Radical Islamic students freed nine people, including three Chinese women, hours after kidnapping them today from a massage parlour in Islamabad, Pakistan’s capital, officials said.

Ambassador Ryan Crocker was sworn in as the new top US envoy to Iraq today.

A speeding bus packed with passengers plunged into a deep ravine in eastern Pakistan early today, killing at least 18 people and injuring 39, police and hospital sources said.

BRITISH detainees at Guantanamo Bay received a fresh boost yesterday when Home Secretary David Blunkett criticised their treatment by the American authorities.

Rebels fired a rocket tonight at the headquarters of the US-led coalition after gunmen killed seven Iraqi policemen in attacks west of Baghdad.

Britain must beef up security at its embassies and consulates worldwide in line with the fortress mentality adopted by the United States, or risk further deadly attacks like the bomb blast in Turkey, security analysts said Friday.

Iraq’s ambassador to the United Nations has made an abrupt U-turn after weeks of swaggering rhetoric, claiming he has “no relationship” with Saddam Hussein and “no communication” with his regime.

George W Bush says he is outraged by the church attack in Pakistan that killed two Americans.

The UN Children’s Fund said a spate of attacks on aid workers highlighted deteriorating security in Afghanistan and further hampered badly needed aid delivery.

There was a small explosion today in the parking area outside the British High Commission in Islamabad, Pakistan, but there were no reports of any damage or casualties, witnesses said.

Humanitarian officials say an estimated 500,000 people have fled Kandahar.

A US missile has hit a compound belonging to the International Red Cross in Kabul, destroying wheat and other humanitarian supplies and injuring a security guard.

The Taliban has told consular officials Yvonne Ridley is to be released, the Foreign Office confirms.

Afghanistan’s Taliban Government has asked for a special meeting of the organisation of the Islamic Conferences to discuss the fallout from the attacks in the United States earlier this month.

Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban are claiming to have shot down a North Alliance helicopter flying over its territory in the northern Samangan province.

Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden has congratulated those who carried out yesterday’s attacks on the United States, but denied that he played any role in the incidents.