"President George W. Bush and top aides were to wrestle this weekend with the best way towards a Palestinian state as he readies a highly-anticipated public statement outlining US Middle East policy," reported the AFP news service.
"A federal judge on Friday declined to block the US$167,500 (RM636,500) auction sale of two parts from the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima during the World War Two," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Philippine troops in the southern island of Basilan distributed fliers from the US government yesterday offering a multi-million dollar reward for five leaders of the Abu Sayyaf," reported the AFP news service.
"Nine months after the Sept 11 attacks, the United States finds itself in a jittery mood, as scandal and doubts envelop a growing number of major institutions. The CIA, the FBI, the Roman Catholic Church, the stock market, major corporations, accountants and brokers are among the organisations and professions facing criticism either for their honesty or their ability to perform – or both. A sense of anxiety about the reliability of company balance sheets has weighed down the stock market for weeks. Ordinary investors, who rode the boom of the 1990s, now seemed spooked as the value of their retirement funds erodes day by day, although the economy has resumed growth," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A jury yesterday found accounting firm Arthur Andersen guilty of obstructing justice by shredding documents late last year related to its former client Enron Corporation," reported the AFP news service.
"Seeking to rebuild confidence in a church rocked by a sex abuse scandal, US Roman Catholic bishops agreed on Friday to bar paedophile priests from acting as clerics, but stopped short of automatically expelling them from the priesthood. The policy, approved overwhelmingly at an emergency summit of the nation’s top Catholic leaders, provoked an immediate backlash from victims groups and some other critics, who said it fell short of a true zero tolerance approach to priests who molest children. Victims of sex abuse by priests, who made their own tearful pleas to the assembled bishops on Thursday, said they were saddened by the final policy, which the said should have automatically defrocked any offending priest. David Clohessy, who wept openly upon hearing of the new policy, said the bishops had simply papered over an open wound festering in the heart of the Church. He added the root of the problem is still not addressed and that is the accountability of the bishops," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Police yesterday intensified their investigation into a devastating bomb attack on the US consulate here which killed 10 people and injured more than 50. Police said on Friday they were taking seriously a statement from a previously unknown group al-Qanoon (The Law), which claimed responsibility for the blast and warned more attacks would follow," reported the AFP news service.
"The chief minister of India’s Jammu and Kashmir state escaped an attempt on his life yesterday when two grenades were fired at a government building he was inaugurating in the region’s main city," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Afghan president-elect Hamid Karzai urged the Loya Jirga grand assembly yesterday to elect a transitional parliament to oversee his new government and to approve members of his Cabinet. A growing number of delegates have criticised the Loya Jirga, which they say is under the influence of powerful warlords, military commanders and political leaders. Many complain that they are not being allowed to voice their opinions. Delegates are angry about what they call backroom deals among powerful politicians to distribute government posts among themselves," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A wildfire that has threatened this western US city for five days could continue burning for months, officials said as the devastating blaze began to retreat from the city. Fire fighters meanwhile prepared for their first offensive, from a defensive vigil, on the fire which has consumed 36,000ha southwest of this city, destroying 22 homes and forcing 5,400 people to flee," reported the AFP news service.
"With statuettes of Vladimir Putin popping up on bureaucrats’ desks across Russia and fawning essays about him collected for publication in school textbooks, apprehension is mounting of a personality cult. Leonid Kesselman of St Petersburg’s Centre of Sociologic Studies said all these actions display the Soviet mentality of local functionaries who only want to please the president, but do not realise how ridiculous this is. The analyst warned obviously, one cannot say that the president personally inspires all this, but it does reflect Putin’s general image that presents him as an ideal, above all criticism," reported the AFP news service.
"Palestinian militants killed two Israeli soldiers and wounded four in a clash in Gaza shortly after troops foiled a car bomb attack," reported the Rueters news agency.
"Israel was to break ground yesterday for a security fence along its porous frontier with the West Bank over the objections of right-wingers who fear it will set a de facto border and weaken their claims to occupied land," reported the Rueters news agency.
