Research published in the American Sociological Review shows that approval or disapproval of President Bush being determined by personal links to victims of Iraq War or 9/11.

According to the research conducted at the University of California, Davis, this pattern holds true for both Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals, and across all races, ages, education levels and incomes.

Baghdad - More than 10,000 detainees have been released from US-run detention centres in Iraq so far this year, compared with some 8,900 released in all of 2007, the US military said Saturday.

The military said in a statement the release of the detainees was part of its programme to rehabilitate prisoners through religious counseling and education and vocational training.

About 21,000 detainees are currently held in US-run detention centres in Iraq, including about a dozen women and over 300 juveniles, according to the statement.

Everyday, US troops detain about 30 people and release 45 detainees on average, the military said, adding that the average detention time is 330 days.

London, Aug. 2: Problems for the Gordon Brown show no signs of abating. Already under pressure over losing a safe electoral seat like Glasgow East to the Scottish National Party, the government is now facing legal action from an Iraqi terror boss over pornographic material being left in his jail toilet.

Ahmed Al-Fartoosi, who has been blamed for the deaths of dozens of Brits, has decided to sue the Government for tens of thousands of pounds. Fartoosi is suing for false imprisonment and violations of new European human rights laws.

Baghdad - Three Iraqi soldiers were killed and another soldier injured by a bomb blast in the northern Iraqi province of Kirkuk, an Iraqi army source said Friday.

The incident appeared to be the result of a roadside bomb that targeted an army patrol between the districts of al-Rashad and al-Humayra. The explosion totally destroyed the patrol vehicle, senior army officer, Shawan Shamirani told Voices of Iraq (VOI) news agency.

Sydney, Aug 1: ArcelorMittal, the world's number one steel company with 310000 employees in more than 60 countries, is now looking to expand its operations into Iraq.

The steel company is learnt to have submitted a proposal to rehabilitate a steel facility in southern Iraq, the country’s Minister of Industry and Minerals Fawzi Hariri said.

Washington - US President George W Bush Thursday said combat tours for US forces in Iraq would be reduced from 15 months to 12 months, as a 20,000-strong troop surge to the region had now come to an end.

Bush said that a sharp reduction in violence in Iraq and the increasing ability of Iraqi forces to take on their own combat missions has allowed the United States to continue drawing down troops.

"We now have brought home all five of the combat brigades and the three Marine units that were sent to Iraq as part of the surge," Bush said.