September 30, 2005	Friday	Sha'aban 25, 1426

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Only one Iraqi battalion can combat guerillas: US general’s assessment WASHINGTON, Sept 29: The top US commander in Iraq disclosed on Thursday that only a single Iraqi battalion is capable of independent operations and acknowledged conditions may worsen there even if a constitution is approved....		Strike over reforms hits India’s banks, airports NEW DELHI, Sept 29: Flights were cancelled and state-run banks shut across India on Thursday as hundreds of thousands of people stayed away from work to protest economic reforms....
Blair apologizes to 82-year-old heckler BRIGHTON (England), Sept 29: Prime Minister Tony Blair apologized on Thursday to an 82-year-old man ejected from the annual conference of his Labour Party for heckling over Iraq, a row threatening to overshadow the event’s final day....		Brussels-Ankara meeting blocked BRUSSELS, Sept 29: Austria blocked European Union agreement on Thursday on a mandate to start entry negotiations with Turkey next week, forcing EU foreign ministers to call an emergency meeting for the eve of the talks to seek a deal....
Delhi sets sights on strategic sea lane in Andaman PORT BLAIR (India), Sept 29: Indian naval exercises with Thailand and Indonesia are aimed in part at ensuring security for a new sea route linking the Indian and Pacific oceans, a top Indian general said....		Israelis to open site near Al Aqsa JERUSALEM, Sept 29: Israel will soon open to the public an underground archaeological site near Jerusalem’s most sensitive shrine, an official said on Thursday, in an area where inauguration of an exhibit in 1996 led to bloodshed....
AL cautions against ties with Israel DUBAI, Sept 29: Arab and other Muslim countries should not rush to establish ties with Israel now that it has withdrawn from Gaza, Arab League Secretary General Amr Moussa was quoted as saying on Thursday....		Wild gorillas photographed using tools WASHINGTON, Sept 29: Two female gorillas have been photographed using sticks as tools to get through swampy areas, the first time the apes have been seen doing so in the wild, researchers reported on Thursday....
Cherie kiss haunts man 40 years on LONDON, Sept 29: When an 11-year-old boy sneaked his first kiss under a British railway bridge in 1965, he most likely never expected it to be front page news 40 years later....		EU-US camp shrinks at IAEA VIENNA, Sept 29: The number of states likely to vote for an EU-US push to refer Iran to the UN Security Council over its atomic programme shrank on Thursday as the UN nuclear watchdog appointed a new governing board....
Bush nominee to head SC WASHINGTON, Sept 29: John Roberts, President George Bush’s nominee to the Supreme Court, was confirmed by the Senate on Thursday to become the US high court’s 17th chief justice.—AFP...		Fears over climate as Arctic ice melts at record level GLOBAL warming in the Arctic could be soaring out of control, scientists warn as new figures revealed that melting of sea ice in the region has accelerated to record levels....
Americans sceptical of Bush’s policies WASHINGTON: The US public is deeply sceptical about the priority President George W. Bush has put on promoting democracy abroad, and its experience in Iraq has made it more so, according...		New phase of conflict taking shape in Middle East JERUSALEM: It is a moot point whether the Palestinian uprising is over. A new phase of conflict is already taking shape in the Middle East. Fighting still centres on the Gaza...
EU losing direction and vision BRUSSELS: Stunned by public rejections of the European Union’s first constitution, the power-wielding bodies of Brussels appear to have lost their vision and sense of direction....		Iran to play its cards carefully in N-dispute LONDON: For all its hardline posturing, Iran is likely to play a cautious hand in its drawn-out nuclear game with the West to avoid isolation and to ride out the next attempt to haul it before the UN Security Council....
Nobel prizes in science a male domain STOCKHOLM: If you are a woman scientist, don’t hold your breath for a call from the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the venerable body that awards the Nobel prizes....		Comedy sparks controversy NEW YORK: ‘Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World’ is the title of a film by Albert Brooks which no big studio wants to touch. The studios are scared of the...
MPs hide out in parliament to avoid police NAIROBI: Two Kenyan MPs hid out in parliament on Thursday to avoid arrest by police who want to question them about their role in disrupting a meeting about a proposed constitution which ended in mayhem....		Japan ‘fed up’ LONDON, Sept 29: Japan is fed up with making hefty payments to the United Nations but forever failing to gain a permanent seat on its Security Council, the country’s foreign minister told a British newspaper on Thursday.—AFP...