Victims of the shooting rampage at Virginia Tech college in the United States were “graduating” alongside their classmates tonight.

About five thousand Virginia Tech students are set to graduate in the US today, less than a month after gunman Seung-Hui Cho shot 32 students and faculty members before turning the gun on himself.

Admiral William Fallon, who is poised to become the top American commander in the Middle East, says the United States miscalculated the ability of Iraqi forces to take control and underestimated the enemy’s persistence.

The White House today announced a shuffling of US military leaders in the Iraq war today as Congress' new Democratic chiefs criticised plans President George W Bush is considering to boost US troop strength in the war zone.

US president George Bush said the enemy in Iraq was “far from being defeated”, but vowed not to be rushed into adjusting his strategy.

President George Bush will meet his defence experts today to thrash out the nuts and bolts of his yet-to-be-revealed Iraq strategy plan.

America’s top soldier in Iraq said the war and the wider battle against extremists in the Middle East was the defining conflict of the generation, and one from which the United States and its allies could not afford to walk away.

Iraq’s prime minister has blamed the mass kidnapping at an education ministry building on an inter-militia conflict.

US President George Bush today met with a bipartisan group seeking consensus on a new approach for the war in Iraq amid widespread agreement that the administration's current efforts have not worked well enough or fast enough.

US military commanders are re-evaluating strategy in Iraq to determine what changes are needed, the top general said.

US President George Bush reviewed Iraq strategy with his top commanders and national security advisers, but indicated little inclination for major changes to an increasingly divisive policy.

US president George Bush today acknowledged that the situation in Iraq was tough and said he would consult with US generals to see if a change in tactics was necessary to combat the escalating violence.

A series of violent attacks across Iraq left more than a dozen people dead, including three US soldiers, authorities said today. The killings came despite assurances from U.S. officials that progress was being made to improve security in the capital.

A suicide truck bomber struck the provincial headquarters of an Iraqi police commando force north of Baghdad today, killing at least 10 troops and wounding 18 others, police said.

Thousands of Shiite youths, some armed, headed into Iraq’s capital Baghdad today for a pro-Hezbollah rally as skirmishes erupted with US troops that left at least three people dead, officials said. Fifteen rally-goers were wounded in a bus bombing.

Two of the most senior US generals told Congress today that the surge in sectarian violence in Baghdad in recent weeks raises the possibility of Iraq descending into civil war.

The White House today played down prospects of major troop withdrawals from Iraq in the near future.

A SUICIDE bomber and a car bomb ripped apart a market yesterday in a Shi’ite slum in Baghdad, killing at least 39 people and wounding more than 100.

A suicide bomber and a huge car bomb ripped apart a market in Baghdad’s Sadr City Shiite slum shortly before dusk today, killing at least 37 and wounding 95.

Dealing with a civil war in Iraq would be the responsibility of Iraq’s own security forces, at least initially, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told Congress yesterday.

TOP members of the Bush administration urged Congress quickly to pass a $91 billion spending bill as US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld scrambled to deny Iraq was sliding into civil war.

United States Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq today, touring the country after parliamentary elections.

More tents were being flown today to people left homeless by the South Asian earthquake as survivors joined relief workers in hailing an agreement between India and Pakistan to open their disputed frontier to ease the delivery of assistance.

EFFORTS to reach stranded villagers in Pakistan’s northern mountains gathered pace yesterday after the country’s friends and foes both urged help for up to three million survivors rattled by fresh aftershocks.

Al-Qaida is the main enemy to peace and stability in the Middle East and the terrorist group is seeking to acquire – and use – weapons of mass destruction there, a top US commander in Iraq told the US Congress.

US President George Bush is using the first anniversary of Iraq’s sovereignty to try to ease Americans’ doubts about the mission and outline a winning strategy for a violent conflict that has cost the lives of more than 1,740 US troops and has no end in sight.

NEARLY 40 people have died in a rash of car bombings in Iraq’s capital in the space of 12 hours, including four co-ordinated blasts early yesterday in central Baghdad that killed 15 and wounded 28 more, police said.

Nearly 40 people have died in a rash of car bombings in Iraq’s capital in the space of 12 hours, including four co-ordinated blasts early today in central Baghdad that killed 15 and wounded 28 more, police said.

Breaking through a wooden gate and firing only a single warning shot, Uzbek forces recaptured a local leader who had proclaimed plans for an Islamic state - quelling what appeared to be the last open resistance to the government.

Insurgents targeted Iraqi security forces today in Baghdad, gunning down a neighbourhood police chief and hitting a patrol with a roadside bomb in attacks that left three people dead and at least five injured.

Osama bin Laden remains Public Enemy No. 1 but recent developments raise questions about the ability of US forces to track down the elusive terrorist and the resources dedicated to the hunt more than three years after the September 11 attacks.

The top US commander in Iraq has expressed concern about the ability of Iraqi forces to cope with security in the run-up to elections next month.

Suicide attackers carried out a string of car bombings against Iraqi policemen in Baghdad and Kurdish militiamen in the north, killing 14 people and wounding at least 59 today in the latest major assaults on Iraqi security forces and U.S. allies in the country.

Standing beside Iraq’s interim leader, President George Bush warned today that insurgents could “plot and plan attacks elsewhere, in America and other free nations,” if the US pulled out.

The US Army today replaced Maj Gen George Fay with a more senior general as chief investigator of the role of military intelligence in the abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.

THE US-led coalition in Iraq was reeling after US troops were accused of killing 40 people in a helicopter strike on a wedding party and new pictures were released showing grinning soldiers standing over dead Iraqi prisoners.

American leaders, who have frequently warned that the situation in Iraq will get worse, now believe the violence will continue for some time after the June 30 political transition date.

AMERICAN and Israeli forces killed more than 60 men, women and children in separate attacks yesterday, provoking international outrage.

US PRESIDENT George W Bush issued a strong endorsement yesterday of embattled Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld, telling him after a meeting at the Pentagon: “You are doing a superb job.”

President George Bush issued a strong endorsement of embattled Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld today, telling him after a meeting at the Pentagon: “You are doing a superb job.”

US troops are set to enter parts of Najaf soon to clamp down on a radical Shiite cleric’s rebel militia – but they will stay away from sensitive holy sites in the city to avoid rousing religious outrage, a US general said today.

US troops are likely to enter parts of Najaf soon in a move to clamp down on the rebel militia of a radical Shiite cleric but they will stay away from sensitive holy sites in the centre of the city to avoid rousing the anger of Shiites, a US general said today.

A 2,500-STRONG US force backed by tanks and artillery pushed to the outskirts of the Shi'ite city of Najaf last night for a showdown with radical Shi'ite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr.

More US troops could be sent to Iraq and other US forces could stay longer than planned to deal with the latest surge in violence, Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said.