"Building a case for war against Iraq, President Bush said Tuesday night he has fresh evidence that Saddam Hussein seeks to dominate, intimidate or attack with weapons of mass destruction that he could share with terrorist allies.Bush offered no new evidence to support his charges against Iraq, but said Secretary of State Colin Powell will go to the U.N. Security Council next Wednesday to present the U.S. case," reported the AP news agency.
"Pressing its campaign for worldwide support, the Bush administration is preparing to present new evidence to foreign leaders and the American public that Iraq is developing weapons of mass destruction and has links to the al-Qaida terror network," reported the AP news agency.
"Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and his Likud Party won a resounding victory in Israel's parliamentary elections Tuesday, as voters endorsed his hard-line approach to the Palestinian uprising and dealt the dovish Labor Party its worst defeat in history," reported the AP news agency.
"A divided U.N. Security Council on Wednesday conducts a closed-door debate on the Iraq crisis, but no decision is expected until after Secretary of State Colin Powell makes the U.S. case next week. Evidence presented by the United States and Britain is still considered slight, with some nations believing Washington is trying to rush the process to meet a military timetable," reported the Reuters news agency.
"President Bush said on Tuesday the U.S. economy was improving in the aftermath of its recession and other setbacks, but it still was not growing quickly enough," reported the Reuters news agency.
"President Bush, in a somber State of the Union speech, vowed on Tuesday to use the full force of the U.S. military against Iraq if needed and warned U.S. troops that "some crucial hours may lie ahead" as he braced wary Americans for a possible war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Key members of the U.N. Security Council said Wednesday that the United States has so far failed to convince them that time has run out for a peaceful resolution to the crisis with Iraq. Iraq's U.N. Ambassador Mohammed Al-Douri dismissed Bush's allegations as lies and said his government will fully cooperate with inspectors to show that these baseless allegations are nothing but fabrications," reported the AP news agency.
"President Bush ran into GOP and Democratic resistance to his Medicare reform proposal Wednesday, with even White House allies saying they were confused about what the president intended to propose and a key Republican pledging to block the plan," reported the AP news agency.
"Edging closer toward war with Iraq, President Bush weighed setting a deadline for Saddam Hussein to disarm and closed ranks with allies who support Washington's hard line against Baghdad," reported the AP news agency.
"This year's federal deficit will soar to $199 billion even without President Bush's new tax cut plan or war against Iraq, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday in a report that cast doubt on chances for balancing the budget anytime soon. The bleak forecast further inflamed this year's budget fight between Bush and congressional Democrats, who accuse each other of speeding the downward spiral of the government's books," reported the AP news agency.
"Rep. John Spratt of South Carolina, top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, referring to the president's State of the Union address, said the question Bush avoided was: How would he do all the things he's talking about in the State of the Union and have any kind of bottom line left in the budget?," reported the AP news agency.
"President Bush's nomination of railroad executive John Snow to head the Treasury Department could face interference from two Senate Democrats who are unhappy about a proposed change to retirement plan regulations," reported the AP news agency.
"A day after his election victory, Ariel Sharon on Wednesday rebuffed an offer by Yasser Arafat to resume peace talks - an indication the Israeli prime minister will stick to his tough policies in his second term," reported the AP news agency.
"Ted Turner, the billionaire media mogul who pioneered cable television and built CNN, is stepping down as vice chairman of AOL Time Warner Inc.The world's biggest media company made the announcement Wednesday as it reported a staggering fourth-quarter loss of $44.9 billion, largely because of a huge decline in the value of its stock," reported the AP news agency.
"Republicans are closing ranks, Democrats voicing doubts, after President Bush's State of the Union vow to use the full force and might of the U.S. military if needed to disarm Saddam Hussein's Iraq," reported the AP news agency.
"Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the House Democratic leader, said Bush did not make a convincing case that the use of force now is the only way to disarm Iraq, or that removing Saddam from power would guarantee that a new regime would not pursue the same policies," reported the AP news agency.
"Americans are still being asked to take it on faith that the government knows what it has yet to show - that Iraq is hiding weapons of mass destruction and has ties to al-Qaida.The allegations were thicker than the evidence in President Bush's State of the Union speech Tuesday night. The huge American audience, and those paying heed around the world, saw complex issues cast in simplest terms. Lacking, still, was proof, publicly stated, that those weapons remain in Iraqi hands," reported the AP news agency.
"With thousands of U.S. troops pouring into the Gulf region, administration officials said Bush and his top aides were opening a final diplomatic window with allies in a last-ditch attempt to avert a seemingly inevitable war with Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"In the nuanced world of diplomacy, President Bush speaks in blunt terms: dead or alive, good or evil, with us or against us. A more difficult task will be to match his stark rhetoric with the hard evidence against Iraq being demanded by doubting allies and skeptical Americans," reported the AP news agency.
"Bush's tendency to draw moral distinctions has caused alarm among Europeans and other allies and could complicate Powell's efforts next week as he lays out his case. In fact, Bush has a history of speaking in stark black and white terms - only to pull back if things don't work out as planned," reported the AP news agency.
"Despite President Bush's State of the Union speech, no member of the U.N. Security Council changed positions on Wednesday, with most hoping war could be averted or delayed by allowing weapons inspectors more time to do their work in Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Two-thirds of Britons believe Prime Minister Tony Blair is more interested in backing U.S. President George W. Bush in a war against Iraq than listening to public opinion, according to a poll published Thursday," reported the AP news agency.
