”My fellow citizens. At this hour, American and coalition forces are in the early stages of military operations to disarm Iraq, to free its people and to defend the world from grave danger…..

The death toll in the outbreak of the deadly Ebola virus in the Cuvette-Ouest Region of northern Congo has continued to rise. Of the 123 people known to have been infected with the haemorrhagic fever, 111 had died, Joseph M’boussa, who is heading the fight against the virus, told a United Nations news agency.

The US today began its military assault on Iraq with an opportunistic attempt to kill Saddam Hussein and the rest of his Leadership through a salvo of cruise missiles and bombs.

One of America’s leading bands, the Dixie Chicks, saw their latest single fall from its number one spot after many DJs refused to play it because one of the band’s singers made anti-Bush remarks at a London concert.

After a two-day anti-government strike, Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change yesterday vowed to escalate ”mass action” to force President Mugabe’s government to reform or leave office.

A Jordanian man who transported a group of 32 South African ”human shields” to the Iraqi border said on Thursday they had arrived in Iraq late on Wednesday night.

The UN chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, yesterday expressed sadness that he had not been allowed more time to complete his work, as foreign ministers from France, Germany and Russia condemned the US and British rush to war.

The United States attempted to kill Saddam Hussein with a cruise missile attack in the early hours of this morning, in what President George Bush said were the ”early stages” of a US-British invasion of Iraq.

President George Bush signalled the beginning of the war against Iraq last night, announcing in an address to the nation that selected strikes had begun ”to disarm Iraq, to free its people, and to defend the world from grave danger”.