Washington, Aug 2: If a CBS News report is to be believed, Al Qaeda No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahiri has reportedly been critically injured, and might be possibly dead.

The report is based on a copy of an intercepted letter from sources in Pakistan, which urgently requests a doctor to treat al-Zawahiri. If injured and alive, he is believed to be somewhere in Pakistan's remote tribal areas of Pakistan, said the report.

Washington, August 2: A new Web advertisement released by U. S. presidential candidate John McCain's campaign compares his competitor Barack Obama to Charlton Heston's movie character Moses.

The ad seeks to portray what it says is Obama’s smugness and false regal perception with a new comparison — to Charlton Heston’s famous Hollywood version of the biblical character.

It begins with narrator’s voice referring to Obama as “The One”, the nickname McCain aides are using for their opponent and the aura around him.

Washington  - The lowest auto demand in the United States since 1993, soaring fuel prices and a weak economy have impacted General Motors, Toyota and Chrysler, which Friday reported a drop in July sales.

Troubled US car giant General Motors reported a 27 per cent decline in July US sales, as well as a massive second-quarter loss of 15.5 billion dollars, or 27.33 dollars per share.

Washington  - Internet services company Yahoo is in the middle of a massive transformation but will soon see results, CEO Jerry Yang told investors at an annual meeting Friday.

Yahoo executives tried to placate investors who were upset about the failed merger with Microsoft, saying the company acted in the interest of shareholders.

Yang, who was facing investors at his first annual meeting as CEO, has been under pressure after spurning a 47.5-billion-dollar buyout offer from Microsoft.

Washington  - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice praised Congress on Friday for passing legislation that allows Libya to settle all pending lawsuits by victims of terrorism.

Under the arrangement, Libya will place money into a fund to compensate victims and their families, including those who have not already been in connection to the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Libya is to provide about 800 million dollars for compensation into the fund to settle existing lawsuits and be immune from any further legal action.

Washington  - A government scientist who was the focus of a federal investigation into the 2001 anthrax attacks has apparently committed suicide, the Los Angeles Times has reported.

Bruce Ivins, 62, was a top scientist at the government's elite bio-defence research laboratory in Fort Detrick, Maryland. He had been informed by authorities that he would soon be indicted for the attacks that horrified the nation in the weeks following the September 11 terrorist strikes.