The advice came from
officers with US Central Command 5th Fleet HQ at Manama, who spoke
of security tension, a hint at an approaching war with Iran. Arab
sources report the positioning of a Patriot anti-missile battery
in Bahrain this week; they say occupancy at emirate hotels has
soared past 90% due mostly to the influx of US military personnel.
They also report Western media crews normally employed in military
coverage are arriving in packs.

A Minneapolis city worker is
worried about blood in the sewer system because he said, while he
was cleaning the system, blood sprayed out of a hole and got all
over him.

"We could tell it was
blood, I mean large amount of blood," said Minneapolis Sewer
Maintenance Worker Ron Huebner.

Foreign Secretary Margaret
Beckett has slammed Iran for releasing a new letter allegedly from
a captive British sailor that calls for UK forces to withdraw from
Iraq.

She said: "We have not
seen this letter but we have grave concerns about the
circumstances in which it was prepared and issued.

"This blatant attempt
to use Leading Seaman Turney for propaganda purposes is outrageous
and cruel."

"It is cruel and
callous to do this to someone in this position, and to play games
like this is a disgrace," Downing Street added.

US Presidential hopeful
Barack Obama can now count himself as one of the millions of
Americans with Irish heritage.

Research by the genealogy
website ancestry.co.uk reveals that Mr Obama’s great great great
grandfather was born in Ireland, although it is not yet known
where.

The survey of more than 5,000 Iraqis found
the majority optimistic despite their suffering in sectarian violence since the
American-led invasion four years ago this week.

One in four Iraqis has had a family member
murdered, says the poll by Opinion Research Business. In Baghdad, the capital,
one in four has had a relative kidnapped and one in three said members of their
family had fled abroad. But when asked whether they preferred life under Saddam,
the dictator who was executed last December, or under Nouri al-Maliki, the prime
minister, most replied that things were better for them today.

Only 27% think there is a civil war in
Iraq, compared with 61% who do not, according to the survey carried out last
month.