"The International Movement for a Just World (JUST) has accused the US of using its military and economic might to subjugate other nations. JUST president Dr Chandra Muzaffar said that it is not military might alone that sustains Washington’s imperial power. The US has succeeded in camouflaging its acts of aggression and oppression in various parts of the world by projecting an image of itself which is so beguiling. He claimed that the US had portrayed a myth of itself as a nation whose sacred mission is to expand freedom and opportunity for the rest of mankind. He added that It has a different approach from the colonial empires of yesteryears, for the US does not annex foreign territories. Modern technologies have made it possible to exercise effective control without direct intervention," reported the Malaysian Star newspaper.
"British troops will begin deploying to the Gulf next month in preparation for a war with Iraq," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The media frenzy surrounding prime minister’s wife Cherie Blair’s dealings with an Australian conman looks set to continue over the weekend after he promised to tell his side of the story on Monday," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix has written to Iraqi officials asking for a list of scientists and others associated with Baghdad’s chemical, biological and ballistic missile programme. The UN Security Council in its Nov 8 resolution 1441 gave UN inspectors the right to interview in private any official they believed would have intimate knowledge of Iraq’s arms programme and also to take them out of the country," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Former Vice President Al Gore, who came agonizingly close to winning the presidency two years ago," reported the AP news agency.
"A controversial Italian gynaecologist Severino Antinori said in an interview in the Serbian weekly Nin.The world’s first cloned baby will be born in Belgrade next month," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraq has urged the United Nations to stop an undeclared war waged by US and British warplanes policing a self-declared no-fly zone in the south of the country," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat is demanding that terror mastermind Osama bin Laden stop using the Palestinian struggle for statehood as a reason to conduct terror activities against the West," reported the AP news agency.
"Israeli troops killed a Palestinian at the Gaza Strip border with Egypt as wider Middle East developments looked likely to delay international efforts to draw up an Israeli-Palestinian peace plan," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Pakistani police announced yesterday they had broken up a plot to ram an explosives-laden Volkswagen bug into the passing car of a US diplomat on the main boulevard of this port city," reported the AP news agency.
"US actor and filmmaker Sean Penn broke his media silence on Sunday to criticise Washington’s policy over Iraq while making it clear he was on a personal visit to learn and not to teach. Penn, who spent the day walking the streets of Saddam City, a poor suburb of Baghdad with his camera, said he did not understand why US leaders have not shared with the American people the evidence that they claim to have on weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," reported the AFP news service.
"Nearly two-thirds of Japanese people oppose a US-led attack on Iraq, while some 57% said Japan should not co-operate militarily if an attack goes ahead," reported the AFP news service.
"Running 35.6 trillion calculations per second, the Earth Simulator is the fastest supercomputer in the world, almost five times faster than the next best one and as fast as the top 5 U.S. supercomputers combined. The U.S. has lost the lead in climate science research," reported the AP news agency.
"The 10 non-permanent Security Council members finally got a chance to see a sanitized version of Iraq's weapons declaration, less than two days before U.N. inspectors give their preliminary assessment of the 12,000-page document. The five permanent members who are all nuclear powers, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, received the uncensored declaration of Iraqi President Saddam Hussein's nuclear, chemical, biological, and long-range missile programs over a week ago," reported the AP news agency.
"The United States will deliver its final verdict later this week on Iraq’s weapons declaration after warning there were problems with the dossier and that Baghdad would not get a second chance. The United States and its ally Britain have signalled they are ready for war if Iraq breaches a tough UN Security Council resolution aimed at ensuring it has no weapons of mass destruction," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Warplanes of the US-British coalition struck sites in southern Iraq on Monday and dropped leaflets warning Iraqi troops that repairing damaged facilities placed their lives at risk, the Pentagon said on Monday. The US Central Command said in a statement that damage assessment was being carried out after the raids," reported the AFP news service.
"The Pentagon is debating whether the US military should break precedent and conduct covert propaganda operations in other countries to bolster support for the United States, defence officials said. The proposal, which follows the highly-publicised death of a similar plan early this year, could include financing public demonstrations in support of America or even building schools to counter anti-Western teaching in some militant Islamic classrooms," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The US military’s computer-assisted exercise, believed to be a rehearsal for a war with Iraq, ended yesterday in the Gulf nation of Qatar, a senior official said. Led by Gen Tommy Franks, Central Command would control US military operations in any potential conflict with Iraq. The new US$58mil portable headquarters allows Franks to move his staff anywhere in the command’s 25-nation area of responsibility," reported the AP news agency.
