JERUSALEM - In a precedent-setting decision, Israel's Supreme Court ordered the government Wednesday to change a large section of its West Bank separation barrier, saying the current route violates the human rights of the local Palestinian population.

The court said the changes must be made, even at the risk of reducing Israeli security. The government said it would honor the ruling

BAGHDAD, Iraq - A roadside bomb rocked a military convoy in southeast Baghdad on Tuesday, killing three U.S. Marines and wounding two others in the first fatal attack on American forces since they transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government.

Footage from Associated Press Television News showed blood inside a slightly damaged Humvee and a flak vest laying in the road in the residential neighborhood

The "Great Istanbul Demonstration Against Occupation, NATO and Bush" in the Kadikoy district of Istanbul, Turkey, concluded without incident.

20,000 people reportedly turned out to voice their displeasure of US President George W. Bush, who arrived in Istanbul for this week's NATO Summit. Members of communist parties from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Bulgaria, Norway, Portugal, Holland and Greece demonstrated along side the Turks. Nearly 40 protestors from Syria and Jordan also joined in the protest.

The demonstration was organized by the Global Peace and Justice Coalition, the Revolutionary Workers Syndicates Confederation (DISK), Turk-Is, Hak-Is, KESK and the Turkish Engineers' and Architects' Association (TMMOB)

The U.S.-led coalition transferred sovereignty to an interim Iraqi government two days early Monday in a surprise move that apparently caught insurgents off guard, averting a feared campaign of attacks to sabotage the highly symbolic step toward self-rule. Legal documents transferring sovereignty were handed over by U.S. governor L. Paul Bremer to chief justice Midhat al-Mahmood in a small ceremony attended by about a half dozen Iraqi and coalition officials in the heavily guarded Green Zone.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites) blurted out the "F word" at Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont during a heated exchange on the Senate floor, congressional aides said on Thursday.

The incident occurred on Tuesday in a terse discussion between the two that touched on politics, religion and money, with Cheney finally telling Leahy to "fuck off" or "go fuck yourself," the aides said.