"A train packed with commuters derailed during rush hour Friday morning outside Sydney, killing at least eight people, seriously injuring 15 and trapping others in the wreckage," reported the AP news agency.
"President George W. Bush announced new trade agreements with Chile and Singapore. The administration has said it expects votes on the deals with Chile and Singapore in the spring
"Coca-Cola Co. said it will lay off 1,000 employees as part of an effort to streamline the beverage giant's North American operations. Chairman and chief executive Doug Daft said Thursday in a memo to staff that this will make ... North American business simpler in process, sharper in strategic focus, and more competitive in the market," reported the AP news agency.
"The United States said for the first time on Wednesday that it is willing to help arrange exile for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein as Secretary of State Colin Powell prepared a comprehensive case on Iraq’s malfeasance to deliver at the United Nations next week. President George W. Bush kept up his steady calls for Iraq to be disarmed by force if necessary and for the UN Security Council to act to ensure that end while Powell held out exile as a possible way to avoid war," reported the AFP news service.
"More than 500 anti-war demonstrators rallied in New York's Times Square during Wednesday's evening rush hour as protest efforts shifted into higher gear over fears of US military action against Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency," reported the AP news agency.
"Fears that Pakistan could be the next target of United States military action were voiced in newspapers yesterday following President George W. Bush's state of the union address. The Times cited reports in US media alleging Pakistan had exported nuclear technology to North Korea, its perceived inability to reign in Islamic militants, and repeated Western speculation that Osama is hiding in its remote border areas, as factors fuelling fears the United States may have Pakistan in its sights," reported the AFP news service.
"Establishing the link is essential in persuading the public that Iraq represents an imminent threat, and Bush insisted that hard evidence in the shape of intelligence sources, secret communications, and statements by people now in custody” proved the connection was real. But the intelligence analysts in the US and Britain on whose work the president's claim was supposedly based say the connections are tangential at best, and the available evidence falls far short of proving a secret relationship between Baghdad and Osama bin Laden," reported the Guardian news agency.
"Bushfires driven by gale force winds and searing temperatures destroyed at least seven homes in Australia yesterday and forced the evacuation of 12 townships in alpine regions," reported the AFP news service.
"Sperm banks across the country are heeding the call of patriotism and are offering US servicemen faced with fighting a possible war in Iraq the chance to leave a little of themselves behind for free - or at a deep discount. California Cryobank, one of the nation's largest sperm banks, said on Wednesday that more than 40 military personnel had taken up a one year's free sperm storage offer as a precaution against the possibly harmful effects of vaccine or chemical weapons exposure on their fertility," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Eight European leaders called time on Iraqi President Saddam Hussein yesterday, breaking ranks with France and Germany and lending much-needed diplomatic support to US President George W. Bush," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Government investigators armed with fake IDs and fictitious names had no trouble getting past US border guards who didn't even bother to check the false papers in some cases," reported the AP news agency.
"Iraq has denied any link with the al-Qaeda terror network, pointing to a profound ideological divide, and in turn accused the United States of sponsoring the hardline Taliban regime in Afghanistan," reported the AFP news service.
"Talk of a war against Iraq, mounting job cuts and stock market losses have taken a toll on consumer confidence in Singapore, which ranks among the lowest in the region. A half-yearly survey by MasterCard International, of about 5,500 consumers in 13 countries in Asia-Pacific, has found Singaporeans to be among the most pessimistic about prospects in the next half year," reported The Asia News Network.
"A German court convicted two businessmen yesterday of breaking German arms export laws by helping Iraq acquire large drills which can be used to bore tubes for a long-range cannon capable of firing nuclear, biological or chemical shells in violation of a UN embargo," reported the AP news agency.
"US Secretary of State Colin Powell won't bring a smoking gun against Iraq to the United Nations next week but he will have evidence showing that Baghdad is hiding its weapons of mass destruction. But Powell would be bringing information that when we connect the dots clearly shows that Iraq is in material breach of the latest Security Council resolution, legal wording that could trigger war, the official said," reported the AP news agency.
"A US judge sentenced Briton Richard Reid - a self-proclaimed disciple of Osama bin Laden - to life imprisonment on Thursday for trying to blow up a transatlantic flight with explosives hidden in his shoe," reported the AP news agency.
"The British government confirmed yesterday it has released evidence it says proves Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network tried to develop a nuclear weapon in the late 1990s," reported the Reuters news ageny.
"The head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said yesterday he wanted the international standoff with North Korea over its nuclear ambitions to be brought before the Security Council. Washington has, however, given assurances that it wants to resolve the crisis peacefully and would not seek sanctions for now," reported the AFP news service.
"Facing the growing prospect of a US-led invasion, Iraq invited the two chief UN weapons inspectors to return to Baghdad for a fresh round of talks on Iraqi disarmament amid diminishing hopes for a diplomatic solution to the crisis," reported the AP news agency.
"Israeli warplanes flew over southern Lebanon yesterday morning after staging mock raids over Palestinian refugee camps there the previous night. The mock raids were among the heaviest since Israel ended its 22-year occupation of southern Lebanon in May 2000," reported the AFP news service.
"Four US soldiers were killed when their Blackhawk helicopter crashed during a night training mission in Afghanistan, the US military said yesterday, as investigations got under way," reported the AFP news service.
