US woman journalist kidnapped

BAGHDAD - A female American journalist was kidnapped in Baghdad yesterday and her translator shot.

An official with the Iraqi Interior Ministry said the journalist - who was not immediately named - was seized as she was driving to a meeting with a Sunni politician. Her car was intercepted by a red Opel sedan and three armed men shot dead her translator before speeding off with her.

Meanwhile, a report by the US military said better body armour could have prevented or limited about 80 per cent of fatal torso wounds suffered by Marines killed in Iraq.

The report, conducted by the Office of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner and not released to the public, said bullets or shrapnel hit the Marines' shoulders, the sides of their torsos or other areas not fully covered by plates in the armour in at least 74 out of 93 fatal wounds.

"Either a larger plate or superior protection around the plate would have had the potential to alter the fatal outcome," the study says.

- INDEPENDENT, REUTERS