FIFA has handed over a second batch of computer data to the Swiss attorney general’s office, which is investigating the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Fifa has postponed the announcement of the the bidding process for the 2026 World Cup, due to the corruption crisis that has engulfed the organisation.

During the reign of Saddam Hussein, Shias suffered terribly in Iraq. After the US invasion they were in command. And now they are fighting to hold off the threat of Isis. writes Janine Di Giovanni

Russia pulled back a battalion from along the Ukrainian border yesterday after sending its prime minister to shower promises on Crimea, pledging quick funds to improve power supplies, water lines and education on its newly annexed peninsula.

The 11 host cities for the 2018 World Cup in Russia have been announced.

A powerful, magnitude-7.6 earthquake shook Costa Rica and a wide swath of Central America today, collapsing some houses, blocking roads and causing panic.

WITH thanks to the late great Ian Dury, it is my rare pleasure today to present reasons to be cheerful (part three).

ST PATRICK’S ATHLETIC will have to play their Europa League play-off first leg tie against top Romanian side Steaua Bucharest behind closed doors at the Ghencea Stadium on August 20, after UEFA yesterday imposed a three-match ban on spectators attending their home games in Europe.

Krylia Sovetov 3 St Patrick’s Athletic 2 (3-3 on aggregate. St Pat’s win on away goals)

St. Patrick’s Athletic 1 Krylya Sovetov 0

Valletta 0 St. Patrick’s Athletic 1

The top judge on a Russian regional court has been wounded in an apparent assassination attempt, officials said today.

A Moscow court sentenced former chess champion Garry Kasparov to five days in jail today for leading an opposition protest.

Russia’s top intelligence and counterterrorism agency prevented terror attacks during several international summits hosted by Russia, the agency’s chief said today.

A Russian airliner attempting to land in heavy fog in the central Russian city of Samara landed short of the runway, scraped along the landing strip and overturned. Seven people died and at least 26 were injured, authorities and company officials said.

THE Shi’ite militia run by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seized control of a southern Iraqi city yesterday in one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by the country’s powerful, unofficial armies.

The Shiite militia run by anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr seized control of the southern Iraqi city of Amarah today in one of the boldest acts of defiance yet by the country’s powerful, unofficial armies, witnesses and police said.

A BOMB blast tore through a Moscow market yesterday morning, killing at least 10 people and injuring dozens.

Gunmen in Iraq shot dead 47 civilians and left their bodies in a ditch near Baghdad today as militia battles and sectarian reprisals followed the bombing of a sacred Shiite shrine yesterday.

Insurgents killed at least 10 people in attacks around Iraq today, including five police officers killed at a checkpoint.

US forces raided the homes of two officials from a prominent Sunni Arab organisation today, arresting bodyguards and confiscating weapons, Sunni officials said.

Angry pensioners demanding that their social security benefits be restored staged a second day of protests in President Vladimir Putin’s home city, joining the call from protesters in other cities for him to resign.

Seven people were killed and 20 were injured today when two gas canisters exploded at an outdoor market in central Russia.

Seven people are reported to have been killed in a gas explosion in Russia today.

A donkey cart packed with explosives blew up moments after a convoy of US troops drove past it today, killing 10 Iraqis and injuring 20.

Gunmen shot and killed two South Korean workers and wounded two others north of Baghdad, South Korea’s Foreign Ministry said.

Gunmen killed two American soldiers today while they were driving through the northern Iraqi city of Mosul and a crowd swarmed over the scene, looting the vehicle and pummelling the bodies, witnesses said.

A former Iraqi general who claims to be part of the insurgency against American troops says the guerrilla war in the Sunni Triangle city of Samara is being waged by small groups fighting on their own without direction from Saddam Hussein.

AMERICAN fighter jets pounded suspected rebel positions yesterday in the largest aerial bombardment in central Iraq since President Bush declared the end of major combat in May.

US fighter jets pounded suspected rebel positions today in the largest aerial bombardment in central Iraq since President Bush declared the end of major combat in May.

The US may soon begin transferring power back to the Iraqi people, but American peacekeeping troops will remain in Iraq for some time, President George Bush affirmed today.

Attackers fired mortars toward the US headquarters in Baghdad as Washington’s top soldier in Iraq said insurgents have changed tactics to inflict more damage and casualties on coalition troops while reducing their own.

The heart of the American occupation of Iraq came under attack in Baghdad tonight when mortars exploded inside a former presidential palace now used as the coalition headquarters.

TWO American soldiers were killed and four were wounded yesterday in a mortar attack on their base north of Baghdad. Earlier a US trooper was killed in a shoot-out in the northern city of Mosul.

American soldiers arrested a suspected former Ba’ath Party official in northern Iraq today as three American soldiers were killed in separate attacks.

A soldier from the US 4th Infantry Division died following a rocket-propelled grenade attack on a convoy north of the Iraqi capital, the military said today.

RUSSIA coach Valery Gazzayev has added 17-year-old CSKA Moscow goalkeeper Igor Akinfeyev to his 20-man squad for Saturday’s Euro 2004 Group 10 qualifier against Switzerland.

PAUL McCARTNEY kept the Russians waiting. Until the demise of the Soviet Union.

Moscow police have arrested a suspected contract killer who is alleged to have advertised his services on the internet.