Aljazeera television broadcast a videotape today showing two German engineers abducted this week in northern Iraq.

WESTERN sanctions won’t impede Iran from resuming research at a uranium enrichment plant, former president Hashemi Rafsanjani said yesterday in a denunciation of the international outcry over Tehran’s nuclear activities.

A world wary of war today cautiously welcomed calls by President George Bush for a tougher stance against Iraq, with some nations cheering the news and others worried Washington was leaning toward conflict.

German Defence Minister Rudolf Scharping is to be sacked after revelations emerged that he accepted royalties from a public relations adviser, a senior member of the governing Social Democrats said today.