"The Washington Post reported yesterday US President George W. Bush early this year signed an intelligence order directing the CIA to conduct covert operations to topple Saddam Hussein. House Democratic leader Richard Gephardt this month endorsed the use of force to oust Saddam, who has been accused by the administration of backing international terrorism and trying to make chemical, biological and nuclear weapons," reported the Rueters news agency.
"The demise of accounting giant Arthur Andersen was all but certain after its conviction for obstructing justice over the collapse of energy giant Enron Corporation. Despite a planned appeal, the firm acknowledged that the conviction effectively ends its accounting practice," reported the AFP news service.
"Analysts and commentators said yesterday the war clouds may have been rolled back for now, but tension between India and Pakistan is likely to continue seething at least until October state elections in disputed Kashmir and parliamentary polls in Pakistan," reported the AFP news service.
"Audio cassettes are being distributed around south-eastern Afghanistan with a recorded message from fugitive Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar saying he was safe," reported the Rueters news agency.
"Malaysia is not a moderate Islamic state but an Islamic fundamentalist state as its policy adheres to the fundamental teachings of Islam. Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamad explained this to foreign leaders he met in the course of his recent visit to various Western countries. Dr Mahathir said he was glad he was able to explain this to several non-Muslim leaders as many of them did not know about this although many had shown interest in wanting to know more about Islam after the Sept 11 attacks last year," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat lashed out yesterday at Israel’s move to build a massive security fence along the West Bank, calling it a horrible aggression reflecting Zionist racism. On Sunday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat called the security wall an instrument of Sharon for the occupation of their land and part of his campaign to destroy international peace efforts," reported the AFP news service.
"More than half of the delegates to Afghanistan’s Loya Jirga walked out of the grand assembly yesterday, angry about what they called delaying tactics aimed at avoiding key issues. Witnesses said around a thousand of the more than 1,600 delegates at the assembly took part in the walkout. Delegates have not been given a chance to vote on the make-up of a Cabinet being prepared by new head of state Hamid Karzai, while a decision on a new parliament has still not been put to the floor," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Australia and East Timor will negotiate a disputed maritime boundary that runs through the oil-rich sea dividing the two countries. Australia and East Timor last month signed a treaty to divide oil and gas revenues from the Timor Sea. However, Gusmao and his government are still unhappy with the location of the boundary. Dili is particularly unhappy that the vast majority of revenues from a new oil field known as Greater Sunrise – reputed to hold the largest reserves of all fields in the area – will flow to Canberra even though it lies only 150km from East Timor and 400km from Australia. East Timor will get 90% of revenue from the zone, expected to be worth about A$13bil (RM27.74bil) over the next 20 years. Only about 20% of Greater Sunrise is in the zone and 80% in Australian waters," reported the AP news agency.
"A Washington Post report on Sunday said that US President George W. Bush had directed the CIA to undertake a comprehensive, covert programme to overthrow Saddam this year, including authority to use lethal force. Iraqi Foreign Minister Naji Sabri said yesterday that US plans to topple President Saddam Hussein through covert actions were nothing new. He further said that the United States has plotted against Iraq for more than 30 years and plots against any country in the world which demonstrates independence and therefore from time to time, the United States presents its policy with a misleading appearance to dupe (American) public opinion," reported the AFP news service.
"Sixty-nine percent of Britain’s large Muslim population feels excluded from mainstream life, while 66% oppose Britain’s role in the war in Afghanistan, according to a poll released yesterday. The survey, published in The Guardian newspaper, was based on interviews with 500 Muslims across Britain from June 7-10," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A US Forest Service employee set the fire that scorched more than 40,469ha in Colorado and forced thousands to evacuate by burning a letter from her estranged husband in a national forest, authorities said on Sunday," reported the AFP news service.
