World In Brief

* OIL SCANDAL – UN chief Kofi Annan said he wished the United Nations had never been asked to take part in Iraq’s oil-for-food programme as he braced himself for the results of the most detailed report yet into the scandal.

* TROOPS KILLED – Two British soldiers and at least 16 Iraqis were killed in attacks across Iraq, while US-led forces backed by fighter jets battled insurgents in a restive northern corner of the country. * NEW ROW – Israel moved swiftly to quash a new row over its settlements, with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office slapping down a minister who announced plans to build thousands of homes in the West Bank.* IMPEACHMENT DRIVE DEAD – The Philippine parliament formally killed off an opposition attempt to impeach President Gloria Arroyo for election fraud, ending a three-month battle to oust her from power.* POLITICAL CHANGE – – British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged China to embrace greater political freedom and make progress on human rights, saying the world needed to know what kind of economic powerhouse it was dealing with.* NEW CHIEF JUSTICE – US President George W.Bush nominated conservative Judge John Roberts, already his choice for a seat on the US Supreme Court, to replace the late chief justice William Rehnquist.* SPORADIC FIRE – Saudi security forces exchanged sporadic fire with suspected al Qaeda militants holed up in the eastern oil city of Dammam after deadly clashes in a busy street where many Western firms have offices.* CHIRAC FIT AGAIN – President Jacques Chirac of France was declared officially fit for work on the third day of his hospitalisation for an eye disorder amid growing speculation about how his sudden illness may have altered the country’s political scene.- Nampa-AFP* NEW ROW – Israel moved swiftly to quash a new row over its settlements, with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s office slapping down a minister who announced plans to build thousands of homes in the West Bank.* IMPEACHMENT DRIVE DEAD – The Philippine parliament formally killed off an opposition attempt to impeach President Gloria Arroyo for election fraud, ending a three-month battle to oust her from power.* POLITICAL CHANGE – – British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged China to embrace greater political freedom and make progress on human rights, saying the world needed to know what kind of economic powerhouse it was dealing with. * NEW CHIEF JUSTICE – US President George W.Bush nominated conservative Judge John Roberts, already his choice for a seat on the US Supreme Court, to replace the late chief justice William Rehnquist.* SPORADIC FIRE – Saudi security forces exchanged sporadic fire with suspected al Qaeda militants holed up in the eastern oil city of Dammam after deadly clashes in a busy street where many Western firms have offices.* CHIRAC FIT AGAIN – President Jacques Chirac of France was declared officially fit for work on the third day of his hospitalisation for an eye disorder amid growing speculation about how his sudden illness may have altered the country’s political scene.- Nampa-AFP