IRNA

Tehran, March 15, IRNA -- The interim Friday Prayer leader of Tehran took a sharp snipe at the US administration for accusing Iran of terrorist activities. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] US missile test is a hit [an error occurred while processing this directive]

BBC

The United States military has carried out a successful test of its new missile defence system. A dummy warhead was launched over the Pacific Ocean at 2111EST (0211GMT Saturday), and was hit by a ground-launched missile 20 minutes later. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] Air Canada Bans Salman Rushdie [an error occurred while processing this directive]

The Associated Press

OTTAWA –– Air Canada has banned author Salman Rushdie from its flights because the extra security required for him to fly could mean long delays for other passengers, airline officials said Friday. Rushdie, whose book "The Satanic Verses" was considered blasphemous by some Muslims, was threatened with death by Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini in a 1989 edict. While the Iranian government has since said the edict had ended, hard-line groups have renewed calls for Rushdie to be killed. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] Qaem Maqami finishes 2nd in world chess challenge [an error occurred while processing this directive]

IRNA

New Delhi, March 16, IRNA -- Iranian chess player Ehsan Qaem Maqami finished runner up to Indian grandmaster K. Sasikaran (8.5 points) who emerged clear champion in the world chess tournament in Raipur in the central Indian state of Chattisgarh. In Friday's 11th and final round, Qaem Maqami (eight points) beat Sandipan Chanda (Ind, 7 points) and shared the runner up slot with Russian Andrey Shariyanzdanov (eight points). [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] Poetry in motion! [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Times of India

An evening of Sufi music laced with the poetry of Hazrat Amir Khusrau. A pleasant Sunday evening saw Arab Ki Sarai at Humayun's Tomb come alive with Jahan-e-Khusrau, a programme which was jointly presented by the Government of Delhi and Archaeological Survey of India. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] Egypt Air crash was co-pilot's revenge for harassment claim [an error occurred while processing this directive]

The Indepenent

The Egyptair jet that plunged into the Atlantic killing 217 people in 1999 was brought down in an act of sabotage by the co-pilot who was seeking revenge against his boss, investigators have been told. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] Germany leads revolt against Iraq attack [an error occurred while processing this directive]

The Telegraph

TONY BLAIR embarked yesterday on a diplomatic offensive to overcome growing European reluctance to back possible American-led military action against Iraq. His insistence that European Union leaders must face up to preventing Saddam Hussein acquiring weapons of mass destruction came after Chancellor Gerhard Schröder abandoned his policy of "unlimited solidarity" with Washington. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] U.S. foreign policy confuses allies [an error occurred while processing this directive]

The International Herald Tribune

PARIS President George W. Bush insists his policy is the utmost in clarity and straightforwardness. You are "with us or against us." There is "no immunity and no neutrality" in the struggle with the forces of evil expressed through terrorism. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] Saudi police 'stopped' fire rescue [an error occurred while processing this directive]

BBC

Saudi Arabia's religious police stopped schoolgirls from leaving a blazing building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress, according to Saudi newspapers. In a rare criticism of the kingdom's powerful "mutaween" police, the Saudi media has accused them of hindering attempts to save 15 girls who died in the fire on Monday. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] Saudi Arabia: Religious Police Role in School Fire Criticized [an error occurred while processing this directive]

Human Rights Watch

(New York, March 15, 2002) -- Saudi authorities should conduct an independent, thorough, and transparent investigation of the March 11 fire at a girls' public intermediate school in Mecca that claimed the lives of at least fourteen students, Human Rights Watch said today. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] US to gather Iraqis to topple ruler [an error occurred while processing this directive]

The Boston Globe

WASHINGTON - The US government has informed Iraqi dissidents this week that it will convene a crucial meeting in Europe in May of up to 400 former Iraqi military officers and opposition figures to chart the overthrow of President Saddam Hussein and the shape of Iraq to follow, US officials and dissident leaders said. The meeting, being organized by the State Department, represents the highest-profile step yet in US efforts to shape a viable Iraqi opposition from a fractured, contentious movement that has had little success in opposing Hussein. The pace of that diplomacy has increased markedly in recent weeks, as the Bush administration makes clearer its determination. [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive]