THE Green Party was back in with a chance of getting into government last night after Fianna Fáil-initiated coalition talks began.

A suspected suicide bomber blew himself up in the Iraqi parliament cafeteria in an assault in the heart of the heavily fortified, US-protected Green Zone today, killing at least eight people including three politicians, the American military said.

Iraq’s foreign minister welcomed the release today of 15 British sailors and marines but said the decision was not the result of a deal to release five Iranians detained by the US in Iraq.

Afghan journalists covering the aftermath of a suicide attack and shooting in eastern Afghanistan say US troops deleted their photos and video and warned them not to publish any images.

A suicide truck bomb today ripped through a line of vehicles waiting at a checkpoint in Fallujah and killed at least seven Iraqi civilians.

Rebels in Indonesia’s tsunami-devastated Aceh province accused the government today of abandoning an informal ceasefire after the military said it had killed scores of suspected guerrillas to protect aid deliveries.

A HUGE explosion destroyed the offices of a major Shi’ite party yesterday as it was revealed that US administrator Paul Bremer escaped a rebel ambush on his convoy two weeks ago.

The United States faces tough negotiations on its proposed UN resolution that seeks troops and money from all nations for Iraq’s post-war reconstruction but does not relinquish political or military control.

The American military is using long sessions of heavy metal music and children’s songs to help break the spirit of some Iraqi prisoners of war, it was reported today.

The tense northern Iraqi city of Mosul took a small step toward controlling its own destiny today, naming a cross-section of locals to operate alongside the American military until full free elections can be held,.

A crowd of Iraqi civilians today vented their anger at decades of oppression in a symbolic attack on a giant statue of Saddam Hussein.