THE dollar was stronger at noon today as expectations of a rate hike this week by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) pushed the currency higher. At 1200 AEST the local unit was trading at $US0.7581-85, higher than Friday’s close of $US0.7543-48.

Reuters – The U.S. military said on Monday it had
every confidence in the new Iraqi army it is training, after
hundreds of Sunni Arab recruits joined a protest at a
graduation parade that bordered on mutiny.

AP – As of Sunday, April 30, 2006, at least 2,399 members of the U.S. military have died since the beginning of the Iraq war in March 2003, according to an Associated Press count. The figure includes seven military civilians. At least 1,886 died as a result of hostile action, according to the military's numbers.

Reuters – U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice on Sunday defended the Bush administration's Iraq war
planning after her predecessor, Colin Powell, said he had made
a case to send more troops to deal with the war's aftermath.

AP – Abu Fadel, a Shiite, lived alongside his Sunni Arab neighbors in Baghdad for more than 35 years. A few months ago, his close-knit community began to unravel.

AP – Even while Iraq languished under crippling U.N. economic sanctions, upscale Arrasat Street thrived. Trendy stores with foreign names brimmed with sexy lingerie and Swiss watches. Mercedes-Benzes and BMWs whizzed past pricey restaurants where Western love songs played.

AFP – Former US secretary of state Colin Powell said he had expressed concerns to President George W. Bush that they were not sending a large enough military force to Iraq before the US-led invasion in early 2003.

Reuters – A senior U.S. official said on
Sunday Gulf Arab states and other foreigners should help Iraq
build new power stations, as U.S. investment in the electricity
sector winds down after three years of reconstruction aid.

Bahrain signed an open-sky air-transport agreement with Thailand late last week to double Gulf Air flights from Bahrain to Thailand by July.

AP – President Jalal Talabani met recently with representatives of armed groups and is optimistic they may agree to lay down their weapons, his office said Sunday.