"Italy’s highest court of appeals ruled at the weekend that vulgar phrases in a heated argument between two motorists had become so natural in stressful modern times that they should no longer be considered a crime against honour. Modern life called for Italians to turn a deaf ear to language that would have prompted duels in years gone by, the court said.The high court said the man did not have to pay the fine imposed by the lower court," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A heavily-armed man opened fire in a popular bar here on Sunday, injuring three people before being overpowered by two female patrons. Police, who said Johnson apparently was distraught about the recent death of his wife, said he wrote a suicide note to his 10-year-old son before embarking on his rampage," reported the AFP news service.
"A team of physicists at the Australian National University (ANU) announced yesterday they had successfully disembodied a laser beam in one location and rebuilt it in a different spot about one metre away in the blink of an eye. Project leader Dr Ping Koy Lam said there was a close resemblance between what his team had achieved and the movement of people in the science fiction series Star Trek but reality was still light years off beaming human beings between locations," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A Palestinian suicide bomber blew himself up on a bus packed with schoolchildren and office workers during morning rush hour on Tuesday, killing at least 14 people and wounding dozens. A blast tore through the bus, reducing it to charred wreckage, shortly after the United States and Yasser Arafat criticized Israel's plans to build a security fence along a porous West Bank frontier through which suicide attackers slip into Israeli cities," reported the Reuters news agency
"Rather than seeking to impose solutions, Bush was expected to offer principles within which the most difficult issues can be negotiated. President Bush is expected to lay out this week a framework on how to create an independent Palestinian state with a constitution and a unified security force," reported the Reuters news agency
"Investigators hunting for al-Qaeda assets are finding that much of the group’s money is in commodities rather than in banks," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Israel plans to re-take parts of the West Bank and hold the territory as long as Palestinian terror attacks continue, an Israeli government statement said Wednesday. The statement was issued hours after Israeli tanks stormed into a West Bank bastion of Palestinian militants Tuesday night in response to a suicide bombing that killed 19 bus passengers in Jerusalem," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Cherie Blair, the wife of the UK prime minister, has apologised for any offence caused by remarks she made about Palestinian suicide bombers, saying as long as young people feel they have got no hope but to blow themselves up you are never going to make progress. Tony Blair leapt to the defence of his wife after the comments triggered criticism from Israeli diplomats, prominent members of the Jewish community in Britain and the Conservative Party," reported the BBC news agency.
"Undeterred by a new Palestinian suicide bombing in Israel, President Bush on Tuesday went ahead with planning for a speech this week laying out a road map for creating an independent Palestinian state. Bush's high-stakes effort could include a recommendation for a provisional Palestinian state to give the Palestinian people hope, even as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon stood at the site of the bombing in Israel and declared his opposition to any idea of doing so soon. A pro-Israel group, the Zionist Organization of America, urged Bush to cancel any plans to announce a path toward statehood for the Palestinians," reported the Reuters news agency.
"President Bush, declaring we can do better, sent to Capitol Hill on Tuesday suggested legislation to create his proposed Department of Homeland Security to coordinate the war on terrorism. The CIA and FBI would be left basically unchanged, prompting critics to complain the new department would fail to correct a key problem exposed by the Sept. 11 attacks - repeated failures by the two agencies to share information," reported the Reuters news agency.
" U.S. officials said on Tuesday Moroccan authorities have detained al Qaeda leader Abu Zubair, nicknamed the bear, one of the three or four most senior leaders of Osama bin Laden's group captured since Sept. 11," reported the Reuters news agency.
