<B>TOUR D?HORIZON de LA PRESSE ÉTRANGÈRE

<B>AL-QAEDA NEWS

Al-Qaeda «coming to end in Iraq» </B>

The killing of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi marks the «beginning of the end» of al-Qaeda in Iraq, the country?s national security adviser has said. Mowaffaq al-Rubaie said documents seized after the raid that killed Zarqawi had yielded key information about the militant group. «Now we have the upper hand,» he told a news conference in Baghdad.

Zarqawi, the al-Qaeda leader in Iraq, was killed last week by a US air strike near Baquba, north of Baghdad

● <B>LE MONDE

Le gouvernement choisit de reporter la privatisation de GDF</B>

Le projet de fusion entre Gaz de France (GDF) et Suez aura été la victime collatérale ? temporairement ou définitivement ? de l?affaiblissement politique du premier ministre. Devant la fronde des députés UMP et la menace d?une obstruction systématique de la gauche au Palais Bourbon, Dominique de Villepin a préféré renoncer à présenter avant la fin de la session parlementaire hier le projet de privatisation de GDF ? préalable indispensable à son mariage avec le groupe d?énergie et d?environnement.

● <B>DAILY MAIL

Bosses outraged at union?s World Cup «sickie» advice</B>

Major employers have condemned a move by one of the country?s buggest unions to offer its members advice on the risks of taking a sick day ? or «sickie» ? to watch World Cup matches. «So you want to watch the World Cup, but you are meant to be at work when it?s on,» reads guidance on the website of Amicus, one of Britain?s largest trade unions.

● <B>SOUTH AFRICA DAILY

Female sex workers trapped in «abuse cycle»</B>

South African commercial sex workers ?including those in Durban ? are forced to bring in 600 a day by their pimps, or face a beating. They are in a trapped cycle of abuse and are given or voluntarily use wakies (crack cocaine) to help them cope with having sex with strangers.Their use of condoms was erratic ( they tried to use them, but did not if a client asked them not to) and were less informed about HIV prevention and service availability.

● <B> DELHI POST

Jammu and Kashmir tops in job generation</B>

States with relatively low-profile economies have seen the quickest growth in jobs between 1998 and 2005, according to the provisional results of the Economic Census 2005. Jammu & Kashmir, Sikkim, Kerala, Haryana and Tripura are states that have recorded the quickest growth in jobs between 1998 and 2005. The Fourth Economic Census was carried out in 1998. Jammu & Kashmir, for instance, registered the fastest growth in employment in the country. Employment there grew by 6.82 per cent between 1998 and 2005, while all over India it grew by just 2.49 per cent.

● <B>THE NEW YORK TIMES

Congress erupts in partisan fight over Iraq war</B>

The House and the Senate engaged in angry, intensely partisan debate on Thursday over the war in Iraq, as Republicans sought to rally support for the Bush administration?s policies and exploit Democratic divisions in an election year shadowed by unease over the war. It was one of the sharpest legislative clashes yet over the three-year-old conflict, and it came after three days in which President Bush and his aides had sought to portray Iraq as moving gradually toward a stable, functioning democracy, and to portray Democrats as lacking the will to see the conflict through to victory.