The United States will push ahead with more targeted drone strikes and special operations raids and fewer costly land battles like Iraq and Afghanistan in the continuing war against al-Qaida, says a new counter-terrorism strategy.

Naomi Watts is “very, very scared” about playing Marilyn Monroe in a new biopic.

Military documents laid bare in the biggest leak of secret information in US history suggest that far more Iraqis died than previously acknowledged during the years of sectarian bloodletting and criminal violence unleashed by the 2003 US-led invasion.

A soldier has been charged with the murders of three Afghan civilians, the US Army said today.

The Obama administration today slapped new sanctions on several affiliates of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard, targeting one person and four companies for penalties over their alleged involvement in producing and spreading weapons of mass destruction.

Osama bin Laden was unquestionably within reach of US troops in the mountains of Tora Bora when American military leaders made the crucial and costly decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with massive force, a Senate report said.

Thousands of Iraqis held without charge by the US on suspicion of links to insurgents or militants will be freed by the summer because there is little or no evidence against them.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Iran’s hardline leaders of fomenting divisions in the Arab world, promoting terrorism, posing threats to Israel and Europe, and seeking to “intimidate as far as they think their voice can reach”.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised personal involvement in stalled Middle East peace efforts today as she criticised Israel’s demolition of Palestinian homes in Jerusalem.

Hundreds of demonstrators gathered in Dublin tonight to protest over the deepening violence in the Gaza conflict.

The US is on track to post an all-time high annual shortfall of $1tn (€764bn) or more after it was revealed that the government ran a record budget deficit in November.

Scores of nations began signing a treaty banning cluster bombs today in a move that supporters hope will shame the US, Russia and China and others into abandoning the weapons.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice today increased the pressure on Pakistan to help investigate the Mumbai massacres.

The gunmen who attacked Mumbai set out by boat from Pakistan’s port of Karachi, a top police official said, as the US secretary of state headed today to India in Washington’s efforts to defuse tension between the two nuclear rivals.

India was warned of a terrorist attack by US intelligence officials before the Mumbai massacre, it emerged today.

HERE are some views on foreign policy issues expressed by Clinton, wife of former President Bill Clinton.

Wall Street finished sharply lower today as investors pored over more signs of economic weakness, including a huge round of lay-offs in the financial sector.

IF — as Ciarán Cuffe, the Green party’s spokesman on justice, suggests — it is a “sea change” in policy for the Government to examine existing laws to ensure the gardaí have sufficient legal powers to search US military aircraft suspected of using Shannon Airport for flights of extraordinary rendition, then the Government has some serious questions to answer.

Joe Biden is Obama’s strongest line of defence against McCain, writes Karen McCarthy in New York.

John Breslin on a court case that throws a spotlight on the murky world of international espionage and shady deals struck in Afghanistan.

An attempt to blast a crippled US spy satellite out of the sky using a navy heat-seeking missile may happen early tomorrow, the military says.

THE BUSH administration was able to declare a clean sweep yesterday when Syria, the last Arab world holdout, said it would attend this week’s high-stakes Middle East peace conference.

US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice has ordered government agents to ride with the Blackwater escorts of diplomatic convoys in Baghdad after a shooting in which private guards were accused of killing 13 Iraqi civilians.

Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton has promised to scrap President Bush’s restrictions on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research if elected.

Fidel Castro looked alert during a surprise hour-long interview shown on Cuban television, responding to rumours of his death with a defiant “here I am.”

Four suicide bombers struck communities of a small Kurdish sect in north-western Iraq, killing at least 200 people and wounding 300 more, Iraqi military and local officials said.

UK electrical goods group Alba today agreed to offload household brands including Breville and Dirt Devil in a £51.5m (€75m) deal.

A car bomb exploded in a central Baghdad square today, killing 10 people and wounding 25, the deadliest attack on a day in which at least 18 others died in violence.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Maliki said today that the Iraqi army and police are capable of keeping security in the country when American troops leave “any time they want,” though he acknowledged the forces need further weapons and training.

Attempts to pass a key oil law sought by the United States were snarled once more today by deep differences between Iraq’s Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish leaders, delaying parliament debate on the benchmark legislation despite the prime minister’s claims of a breakthrough.

Three ground zero workers who accompanied filmmaker Michael Moore on a trip to Cuba for medical treatment featured in his new movie 'Sicko' said today they were targeted by the US government because of their participation.

IRAQ is now the second most unstable country in the world, its standing deteriorating from last year’s fourth place on a list of the 10 nations most vulnerable to violent internal conflict and worsening conditions.

The Bush administration today welcomed the election of French president-elect Nicolas Sarkozy, a pro-American conservative, as an opportunity to strengthen relations with France.

An accused Washington madam today said she was sorry a former top US State Department official had been outed as a client.

Five weeks and 19 witnesses into the CIA leak trial, US jurors are today set to begin deciding the fate of former White House aide Lewis “Scooter” Libby.

Serial numbers and other markings on bombs suggest Iran is supplying deadly explosives to Iraqi militants, US defence secretary Robert Gates says.

A television journalist deflected criticism of his ethics and credibility as the prosecution rested its case today in the CIA leak trial of former White House aide Lewis ’Scooter’ Libby.

Hamas and Fatah gunmen battled each other across the Gaza Strip early today, attacking security compounds, knocking out an electrical transformer and kidnapping several local commanders in some of the most extensive factional fighting in recent weeks.

International donors today gathered in Paris to drum up new funding for Lebanon’s embattled government, but there were concerns that recent violence there might dent nations’ willingness to donate.

Iraqi authorities have reported the arrests of two guards and an official who supervised Saddam Hussein's hanging and said the guard force was infiltrated by outsiders who taunted the former leader and shot the video showing his body dangling at the end of a rope.

The US Defence Department is thinking about a major build-up of US Navy forces in the Persian Gulf as a show of force against Iran, a senior defence official said today.

Iraqi militants killed 15 homebound police recruits and nine shoppers buying food for the feast to celebrate the end of Ramadan.

A top US diplomat has apologised for saying America's policy in Iraq displayed "arrogance" and "stupidity".

Iraqi militants today killed 15 homebound police recruits and nine shoppers buying food for the feast to celebrate the end of Ramadan.