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Dawn patrol blubberings:

A U.S. official said newly captured Abu Farraj al-Libbi, the #3 man thought to be al-Qaida's operations commander, has been talking, but “nothing he has said so far is fascinating.” Pakistani security forces have rounded up some two dozen suspects around the country in raids using information from the senior leader. Officials told Reuters that al Liby was in a good position to disclose the whereabouts of leader Osama bin Laden and his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri. President Bush yesterday hailed the arrest by Pakistani authorities

Tony Blair talked of a "tough and tight" battle, while Michael Howard predicted a Conservative victory. Polling booths open across the nation on Thursday at 7am BST. Two small explosions in midtown Manhattan shattered windows, and coincided with elections in England;

Some environmentalists are trying to fell the notion that all logging is abhorrent. They say that cutting some trees can boost a forest's overall health, promoting regeneration and improving wildlife habitat

It's back to the drawing board for the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero. Gov. Pataki yesterday ordered up a complete redesign of the planned signature skyscraper in the wake of Police Department warnings about security risks.

Vietnam's prime minister announced on Thursday that he plans to become the communist country's highest-ranking leader to visit the United States since the Vietnam War ended 30 years ago.

Prosecutors rested their case Wednesday in the Michael Jackson trial after more than two months of dramatic testimony in which they sought to prove that the pop star molested a teenage cancer patient and conspired to hold his family captive at his fairytale estate.

Donald Trump's New Jersey-based casino business is now expected to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 12,

For tens of millions of baby boomers and younger workers, the basic long-range financial plan is simple: accumulate stocks and bonds while working, then slowly sell them off to keep up a comfortable lifestyle in retirement. But, in speeches and a new book, Jeremy Siegel (well-known until now for recommending stocks as a long-term investment) is warning that a flood of boomer retirees with trillions of dollars of assets to sell over the next 20 to 40 years threatens to crush stock and bond prices. He says it will take a massive investment in U.S. stocks by people in India, China and other developing countries to prevent a market meltdown.

Some environmentalists are trying to fell the notion that all logging is abhorrent. They say that cutting some trees can boost a forest's overall health, promoting regeneration and improving wildlife habitat.

The Republican who is chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee has declined to endorse a Democratic request that the State Department turn over documents related to a long-running dispute between John R. Bolton and American intelligence agencies over assessments about Syria and its weapons program, Congressional officials said Wednesday. The move was a blow to Democrats on the panel

Spring is the season for shooting Syrian television dramas for broadcast during the critical Ramadan holiday viewing season in October. That's when the Arab world rolls out its best new shows, and many Middle Easterners indulge in a month-long TV binge. In a major market like Egypt, as many as eight in 10 households with TV sets watch them nightly during Ramadan. "This is prime time," says Hussein Amin, head of the media and communications department at American University of Cairo.

ABC, in a special edition Wednesday of Primetime Live, devoted an hour to investigating the Fox show and the personal relationship between Season 2 contestant Corey Clark and Idol's most contestant-friendly judge, Paula Abdul. Clark, 24, says he and Abdul, 42, had a secret sexual affair. He also says she helped him through the competition, giving him her prescription cough syrup to soothe his throat and cash to buy clothes, and helping him pick the song that got him into the final 12.

Islamist groups in Zanzibar are worried by what they see as increasingly inappropriate behaviour by Western tourists, saying their actions offend the Indian Ocean islands' conservative Muslim culture. "Tourists should not indulge in sex acts or kiss openly, this is not something that people can accept," Farid Hadi, chairman of the Zanzibar Imams' Association (Jumaza), said on Wednesday. "Every society has norms to be respected. We want a law that stipulates that while tourists are accepted, there are standards that forbid wearing very short dresses in public.

The United Nations is investigating whether a senior official at one of its agencies, Justin Leites,violated U.N.rules and the organization’s spirit of international neutrality by taking a paid leave of absence last year to work as a Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign official in his home state of Maine.

A Defense Department policy analyst has been charged with disclosing classified information related to potential attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq, the Justice Department announced yesterday.

In what military legal experts describe as a "shocker," the judge put the case of former Abu Ghraib prison guard Pfc. Lynndie England back at square one. Col. James Pohl tossed out the plea agreement that the reservist reached with prosecutors after Pvt. Charles Graner Jr., the reputed ringleader of the abuse, testified Wednesday on her behalf