"One in six children living in rural regions of the United States is trapped in deep poverty, suffering from poor education and health care, according to a report released on Wednesday. The report by Save the Children found extreme pockets of rural poverty concentrated in six regions -- the Rio Grande area along the U.S.-Mexican border, the Southwest, the mountains of Appalachia, American Indian reservations, the Mississippi River Delta and the Central Valley of California," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A Seattle activist on Monday refused to pay a US$10,000 (RM38,000) fine imposed for violations of sanctions against Iraq, accusing the US government of using innocent Iraqi civilians as pawns in its campaign against Saddam Hussein. Retired engineer Bert Sacks has made eight trips to Iraq in association with the Voices in the Wilderness anti-sanctions group to deliver medicine to civilians. He argues that hundreds of thousands of Iraqis are suffering after attacks on Iraq’s infrastructure in the 1991 Gulf War and subsequent international sanctions. Sacks, the first American to be so sanctioned, accuses US armed forces of deliberately targeting electricity and water installations in Iraq in order to increase human suffering and raise the chances of a popular revolt against Saddam. He says the situation will get worse if the United States fulfils expectations that it will attack Iraq in the context of the US war on terrorism. Opponents say the 12-year sanctions regime against Iraq is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people and makes civilians suffer for the sins of their leader," reported the AFP news service.
"Top U.S. intelligence officials gave detailed, closed-door testimony on Tuesday about the Sept. 11 plot against America, and a senior lawmaker who attended said it was probably hatched after the 1998 bombings of two U.S. embassies in Africa. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham told reporters after the testimony that members of al Qaeda and other extremist groups were still operating inside the United States," reported the Reuters news agency.
"After days of squabbling and delays, the head of the Afghan grand council offered a blueprint yesterday for the country’s legislature, saying it would draw representatives from each province and also include others chosen from among the delegates of the assembled Loya Jirga. But the ethnically contentious issue of the executive Cabinet remained unresolved after newly elected President Hamid Karzai said he needed one more day to cobble it together," reported the AP news agency.
"India is ready to pull back troops from its highly militarised borders with Pakistan as soon as it sees evidence of Islamabad reining in Islamic militants and dismantling their training camps," reported the AFP news service.
"The White House was briefly evacuated Wednesday night. Staff were told by security agents that an unidentified aircraft was spotted circling in the restricted airspace over the executive mansion. Within 15 minutes of the evaucation, staff was allowed to return to the building. Asked if Bush was ever in danger from the incident, the senior U.S. official said he was not, adding that the president remained at the White House and was not taken to a bunker. U.S. officials declined to say exactly where he was in the White House when the evacuation was ordered. The incident occurred just hours after a separate incident in which the nearby Federal Reserve building was evacauted because of a suspicious package, which turned out to be harmless," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A joint strike by air traffic controllers in France, Greece, Italy, Hungary, Spain and Portugal caused massive travel disruption across Europe yesterday. The air traffic controllers were protesting against controversial plans to create a unified airspace and single control for all 15 European Union countries, replacing the current system of national flight monitoring and guidance," reported the AFP news service.
"A 19-year-old radical was fined 3,000 kroners on Tuesday for hurling a raw egg at Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen during a January visit to a homeless shelter," reported the AP news agency.
"Drug traffickers in the Banou I prison were taped setting up deals for the US-built missile as well as other assorted munitions and sophisticated communication equipment, according to a police source. Brazil’s prison gangs are notorious for running drugs, conducting murders and even playing for political power from within prison walls using cellular telephones and fax machines, despite the fact that they are banned," reported the AFP news service.
"Asked about his wife's remark interpreted by some as showing sympathy for Palestinian suicide bombers, Prime Minister Blair told reporters that what she wanted to say is that there is no future in terrorism. But of course we also have to ensure that there is hope ...," reported the dpa news agency.
"The weapons and explosives that detained al-Qaeda suspects planned to use for terrorist attacks in Saudi Arabia were smuggled in from neighbouring Yemen. Weapons are sold freely in Yemen and several suspected al-Qaeda members are believed to have found shelter in the area in the country along the border with Saudi Arabia. The border area is largely controlled by armed tribes," reported the AP news agency.
"A Palestinian suicide bomber killed six people and wounded 35 at a Jerusalem bus stop, prompting President Bush to delay a speech laying out the path to a Palestinian state," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Heavy artillery firing erupted yesterday between Indian and Pakistani paramilitary troops on the borders of the desert state of Rajasthan following an overnight skirmish that left two people dead," reported the AFP news service.
