Karbala, Iraq (Agence France-Presse): Hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Shiite Muslims converged on the holy city of Karbala on Tuesday for a pilgrimage banned under Saddam Hussein as the U.S. military confirmed the capture of two more top henchmen from the deposed regime.

Beijing (Reuters): China and Hong Kong reported 10 new deaths from SARS on Tuesday and Beijing tried to stop people from traveling to the vast countryside in a frantic effort to contain the deadly virus.

Ramallah, West Bank (Agencies): Palestinian prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas said on Tuesday that talks between him and Yasser Arafat had "broken down" and that he would not go back to crucial discussions on a new cabinet, a source close to the protracted negotiations told AFP.

United Nations (Agencies): With the Bush administration ignoring a United Nations role in postwar Iraq, chief UN inspector Hans Blix said on Tuesday his arms experts were not the only ones in the world but had the most credibility.

Kuala Lumpur (Agence France-Presse): Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's office on Tuesday complained to The Asian Wall Street Journal after it ran a picture of a top terrorist suspect which it identified as Mahathir.

Dhaka (Agence France-Presse): More than 170 people were feared dead in Bangladesh after two ferries capsized and houses collapsed in severe storms, police and reports said on Tuesday.

Vienna (Reuters): After four years of windfall revenues, SPEC'S oil price hawks are on the defensive. Concerns among producing countries are that American oil tycoons will follow U.S. tanks into Baghdad, spurring sharp growth in crude output under a new Iraqi government.

Singapore (Dow Jones): Aweak yen set the broad tone for Asian currencies on Tuesday even as concerns about the economic toll from the deadly SARS outbreak continued to hurt the Singapore dollar.

Trinidad (Agence France-Presse): Australia remained firmly in charge of the second Test against the West Indies at the Queens Park Oval here on Monday as they built up a 199-run lead by the end of the third day with nine second innings wickets in hand.

San Antonio, Texas (Reuters): Stephen Jackson scored 23 points and Tim Duncan had 22 points and 12 rebounds to help the San Antonio Spurs tie their Western Conference first round series with an 84-76 win over the Phoenix Suns Monday.