AP - Hundreds of thousands of Shiites thronged a Baghdad slum Friday to show support for Hezbollah as Arab anger toward Israel mounted on the Muslim holy day. Such protests have even reached Saudi Arabia, where public discontent is rare.

AP - Tens of thousands of Shiites draped in white shrouds gathered in Iraq's capital Friday for a pro-Hezbollah rally, while violence around the country left eight people dead.

AFP - An inquiry set up by the Indian government found former foreign minister Natwar Singh and his son guilty of misconduct over the UN oil-for-food scheme in Iraq, reports said.

AFP - Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso announced his country was giving Iraq a 3.5 billion yen (30 million dollars, 23.8 million euros) loan for reconstruction during a visit to Baghdad.

AFP - An inquiry set up by the Indian government found former foreign minister Natwar Singh and his son guilty of misconduct over the UN oil-for-food scheme in Iraq, reports said.

Britain's outgoing ambassador in Baghdad has warned Prime Minister Tony Blair through a confidential memo that civil war could be a more likely outcome than democracy in Iraq.

AP - A bomb strapped to a motorcycle exploded in the center of Baghdad Thursday, killing at least nine people and injuring 21, police said.

AP - A confidential report from Britain's outgoing ambassador to Iraq warned the country is sliding toward civil war and is likely to divide eventually along ethnic lines, according to a news report Thursday.

AFP - Britain's outgoing ambassador to Iraq has warned that civil war is the "more likely" outcome there than a transition to stable democracy, according to details obtained by the BBC.

AP - The U.S. military is increasingly using air lifts instead of ground convoys to resupply troops to avoid the deadly roadside bombs that remain a major killer of American soldiers after more than three years of war.

AP - Insurgent attacks have risen in western Iraq but Iraqi troops are beginning to take responsibility for a bigger area of Iraq's most troubled province, the top Marine commander in Iraq said Wednesday.

AP - President Jalal Talabani says Iraqi forces will take over security of the country by the end of the year.

AP - The media and public will be barred from witnessing the testimony of Iraqis in a hearing for U.S. Army soldiers accused of raping and murdering an Iraqi teenager, an Army commander has ruled.

AP - Haidar Ali used to worry about whether to stock three-piece suits or casual wear in his boutique. Now he worries about feeding his children

AFP - Britain will stay the course in Afghanistan and Iraq despite the deaths of four British soldiers in insurgent attacks in the two countries, Defense Secretary Des Browne has vowed.

AP - Bombings and shootings killed more than 70 people in Iraq on Tuesday in a surge of bloodshed as U.S. forces prepare to take back Baghdad's streets from gunmen. The dead included 20 Iraqi troops, a U.S. soldier and a British soldier.

AP - A Jordanian lawmaker charged with provoking sectarian strife by publicly describing Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as a "martyr" told Jordan's military court Tuesday he did not condone the actions of the militant leader slain in Iraq.

Reuters - British Prime Minister Tony Blair warned Syria and Iran on Tuesday that they risked a confrontation if they continued to support terrorism and export instability to Iraq and elsewhere.

AP - The U.S. Army opened a hearing Tuesday to determine whether four American soldiers must stand trial for allegedly murdering three Iraqis during a raid where they claimed they were under orders to "kill all military-age males."

AP - AP Correspondent Rebecca Santana is embedded with the New Jersey National Guard at Camp Anaconda, Iraq. And AP Correspondent Robert H. Reid covers Iraq events from Baghdad for The Associated Press.