalion, The Black Watch, was killed in action late Monday in an operation near Az Zubayr, bringing the number killed in action to two, British military sources said today.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: No progress at US-Turkey talks on sending troops to North

Turkey and the US have failed to reach progress on sending the Turkish military contingent to North Iraq.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Iraqi forces counterattack near Basra

Iraqi military forces have launched a counterattack on the outskirts of Iraq's southern port city of Basra early Tuesday, the Qatari Al-Jazeera TV reported.

LEBANON: Blast staged near British Council in Beirut.

A bomb exploded near the British Council building in the Lebanese capital Beirut.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: New York Stock Exchange bans Al Jazeera reporters

Al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language satellite TV channel, said today that the New York Stock Exchange is banning its reporters, a move the channel attributed to its reports on the Iraq war.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Tough battles in Basra

Artillery fire exchanges were heard coming from Az-Zubayr area, between Basra and Umm Qasr, Al Jazeera TV satellite channel correspondent has reported.

IRAQ-CONFLICT: Grinding battles in Al Nasiriyah

Grinding confrontations resumed between the Iraqi forces and the US-British forces in the Iraqi city of Al Nasiriyah early at dawn on Tuesday after the city has witnessed the killing of scores of US troops during previous battles.

INDIA: Protesters attack Coke, Pepsi warehouses in Andhra Pradesh

Protesting against the US-led invasion in Iraq, Naxalites of the banned People's War Group (PWG) attacked Coca-Cola and Pepsi soft drink warehouses in Prakasham and Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh, the local press reported on Tuesday.