"US President George Bush and Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei agreed on Monday to boost intelligence-sharing as part of the war on terrorism, a White House statement said. The United States has offered to help Brunei build its capacity to counter terrorism, according a US-Brunei statement issued by the White House," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Men in the United States who are from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will be required to register with the government under a programme intended to fingerprint and photograph those from countries considered high risk for terrorists. The announcement coincided with a deadline on Monday for registration for a similar programme affecting men from Iraq, Iran, Libya, Sudan and Syria. Men from Afghanistan, Algeria, Bahrain, Eritrea, Lebanon, Morocco, North Korea, Oman, Qatar, Somalia, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen face a registration deadline of Jan 10," reported the AP news agency.
"Russian doctors on Monday declared insane the first senior army officer to go on trial for crimes against civilians in the breakaway region of Chechnya, paving the way for his release for treatment. President Vladimir Putin’s Chechnya human rights envoy said such an outcome was likely to meet with dismay in the war-ravaged republic," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Arab nations pushed for condemnation of Israel for the recent killings of three UN workers and the United Nations urged the Israeli Government to stop using excessive force in civilian areas. Syria circulated a resolution expressing grave concern at the killings by Israeli troops after UN Mid-East envoy Terje Roed-Larsen strongly criticised Israel’s conduct at an open Security Council meeting on Monday and called for its defence forces to behave with greater restraint and discipline," reported the AP news agency.
"Britain’s ambassador in Tel Aviv has described terrorism as justified in certain cases, drawing parallels between the historic Jewish fight for a state of Israel and the present day Palestinian struggle," reported the Guardian Newspapers.
"An explosion rocked an Israeli chemical factory near an oil refinery in the northern port city of Haifa yesterday, sparking a fire, officials and witnesses said. The online news agency Ynet said the explosion at Haifa Petrochemicals occurred in a building housing non-poisonous chemical fertiliser," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Leading voices in South Korea called yesterday for a cooling of the anti-US sentiment that has overshadowed this week’s presidential election, warning of a backlash that could hurt Seoul’s security and economy," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Undercover armed guards are due to patrol flights between Australia and Singapore under a new agreement between the two countries. Australia is also pursuing similar agreements with Indonesia and the United States, Justice Minister Chris Ellison said in announcing the deal," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The film version of Graham Greene’s 1955 novel The Quiet American was given an enthusiastic welcome on its Vietnam premiere yesterday after being deemed acceptable by censors. Greene’s novel was acclaimed as a portent of American involvement in Indochina and is set in Saigon in 1952 at the height of the fight for independence from French colonial rule. The story depicts the Western powers as blind. They are fascinated by Vietnam but incapable of understanding the country, charmed by its beauty but destined to do it harm," reported the AFP news service.
"The State Department's failure to follow its own rules for issuing visas allowed the Sept. 11 attacks to happen. There was no comment from the State Department. Responding in the past to similar criticism, State Department officials have said they had no reason to believe the men were terrorists," reported the AP news agency.
"The missile defence system US President George W. Bush ordered to be deployed will not work and is a waste of money, critics said on Tuesday while the Pentagon acknowledged the system initially will provide only modest protection. Critics said the programme was too costly – tens of billions of dollars already and potentially hundreds of billions of dollars in the long run – and has not proven that it can work as advertised. They also expressed worry that the deployment might prompt nations such as North Korea and China to step up missile-building efforts," reported the news Agencies.
"US President George W. Bush is likely this week to declare Iraq in material breach of a United Nations Security Council resolution on disarmament, but is not expected to cite it as an immediate case for war. Washington is expected to argue that military action is the only way to force Iraqi compliance to disarm but is expected to look for other violations and not just omissions in the document before any declaration of war," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Prime Minister John Howard confirmed yesterday that Australia has begun preparations for war in Iraq amid reports that defence commanders were gearing up for a March campaign. The Australian war plan is said to include a command headquarters, three warships – including an amphibious command ship, a flight of RAAF F/A 18 Hornet fighters, plus Orion maritime patrol aircraft and a 707 jet tanker," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraqi opposition groups seeking to form a common front failed on Tuesday to overcome their rivalries, with some walking out of a meeting warning of possible civil war if they were sidelined in any new government. In Washington, however, the administration of President George W. Bush applauded the outcome," reported the Reuters news agency.
"A municipal council in Australia’s largest city has turned down an application to build a Muslim prayer hall after residents in the area said they feared it could be a hotbed for terrorists. A prayer hall differs from a mosque in that it is open for a limited number of hours, has no full-time Islamic leader – or imam – present, and does not offer teachings in the Quran. The Supreme Islamic Council of New South Wales state accused the council of racism. Islamic Council president Jaber El-gafi said from the beginning, the (shire) council has vindicated and inflamed the situation and it did not act as an arbitrator," reported the AP news agency.
"Seven men of North African origin were being questioned by anti-terrorist detectives after being arrested in Edinburgh and in London yesterday," reported the AFP news service.
