JOHN BOYETTE’S soft, southern accent seems like the natural by-product of a life spent on either side of the Savannah River.

A judge today overturned part of a UK employment tribunal ruling in favour of a TV correspondent who claims he was sacked for refusing to work in Iraq.

ABC World News Tonight co-anchor Bob Woodruff and a cameraman were seriously injured when the Iraqi Army vehicle they were travelling in was attacked with an explosive device.

Bombings and shootings across Iraq have left 18 people dead, including a US Marine and a cameraman killed in fierce fighting between American forces and guerrillas armed with mortars and rocket-propelled grenades in a town west of Baghdad.