March 25, 2003

Reporters witness battle for Basra BBC - Resistance and rebellion are the two key words in pooled despatches sent by journalists travelling with British forces close to the southern Iraq city of Basra. 9:58:40 PM

Marines find Iraqi troops, weapons in Nasiriya hospital CNN - Marines also seized a hospital in Nasiriya and captured nearly 170 Iraqi soldiers who had been staging military operations from the facility, U.S. authorities said. No civilians were in the facility, which U.S. Central Command said was "clearly marked as a hospital by a flag with a red crescent." Marines confiscated over more than 200 weapons, more than 3,000 chemical suits with masks and Iraqi military uniforms in the hospital, and found a T-55 tank in the hospital compound, Central Command said. Marines had been fired at from the hospital a day earlier.  12:27:43 PM

Iraq troops fire on civilian uprising in Basra Belfast Telegraph -  Iraqi forces have fired on a popular uprising by civilians in Basra, it was reported tonight. Mortars have been fired at citizens in Iraq's second city rebelling against the Iraqi regime, the ITV News Channel said, quoting intelligence officers with the Scots Dragoon Guards. Reporter Richard Gaisford said intelligence from the city suggested that local people had indicated they would like to welcome the Allied forces but were in fear of Saddam loyalists. "Now it seems they have had the courage to stand up to Saddam Hussein and his regime and they will be supported by British forces," Gaisford said. He said British forces were firing on the Iraqi mortar positions being used to try and crush the rebellion. 10:00:06 AM

Nature.com Marijuana use in pregnancy damages kids' learning New Scientist - Children born to mothers who use marijuana during pregnancy may suffer a host of lasting mental defects, suggests a new study in rats. Marijuana is the most widely used illegal drug among women of reproductive age. 9:01:30 AM

What Are Your Odds? TIME - Smoking seems to bring out the inner statistician in people. Sure, smokers know their habit can lead to lung cancer, but what are the odds it actually will? How does smoking a pack a day for 20 years compare in risk with smoking two packs daily for 40 years? And if you quit, how much do your odds improve? The results of a study published last week in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute offer smokers some help — at least with the math. The tricky part is knowing what to do with the answer. Calculate your risk of lung cancer at www.mskcc.org 4:47:40 AM

Hotmail caps email The Register - Microsoft is capping the amount of email punters can send using their Hotmail accounts in a bid to crack down on spam. 4:45:41 AM

WNDU-TV Missing Michigan girl found unharmed San Francisco Chronicle -Thanks to an alert delivery driver who tipped authorities, a 14-year- old Michigan girl missing for nearly a month was found unharmed Monday in rural Lassen County, and her alleged abductor -- a convicted murderer -- was arrested without incident. 4:44:11 AM

Melbourne Herald Sun Iraq's line in the sand Melbourne Herald Sun - ALLIED troops advancing on Baghdad have been warned Iraqi leaders have drawn an imaginary "red line" outside the city and are poised to unleash lethal chemical weapon attacks. 4:38:36 AM