"South Korea’s largest Buddhist order protested the latest James Bond movie as profaning the ancient religion and inciting inter-Korean conflict. The Jogye order issued a statement on Tuesday, criticising Die Another Day which includes a scene of Bond making love to a woman in a Buddhist temple. The order said the Hollywood blockbuster was distorting warming ties between South and North Korea and inciting conflict. In the movie, North Koreans are planning an invasion of South Korea using a deadly weapon of mass destruction. At the start, Bond is held prisoner and tortured in North Korea. North Korea has also criticised the movie as slandering the communist state and said it proves that the United States is an empire of evil. Citing similar reasons, some ordinary South Koreans have called for a boycott of the movie," reported the AP news agency.
"Iraq has totally failed to comply with U.N. disarmament demands and if it continues its pattern of lies and deception, Secretary of State Colin Powell said we're not going to find a peaceful solution to this problem. Key U.S. allies agreed with the finding, which President George W. Bush could use as a step toward war," reported the AP news agency.
"South Korea's president-elect vowed Friday to work closely with the United States to resolve concerns about North Korea's nuclear weapons development," reported the AP news agency.
"The US military has been told to notify up to 50,000 troops that they may be sent to the Gulf region early next year as the United States builds its forces in the region for a possible invasion of Iraq. Bush has approved a flexible US military plan for a possible large-scale invasion of Iraq that could include as many as 250,000 troops once US forces took control of remote parts of the country and began to fly in troops in large numbers. But they might begin with much smaller numbers of troops. That would be coupled with intense air strikes to destroy Iraq’s air defences and pound Saddam’s elite Republican Guard forces as well as his home city of Tikrit and other centres of power in the country," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix, briefing the Security Council yesterday, said there was not much new information about Iraq’s weapons programmes in its 12,000-page declaration. A senior US official said yesterday that Iraq is in material breach of its international obligations. Britain appeared to agree with the US view but British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said gaps in the declaration are not grounds for war. Inspectors removed all information that could be used to build weapons of mass destruction as well as the names of companies that sold Iraq supplies," reported the AP news agency.
"Iraq said yesterday it was not worried by accusations that its weapons declaration to the United Nations contained little new but said it would hand over a list of scientists associated with arms programmes. Presidential adviser Amir al-Saadi said that they are not worried. It’s the other side (the United States and Britain) that is worried because there is nothing they (the United States and Britain) can pin on them. There is nothing that they don’t know about Iraq’s weapons programmes," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Iraq has told the UN Security Council that three Russian firms and one from China breached United Nations sanctions by supplying it with weapons after its 1990 invasion of Kuwait, a German newspaper, The Tageszeitung, said yesterday. The Tageszeitung cited what it said was a list included in the arms declaration that Baghdad submitted to the UN on Dec 7 and also published a list of firms from the United States, China, France, Britain and Russia. The paper’s list contained a further 24 US-based firms, three Chinese, eight French, 17 British and six Russian firms, as well as companies from Japan, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain and Sweden," reported the Reuters news agency.
"The United States has set the last week of January as the deadline to ask the UN Security Council to authorise the use of force against Iraq if it is in violation of Resolution 1441. US officials told the daily they are confident that by then there will be enough evidence to put together a case that Iraq will not be able to refute and that even the most sceptical Security Council members will be unable to ignore," reported the AFP news service.
"Iraq President Saddam Hussein plans to create a humanitarian disaster – destroying his own oil fields, power plants and food stocks – and blame American troops if Iraq is invaded, US intelligence officials said on Wednesday. The officials said in addition to creating a scorched-earth crisis in Iraq, they believed that if Saddam felt he was about to be deposed he would use chemical and biological arms against invading troops, Israel, Kuwait, and his own people. The officials refused to say how Washington obtained the information on plans by the Iraqi leader, including the probability that he would launch attacks against Shiites who had opposed his regime in the past," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Transport Secretary Alistair Darling said yesterday that specially trained armed police officers would be used on British flights, as part of an ongoing series of measures to tackle terrorist threats. Darling said the move to put officers on planes followed a government decision earlier this year to reinforce in-flight security as part of the continuing aviation security review," reported the AFP news service.
"About 100 military medics received smallpox injections on Wednesday in the first wave of a US plan to immunise millions of troops and emergency workers against the long-dormant disease, now deemed a possible terrorist threat," reported the Reuters news agency.
"Scores of Middle Eastern men who appeared on Monday to register under tightened new US immigration rules were detained when they turned up. In response, hundreds of angry Iranian-Americans demonstrated. Male visitors from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Sudan and Syria who were 16 years or older and had overstayed their student, tourist or business visas were immediately arrested, even if they had already applied for legal residency," reported the AFP news service.
