Baghdad (Agencies): Major U.S. allies slowed the march to a military showdown in Iraq on Monday after chief United Nations inspectors said they sense a "good beginning" and a changed "positive attitude" in Baghdad toward their job of ensuring Iraq is free of banned arms.

Baghdad (Agence France-Presse): President Saddam Hussein's moves to meet United Nations disarmament demands may have helped the task of UN arms experts but will not lift U.S. threats to topple the Baghdad regime, analysts here said on Monday.

Beijing (Reuters): Achinese court sentenced a U.S.-based dissident to life in prison on Monday for "terrorism" and for plotting to bomb China's embassy in Bangkok and to carry out assassinations to disrupt national day celebrations.

Manila (Agencies): Muslim guerrillas killed three Philippine soldiers in an ambush on Monday as thousands of troops massed within sight of rebel positions to head off sympathy attacks if the United States goes to war with Iraq, officials said.

Kabul (Agence France-Presse): Afghanistan's war weary capital city entered a new phase of post-conflict recovery on Monday when Geftnan and the Netherlands succeeded Turkey as the commanders of its multinational peacekeeping force.

Bangkok (Agencies): Myanmar's military government said on Monday it had arrested 12 opposition activists for plotting to blow up a prison and a railway station.

Paris (Agencies): France led European resistance to U.S. war plans for Iraq on Monday, plunging NATO into an unprecedented crisis and initiating debate at the United Nations Security Council on an alternative to early military action,

Tokyo (Agence France-Presse): Asian stock prices were mostly lower on Monday as investors kept quiet ahead of a report on Iraq by UN weapons inspectors.

Manila (Agence France-Presse): East Asia's export competitiveness has not eroded even though most regional currencies are rising against the dollar amid Iraq war fears and U.S. fiscal deficit concerns, the Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Monday.

California (Reuters): Davis Love III ended a two-year winless streak by making a birdie on the final hole for a fout-under-par 68 to defeat Tom Lehman by a stroke at the US$5 million Pebble Beach National Pro-Am on Sunday.

Georgia (Agence France-Presse): Michael Jordan gave his devoted fans more magic moments, then left the basketball stage to heroes of a new era.