While the Christian Peacemakers Teams expressed joy at their colleagues’ sudden rescue from captivity in Iraq today, the peace activists took the opportunity to also call for an end to the US-led occupation of Iraq.

US President George Bush yesterday acknowledged that 30,000 Iraqis had died as a result of the US-led invasion and its bloody aftermath.

George W Bush was given a seat of honour today in a reviewing stand next to Lenin’s tomb to watch goose-stepping soldiers and flags adorned with the Soviet hammer-and-sickle that recalled days of communist might.

The Italian journalist who was wounded by US gunfire in Baghdad today said she had not ruled out the possibility that troops shot at her car deliberately.

THE United States has been conducting secret reconnaissance missions inside Iran to help identify potential nuclear, chemical and missile targets, The New Yorker magazine reported yesterday.

President George Bush prepared to declare re-election victory today even though Democratic rival John Kerry refused to concede as results in the key state of Ohio remained uncertain.

President George Bush will declare re-election victory, aides said, as Democratic rival John Kerry refused to concede Ohio or the presidency.

President George Bush has said he sees the value – and the humour – in the idea that aides could secretly feed him advice through a radio receiver hidden on his back.

Former US President Bill Clinton hit the election campaign trail, just weeks after undergoing open heart surgery, and urged Americans to vote for Senator John Kerry.

As the US presidential campaign entered its final week today, George Bush rapidly revamped a campaign speech to accuse rival John Kerry of having a limited vision of the war on terror that will not keep America safe.

DEMOCRATIC presidential challenger John Kerry yesterday ripped into US President George Bush for saying he had no regrets over his “Mission Accomplished” speech on Iraq.

The ongoing row over President George W Bush’s military record has taken yet another twist with the release of documents relating to his service in the Texas Air National Guard.

US President George Bush was given special treatment to avoid being sent to war in Vietnam as a young man, it was claimed today.

US mational security adviser Condoleezza Rice will provide a detailed account of the Bush administration’s anti-terror actions before the 2001 attacks when she goes before the September 11 commission today.

DEMOCRATIC presidential candidates opened their sprint to the New Hampshire primary yesterday with newly minted front-runner John Kerry pitching his experience and John Edwards laying claim to electricity in a contest thrown wide open by the leadoff Iowa caucuses.

A British Airways pilot almost let the cat out of the bag over US President George Bush’s secret visit to Baghdad.

US President George W Bush made a surprise visit to American troops in Baghdad last night, flying secretly to violence-scarred Iraq to thank American forces for serving there.

President George W Bush’s deputy national security adviser became the second US official to apologise for allowing a tainted intelligence report on Iraq’s nuclear ambitions to find its way into a major speech by Bush before Congress in January.

IF US President George W. Bush ordered military action against Iraq, he would explain clearly to Americans his decision to try to remove Saddam Hussein from power, a White House aide said yesterday.

The White House is no longer cooperating with Talk magazine, following a photo spread that depicts President Bush’s twin daughters as jailbirds.