The US-British conquest of Iraq is an atrocity of world-historic proportions. Confirmed civilian casualties already number in the thousands. Hospitals are admitting 100 patients an hour. They are awash in the blood of women and children hit by tank fire, cluster bombs and shrapnel from cruise missiles. Overworked surgeons are performing amputations without anesthesia and lack even water to clean wounds. Corpses are stacked like cords of wood.

Half a million anti-war protesters march in Rome.

ROME, April 12 - Half a million Italian anti-war protesters marched through Rome on Saturday to demonstrate their opposition to the allied offensive in Iraq which toppled the Iraqi regime.Organizers claimed that more than a half a million people took part in the march which was marred by several acts of vandalism bythe so-called Disobedient groups who targeted bank ATM machines and American interests.

Organizers admitted that Saturday's demonstration was much smaller than the one last February 15 when an estimate about 3 million people marched in the capital.The reason for this, they explained was that the last march wasorganized over a month while Saturday's was put together in a weekand could not benefit from special trains services.

According to a poll published in today's edition of the Corriere della Sera daily, 60 percent of Italians interviewed saidthey believed that Saturday's peace march was still useful. Of these 17 percent said it was useful in any case while 43 percent said it was useful if it was against all wars and not just the onein Iraq.

US Congress approves nearly 80 billion dollars war spending bill

WASHINGTON, April 12 - The US House of Representatives on Saturday approved a wartime spending bill, authorizing nearly 80 billion dollars to be used in the war against Iraq and terrorism.US Senate passed the bill Friday night and US President George W. Bush was expected to sign it into law soon.

"I am disappointed that some Senate provisions were ultimately included that were not war or homeland security-related, but the vast majority of those provisions were stripped from the final conference report," House Speaker Dennis Hastert said after the bill was passed. "We pay for the supplies, the ammunition, the training, so thatour men and women in uniform can do their jobs in Iraq, in Afghanistan and around the world," he said. Bush had asked for 74.7 billion dollars three weeks ago, but the Senate leaders had introduced many spending proposals to the bill, including 3 billion dollars for US airlines and 110 million dollars for agriculture research labs in Ames, Iowa.

Thousands march in London in protest against "occupation of Iraq"

Thousands of peace demonstrators marched through the streets of central London on Saturday, waving banners saying "No Occupation of Iraq." Many marchers also brought flowers, cards, wreaths or whatever they felt appropriate to lay outside 10 Downing Street as they walked past.The Stop the War coalition, the key organizer of peace marches in Britain, estimated some 100,000 protesters joined the peace march, but Scotland Yard put the number at nearly 20,000. However, former Pakistani cricket captain Imran Khan, who joined the march, said the numbers were irrelevant.

"It doesn't matter how many people turn out, it's about registering a protest that a principle has been violated, international law has been violated and everyone who cares must register a protest," he said.

Anti-war campaigner Chris Nineham said he believed "a great deal more problems" lay ahead for the British and US forces as they tried to take over Iraq's administration. "I don't really believe the fighting is over, I think the invasion is sliding into a colonial occupation," he said.

The march, called by Stop the War with the Muslim Association of Great Britain and Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, is the third mass London rally to be held. Hundreds of anti-war protesters also took to the streets of Glasgow, in a march organized by the Scottish Coalition for Justice not War.

On Saturday, anti-war protests also took place in about 40 other countries, including New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Italy,Greece and France. Andrew Burgin from the Stop the War Coalition said there was a fear that Iraq was only the beginning in a series of wars planned by the United States, and possibly Britain. "Iraq now, but will it be Syria and Iran tomorrow?" he asked.