Baghdad (Reuters): U.S. forces captured four more senior members of Saddam Hussein's old guard as Washington's administrator for Iraq met on Thursday with some of the country's prospective leaders.

New Delhi (Agence France-Presse): Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee reiterated on Wednesday that Pakistan can "open the doors for talks" on disputed Kashmir by ending the infiltration of Islamic militants into the restive state.

Yangon (Agencies): Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said on Wednesday she did not believe the military junta was interested in a transition to democracy and that it was too early for Western countries to lift crippling sanctions.

Dhaka India (Agencies): The death toll from storms which have ravaged Bangladesh rose tomore than 240, officials and reports said on Wednesday as further bad weather hit the capital Dhaka damaging several aircraft.

Moscow (Agence France-Presse): Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday proposed creating an international security system, in which the United Nations would play the key to prevent terrorism and extremism.

Karbala (Reuters): Huge crowds of ecstatic Shi'ites on. Wednesday wound up a pilgrimage long banned by Saddam Hussein, their sheer numbers and organization signaling to Washington they will be a powerful force in the new Iraq.

Beijing (Reuters): The World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday against travel to Beijing and Shanxi province in China as well as Canada's business capital Toronto to try to halt the spread of the flue-like disease.

Ramallah, West Bank (Agence France-Presse): Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat allowed prime minister-designate Mahmoud Abbas to name Mohammed Dahlan as internal security chief in his new cabinet on Wednesday, breaking their deadlock, presidential secretary Tayeb Abdel-rahim said.

Hong Kong (Agence France-Presse): Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee-hwa on Wednesday announced a US$1.5 billion economic package to soften the impact of the deadly SARS outbreak, which has devastated the travel and retail industries.

Tokyo (Agence France-Presse): Japan's trade surplus in March fell 23.3 percent from a year earlier as oil imports surged and export growth eased, the finance ministry said on Wednesday as economists warned of possible further declines because of the SARS outbreak.

Minneapolis, Minnesota (Reuters): The Minnesota Timber-wolves gave the three-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers a wake-up call, romping to a 119-91 victory to tie their Western Conference first-round series 1-1 on Tuesday.

Houston, Texas (Agencies): Top seed Andre Agassi took only 47 minutes to dispose of Croatia's Zeijko Krajan 6-2, 6-0 in the first round of the US$380,000 U.S. Clay Court Championship on Tuesday.