"U.S. intelligence intercepted two messages the day before the Sept. 11 attacks that indicated an event was planned the following day, but the communications were not translated until Sept. 12, government sources said on Wednesday. The National Security Agency, which eavesdrops on communications worldwide, intercepted messages that said tomorrow is zero hour and the match begins tomorrow, sources said on condition of anonymity. The intercepted messages gave no details of the time, location or nature of the event that was to take place. One U.S. intelligence source said no action could have been taken on the basis of such vague messages," reported the Reuters news agency.
"As they buried more than two dozen victims of this week's terror attacks in Jerusalem, grieving Israelis were wondering where to turn next in their efforts to crush the 21-month-old Palestinian uprising. Palestinian Cabinet minister Saeb Erekat said there is only one option (to) save lives of Israelis and Palestinians, to break this vicious cycle, and this option is to a meaningful peace process. He criticized that Sharon's way of thinking that more incursions, more violence and more reoccupation and more settlements - we have been there before. Anger will breed anger, violence will breed violence. Responding to Israelis' sentiments, he said the sentiments come from their inability to see the pain they inflict on the Palestinians with their military actions and seemingly endless occupation. He asserted that they can hide behind what they think the Palestinians are - but they need to see the reality of Palestinian suffering, the destruction of a whole way of life by the Israelis," reported the AP news agency.
"Prime Minister Tony Blair yesterday defended the export of British arms to India and Pakistan despite the recent crisis between the two nuclear powers over Kashmir," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli forces swept into three Palestinian-ruled areas of the West Bank yesterday, seizing wanted militants and imposing curfews after a suicide bomber killed six people at a Jerusalem bus stop," reported the Reuters news agency.
"In the first sign of political tension since Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced his new Cabinet, aides said yesterday former Interior Minister Yunis Qanuni was unhappy with his new post as education minister," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Israel started mobilising reserve soldiers yesterday and expanded military operations on the West Bank in the wake of two Palestinian bombings that killed 26 Israelis and left US peace efforts in limbo. Ismail Abu Haniya, a moderate official of Hamas, which claimed the bus bombing on Tuesday, said as long as the occupation is there, the people have the right to struggle against it," reported the AFP news service.
"Pakistan has intensified its crackdown on extremist groups after last week’s deadly car-bomb attack outside the US consulate in Karachi, arresting dozens of suspected militants and placing police on the highest alert for further assaults," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeli tanks opened fire yesterday in the northern West Bank town of Jenin, killing four Palestinians, including three children in what the Israeli army said appeared to be an error made by soldiers who fired on Palestinians breaking curfew. Palestinian security and hospital officials said tanks fired shells and Israeli soldiers fired with machine guns on Jenin residents in two market streets and a nearby neighbourhood, killing four people and wounding 24, including many children," reported the AP news agency.
"Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat pleaded for no more war with Israel and said he accepted a proposal made by former US president Bill Clinton as a framework for a peace deal. He also said his advisers were amazed that Israel had not taken steps against the radical groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, preferring to focus its military campaign against the Palestinian Authority and Arafat’s Fatah faction," reported the AFP news service.
"Israeal defence minister Binyamin Ben-Eliezer told Ha'aretz newspaper that the country's own military actions are partly to blame for kindling the frustration, hatred and despair and are the incubator for terror to come," reported the Reuters news agency.
"New York officials said on Thursday they were concerned that ambulances, police cars and firetrucks could be used as high-speed bombs after reports that two unidentified Middle Eastern men tried to buy a replica ambulance with cash," reported the Reuters news agency.
"One of the Philippines’ most wanted Muslim rebels, the key man in last year’s kidnapping of a US missionary couple, was shot and likely killed yesterday in a clash with government troops," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A grand jury on Thursday indicted Father Paul Shanley, a central figure in a sex-abuse scandal rocking the Roman Catholic Church, on charges of raping and assaulting four young boys in the rectory and other parts of a church during religious classes," reported the Reuters news agency.
