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. Gamble may renew sectarian tensions . Jobs offered in army and police amid cash fearsIraq took a security gamble yesterday when it disbanded the Sunni militias that helped turn the tide against al-Qaida in Mesopotamia and other insurgent groups. One hundred thousand members of the Awakening Councils will now be given jobs at the interior ministry, but many fear the plan will renew sectarian tension and spark disaffection among those not given security roles.There are also fears that rapidly falling revenues from an oil-dependent economy will leave the government unable to honour its commitment to create such a large number of new positions. Widespread salary delays for the past three months have heightened suspicions of a budget shortfall.Relations between the central government and the Awakening Councils had deteriorated ahead of the move, and reached a low over the weekend when 250 members battled with government forces in central Baghdad after soldiers tried to arrest a militia le

Excitement on the streets - and in No 10 - as US leader on his first foreign trip talks up the 'special relationship'President Barack Obama kept trying to wrap it up, get out of there and get on with it all.'All right?' he said conclusively after dealing with the same question about global markets for the umpteenth time. His impeccably frozen listening position had held out a good 45 minutes of the press conference with Gordon Brown, as had his eloquent gestures and language. But the world's most popular man was getting fidgety beneath this heavily gilded Foreign Office ceiling.Prime minister Brown, though, was having none of it. 'George?' he hailed another of 'my friends in the British media'. George asked whether President Obama had a message for the England football team before its World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.Resigned to further delay, Obama replied: 'I'm having enough trouble back home picking ... the college basketball. The last thing I'm going to do is wade into European

Excitement on the streets - and in No 10 - as US leader on his first foreign trip talks up the 'special relationship'President Barack Obama kept trying to wrap it up, get out of there and get on with it all.'All right?' he said conclusively after dealing with the same question about global markets for the umpteenth time. His impeccably frozen listening position had held out a good 45 minutes of the press conference with Gordon Brown, as had his eloquent gestures and language. But the world's most popular man was getting fidgety beneath this heavily gilded Foreign Office ceiling.Prime minister Brown, though, was having none of it. 'George?' he hailed another of 'my friends in the British media'. George asked whether President Obama had a message for the England football team before its World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.Resigned to further delay, Obama replied: 'I'm having enough trouble back home picking ... the college basketball. The last thing I'm going to do is wade into European

Excitement on the streets - and in No 10 - as US leader on his first foreign trip talks up the 'special relationship'President Barack Obama kept trying to wrap it up, get out of there and get on with it all.'All right?' he said conclusively after dealing with the same question about global markets for the umpteenth time. His impeccably frozen listening position had held out a good 45 minutes of the press conference with Gordon Brown, as had his eloquent gestures and language. But the world's most popular man was getting fidgety beneath this heavily gilded Foreign Office ceiling.Prime minister Brown, though, was having none of it. 'George?' he hailed another of 'my friends in the British media'. George asked whether President Obama had a message for the England football team before its World Cup qualifier against Ukraine.Resigned to further delay, Obama replied: 'I'm having enough trouble back home picking ... the college basketball. The last thing I'm going to do is wade into European

Developer of $1.5-billion office site delays construction of secondary building on project

Australia were frustrated in their bid to become the first side to reach next year's World Cup finals in South Africa after beating Uzbekistan 2-0 to regain control of Asian Group A.

Plaxico Burress' fight for the $1 million payment the Giants withheld from him in December began Wednesday morning, but a decision is not expected to be made until next week.

England's primary school league tables, delayed by the marking fiasco, have finally been published.

(Telecompaper) Consumer electronics purchases will be hit severely, but mobile services should weather the economic slowdown better, according to a survey of 2,400 consumers across France, Germany and the UK conducted by Canalys in March. The survey gathered consumer opinion on a range of topics, including mobile applications and web browsing, netbooks, mobile broadband and demand for LBS, as well as the economic downturn and how it might affect mobile phone use and technology buying in the coming year. When asked what they would do if they had to reduce their expenditure, a significant 14 percent said the first thing they would do is delay buying consumer electronics products, which will also hurt some in the technology industry, while another 9 percent would cut back first on buying DVDs, CDs or on pay-TV services. Consumers are highly reluctant to include their mobile phone use in the list of things to cut back on to save money. While only 1 percent said they would stop using their

In a statement issued on Thursday, event organizer the hollywood Foreign Press Association acknowledged that the time delay was a quaint vestige of a simpler time....