US forces launched a new offensive in Iraq’s so called triangle of death today while rebels ambushed an elite police unit, killing 29 people in a massive explosion.

IRAQ’S deputy prime minister said holding elections in January will be “a serious challenge,” but he insisted yesterday they must go ahead as scheduled.

In a disillusioned Middle East where calls for a change - any change - in the US leadership resonated throughout the run-up to the election, Kuwait is clearly Bush country.

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi appealed today to kidnappers in Iraq to free hostage Kenneth Bigley.

The British government is ready to listen Ken Bigley’s kidnappers but will not enter into negotiations with them for the hostage’s release, Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in Baghdad today.

US secretary of state Colin Powell said the United States would speed delivery to Iraq of billions of dollars in reconstruction aid, as Nato countries agreed to send a 40-member team as soon as possible to begin training Iraqi security forces.

US Secretary of State Colin Powell made an unannounced trip to Baghdad today following talks with Saudi officials on a proposal to form a Muslim force to help stamp out the deadly insurgency in Iraq.

Iraq’s interim prime minister has signed a long-anticipated law that gives him the authority to impose emergency measures to safeguard the country’s security, an official in his office said today.

US SOLDIERS began securing oilfields and the airport in the key northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk yesterday as lawlessness and tensions between ethnic groups appeared to be on the rise, and Turkey voiced its concerns about a Kurdish nation on its borders.