University of Cincinnati researchers are reporting what they call a significant pattern among Iraqi adolescents and their reaction to the war in Iraq – the higher the perceived threat of the war, the higher the teens reported their self-esteem. The findings – from a 2004 survey of 1,000 Iraqi adolescents in 10 neighborhoods in Baghdad – are reported in the current issue of the Journal of Adolescence.

US President George W Bush holds talks with with the new British prime minister, Gordon Brown hoping to secure support for a peace deal on Darfur and movement on stalled world trade talks.

Women looking for work are being tricked into sexual slavery, with some trafficked abroad.

Sahar al-Haideri, killed by insurgents on June 7, used the pen to counter violence and intolerance in Mosul, her home town.

The Yezidi minority has so far stayed well out of Iraq's internecine battles, but violence with their Muslim neighbours has escalated following the murder of a girl who apparently converted to Islam.

An explosion has rocked the Iraqi parliament building in Baghdad's Green Zone, RFE/RL's Radio Free Iraq reported. At least two lawmakers have been killed and 10 were wounded, according to Iraqi state television. Western news agencies quote witnesses as saying there are many wounded.

Security is tight in the Iraqi capital today on the fourth anniversary of the arrival of U.S. forces in Baghdad during the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. A ban on vehicles is in force to prevent car bombings.

Council of Europe, which is the human rights wachdog of Europe, urges Iraqi government to stop the executions in Iraq, over the hanging of former vice president Taha Yassin Ramadan on Tuesday.