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Interactive Internet sends news flashes from `control room'

Spectators of the US-lead attack on Iraq are being offered an extraordinary virtual coverage from breaking e-mail news flashes to an interactive Internet "control room."

Heavyweight US television networks such as ABC, CNN and CBS, and magazines such as Newsweek are joining battle with Yahoo, America Online/Netscape and MSN.com to bring frontline action to the Internet.

Users pay about US$10 a month for ABCnews.com's premium service, with an interactive control room linked to four cameras: one trained permanently to the destruction in Baghdad.

The other cameras pan across news events from demonstrations in Washington to live news conferences in Doha, Qatar.

It also offers a link to the ABC television news coverage.

CNN.com matches ABC with a free live link to a camera in Baghdad and a "War Tracker" with a scorecard of battles, stikes, casualties and a day-by-day graph of Iraqi troop surrenders.

War protesters' and supporters' comments are provided side by side on the CNN site.

"This massive destruction of Iraq is wrong. Killing is wrong. Listen to the millions of people outcry to stop this killing," wrote Laura Castleman of Alaska.

"The war on Iraq is a necessary first strike event to defend the United States against a terrorist sponsor nation -- our enemy," said Russ Hamilton of Phoenix, Arizona.

CBSnews.com delivers the live Baghdad skyline pictures, and an interactive map of the battlefield. All three networks include a sign-up to receive alerts on war developments via email.

Newsweek goes a step further.

Under a special feature "Targeting Baghdad," Internet browsers are invited to "choose a destroyed site to locate," from a menu. Each choice, from "Saddam's Residence" to "Baath Party headquarters" zooms in on the stop on a satellite picture.

Yaho's yahoo.com homepage has been redesigned with box, headlined in white on black background: "Yahoo News -- War with Iraq."
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