AFP – Fresh battlelines were drawn Friday as the Democratic-led US Congress and the Republican White House faced off again over Iraq after both chambers approved a timetable for withdrawing US troops.

AP – The U.S. military announced the capture Friday of a suspected militant linked to the import into Iraq of sophisticated roadside bombs that the Americans have asserted are coming from Iran.

AP – A roadside bomb killed a U.S. soldier during a patrol in southern Baghdad, the military said Friday.

The Christian Science Monitor – In the heart of Dora's main market, amid the smashed-up and bullet- riddled facades of the Juburi butchery, the Nineva pickle shop, and the Saudi poultry store, and inside what was once the Hope X-ray clinic, lies combat outpost Gator.

AP – A defiant, Democratic-controlled Senate approved legislation Thursday calling for the withdrawal of U.S. combat troops from Iraq within a year, propelling Congress closer to an epic, wartime veto confrontation with President Bush.

AFP – The death toll from a double suicide bombing in a popular Baghdad market has risen to 82 with another 138 wounded, hospital sources said on Friday.

(RTTNews) – The British currency showed uncertain trading against most other majors through the small hours on Friday in New York. The sterling, however, was slightly down against the greenback. By 5:30 am ET, GfK consumer confidence data for March is expected.

(RTTNews) – The European currency saw mixed trading through the late deals on Thursday in New York. This came amid a slew of Japanese releases including the consumer price index and industrial production for February.

AP – Five suicide bombers struck Shiite marketplaces in northeast Baghdad and a town north of the capital at nightfall Thursday, killing at least 125 people and wounding more than 150 in one of Iraq’s deadliest days in years.

(RTTNews) – Much of the late trading on Thursday, the US dollar was uncertain against its South Korean counterpart. The pair continued the same trend during the small morning Friday hours and as of 2:01 am Eastern Time, a dollar quoted at 940.8000 against the South Korean Won.