The US military commander in one of the more troubled areas of Iraq said attempting a leading Republican senator’s idea for troop withdrawals now would mean “a giant step backward” in his region.

The White house has finally agreed to a senator’s call for a law specifically banning cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign terror suspects, congressional leaders said in Washington today.

THE leader of Nigeria headed for Liberia yesterday to offer embattled President Charles Taylor asylum in his country, as a US military team prepared to begin a mission to study whether American troops should be sent to Liberia

Republicans and Democrats battled for control of Congress today in mid-term US elections clouded by terrorism, the threat of war and a shaky economy, with voters marking ballots for governor from Maine to California.