Stock markets plunged as the United States House of Representatives voted against a $700bn (€482bn) rescue package for the nation’s troubled economy today.

The US government will provide an US$85bn (€59.9bn) emergency loan to rescue the huge insurer AIG, the Federal Reserve said today.

IRAQI Premier Nuri al-Maliki last night said Washington and Baghdad have agreed there will be no foreign forces in Iraq after 2011, setting a timeline for a US withdrawal from the war-torn country.

Osama bin Laden’s former driver was jailed today after being convicted of supporting terrorism in the first US war crimes trial since the Second World War.

US vice president Dick Cheney’s office pushed to delete references about the consequences of climate change on public health from congressional testimony, in a bid to play down the effects of global warming, a former environment expert claims.

The White House said today US president George Bush would veto legislation that would have barred the CIA from using waterboarding, a technique that simulates drowning, and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.

The US government today defended the use of the interrogation technique known as waterboarding, saying it is legal - not torture, as critics argue - and has saved American lives.

A US intelligence chief says waterboarding “would be torture” if used against him or if someone under interrogation was actually taking water into their lungs.

President George Bush said today that US relations with China will not be damaged by honouring the Dalai Lama.

Terror mastermind Osama bin Laden accused Tony Blair and Gordon Brown of a “flagrant disregard for the intellects of human beings” in his first video for almost three years.

Two top Republicans dismissed President George Bush’s pleas for patience on Iraq and proposed legislation demanding a new strategy by mid-October to restrict the mission of US troops.

US President George Bush signed a bill to pay for military operations in Iraq after a bitter struggle with Democrats in Congress who sought unsuccessfully to tie the money to US troop withdrawals.

The White House dismissed former US president Jimmy Carter as “increasingly irrelevant” after his harsh criticism of President George Bush.

The White House today said it will move quickly to find a successor - preferably an American – for departing World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz as the administration sought to rebuild relationships strained by the controversy.

A special panel has found that World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz broke bank rules in arranging a pay package and promotion for his girlfriend, it was claimed.

World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz is facing calls to quit today after he admitted he made a mistake in helping his girlfriend get transferred to a high-paying job.

The death of Gen Augusto Pinochet sparked champagne-soaked celebrations, skirmishes with police and displays of lasting devotion as Chileans took an anguished look back at the dictator's 17-year rule.

US Federal agents have served search warrants at two American-based Islamic charities over their efforts to identify groups providing support to terrorists.