Iraq briefing

The death of four US soldiers by an Iraqi suicide bomber brings a chilling new tactic to the battlefield. Iraqi Vice-President Ramadan said, "Any method that stops or kills the enemy will be used". The US denies any interruption in operations after officers said there would be a pause of four to six days in the advance on Baghdad because of supply shortages. Ferocious air strikes continue on Baghdad and US troops are still preparing a northern front.

The fight

* US and British warplanes pound Baghdad.

* Bombing intensifies in the northern cities of Mosul and Barak.

* An Iraqi doctor says 62 people died and 49 were injured when a bomb fell on a Baghdad market on Friday.

* US officer says at least 50 elite Iraqi forces killed and 25 vehicles hit by 30 US Apache helicopters southwest of Baghdad.

* US Central Command says US aircraft destroyed a building in Basra where an estimated 200 Iraqi militia members were meeting on Friday. A spokesman said "no one came out".

War graves

* US marines recover remains from two graves believed to be linked to last week's ambush by Iraqi forces on an armoured convoy in Nasiriyah.

* A Marine was killed when he was hit by a Humvee. Another US Marine drowned when the Humvee he was travelling in rolled into a canal.

* At least 36 US soldiers have died, 104 wounded, seven taken prisoner and 16 are missing in action. The official British death toll is 20, only five of whom were killed in combat.

* Iraqi sources estimate 589 civilians killed. No confirmed number of Iraqi military deaths.

Propaganda war

* Faced with opposition, the Pentagon launches a graphic public relations offensive aimed at illustrating the "brutality of the Iraqi regime", showing videoclips of Iraq's use of chemical weapons against Kurds 15 years ago.

Herald Feature: Iraq war