Television networks from Bangladesh to Finland carried blanket, round-the-clock coverage, repeatedly showing footage of the planes ramming the World Trade Center on Tuesday, smoke billowing from the Pentagon, survivors covered in soot.

Italian newspapers touched on the darkest fear of many people: ''Now we really are at war,'' the Corriere della Sera said in a front-page editorial. ''And what's worse, the enemy is an invisible one.''

La Stampa likened the attacks to Japan's World War II assault on Pearl Harbor.

''The atmosphere reminds us of Pearl Harbor 60 years ago, but it's a Pearl Harbor without Japan, a war without an enemy,'' the newspaper said in an editorial.

Russia's newspapers all carried similar headlines, describing the attacks as ''Armageddon'' and ''Apocalypse.''

The Izvestia expressed its horror - and its sympathy: ''Armageddon: A Great Country. A Great Woe. A Great Sorrow.''

Britain's Times predicted the attacks would change the course of history. ''Terror for all. The day that changed the modern world,'' was the title of its editorial.

In Finland, the Helsingin Sanomat, Finland's largest daily, broke a decades-old tradition and covered its front page - which usually only features advertisements - with news of the attack.

Japan's major dailies reserved the first eight pages of their morning editions to news of the terror. Evening papers were entirely devoted to the news.

''Simultaneous terror hits America's heart,'' said a towering headline on the front page of the Asahi Shimbun. Several inside pages were simply a grisly gallery of photographs.

In the Philippines, the attacks dominated talk radio programs, where many callers expressed concern over the safety of the 62,000 Filipinos who live in New York, and the 65,000 in Washington.

Newspapers in Syria, an Islamic nation suspected of promoting terrorism, condemned the attacks and expressed sympathy.

''Black Tuesday in the United States,'' said a headline in the state-run Al-Baath.

In Jordan, the daily al-Aswaq also denounced the attack, with the headline, ''Doomsday in America.''

But papers in Iraq, which waged war with President Bush's father, described the strikes as due punishment.

''Now, America is gaining the fruits of its worldwide crime,'' the state-run al-Iraq newspaper said.

The pro-government Egyptian newspaper, al-Akhbar, argued that Israel was to blame, saying the attacks were a warning to ''resolve the problem of the Palestinian people and those people who linger under injustice.''

The biggest newspaper in the Netherlands, De Telegraaf, reserved its entire front page to a photo of the first explosion.

The headlines said: ''War in the U.S.'' and ''The world holds its breath.''

In Africa, the Ivory Coast's Ivoir Soir declared in a banner headline, ''America collapses.''

The Nigerian daily Vanguard described the attacks as ''Armageddon in America.''