Two women were viciously assaulted by three young Cork men who chanted at them, “fucking gypsies, fucking Muslims, fucking terrorists” and then ran away laughing, leaving one with a broken eye socket.

Selma Dabbagh

Iran said today that the two US pilotless spy planes it claimed to have shot down were hit outside of Iran’s air space.

IRELAND coach Phil Simmons insists no side in the world would dare take liberties with cricket’s international giant-killers.

Corruption charges against former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto have been dropped, raising speculation she is moving closer to a power sharing deal with President Musharraf.

The most prominent figure in a US-backed revolt of Sunni sheikhs against al-Qaida in Iraq was killed today by a bomb planted near his home in Anbar province, 10 days after he met with US President George Bush, Iraqi and US officials said.

The most prominent figure in a revolt of Sunni sheikhs against al Qaida in Iraq was killed today in an explosion near his home in Anbar province, Iraqi police and tribal leaders said.

BRITISH police questioned 22 suspects yesterday in the alleged plot to bomb trans-Atlantic jetliners in mid-air, and the country’s top law-and-order official warned that the risk of another attack remained high.

THE US military has launched an investigation into claims that American forces shot dead 15 members of two families, including a three year-old-girl, shortly after a roadside bomb killed a US marine in a western Iraqi town.

The US military has launched an investigation into claims that American forces shot dead 15 members of two families, including a three year-old-girl, shortly after a roadside bomb killed a US Marine in a western Iraqi town.

A suicide car bomb exploded outside a children’s hospital in western Baghdad today, killing at least two people and wounding 11 including seven policemen.

Pakistani security officials said today they foiled new terror attacks with the arrest of the head of an al-Qaida linked extremist group accused of killing scores of minority Shiite Muslims.

Yasser Arafat has lapsed into a coma, a senior Palestinian official said today after the ailing leader was rushed into intensive care at a French military hospital following a sharp deterioration in his health.

Yasser Arafat has lost consciousness repeatedly in recent hours after being rushed into intensive care at a French military hospital, Palestinians said today. They described his condition as extremely serious.

Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said yesterday that he would never let Yasser Arafat be buried in Jerusalem, but he will honour his commitment to allow the Palestinian leader to return to the West Bank when he is finished receiving medical treatment in France.

Having ruled out leukaemia, French doctors were trying for a third day to determine what was causing the dramatic deterioration in Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat’s health.

Initial results from a battery of tests on Yasser Arafat have uncovered no signs of leukaemia, Palestinian officials said today.

The weeping Iraqi woman who begged Labour conference delegates not to vote to withdraw British troops from the country has “strong connections” with the CIA, Britain’s most senior back bench MP claimed today.

A video showing an American soldier sharing military information with undercover agents he believed to be al-Qaida members is expected to be among key evidence in his court martial, beginning today.

PAKISTAN announced that it has arrested at least five al-Qaida-linked terrorists who had been plotting to launch suicide attacks on government leaders and the US Embassy.

A car bomb exploded in a Baghdad residential neighbourhood today, killing three people, including a three-year-old girl and injuring six other Iraqis.

THE Iraqi town of Samarra was partly devastated after US troops yesterday responded to two ambushes.

Washington sniper suspect John Muhammad gave up trying to be his own lawyer and put his fate back in the hands of his court-appointed lawyers, after two days of courtroom fumbling.

COALITION forces have taken custody of the Iraqi scientist known as ‘Dr Germ’ for her work in creating weapons-grade anthrax, according to Pentagon officials, who said they also had initial field reports that the head of Saddam Hussein’s military has been captured.

TWO leading figures in Saddam Hussein’s former regime are now in custody after one was captured and the other surrendered.

Pakistan’s information minister today said a telephone call from Prime Minstar Zafarullah Khan Jamali to his Indian counterpart was a critical “icebreaker” in the stand-off between the South Asian nuclear rivals.

POWER returned to the homes of Umm Qasr yesterday for the first time since the outbreak of war.

Power returned to the homes of Umm Qasr today for the first time since the outbreak of war.

Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat today signed a law recognising the independence of the judiciary, after ignoring the bill for 18 months.

Yasser Arafat could be freed from his West Bank confinement by nightfall after a deal was agreed today for the transfer of six wanted Palestinians to British and US custody in Jericho.