Associated Press (AP)

"Former Rep. George Nethercutt, R-Wash., and former Deputy Interior Secretary Steven Griles are joining a lobbying firm headed by a former top White House energy adviser." [more]

"'I decided to swim ... but I changed my mind after seeing U.S. helicopters firing on and killing people who tried to cross the river.' He watched horrified as a family of five was shot dead as they tried to cross. Then, he 'helped bury a man by the river bank, with my own hands.'" [more]

"As the world's attention was turned to crises in the Middle East, a slaughter has raged for 17 months in Sudan's Darfur region. Arab gunmen on horses and camels, backed by bombers and helicopter gunships, have razed hundreds of black African villages, killed tens of thousands and driven more than one million from their homes." [more]

"They also demanded the United States stop undermining public confidence in generic anti-AIDS drugs, stop limiting access to condoms and reproductive choices through family planning, and give the promised $15 billion for AIDS prevention and treatment to the Global Fund." [more]

"Unlike early reports suggesting the abuses were failings by individual soldiers, Provance told the AP and other media outlets that interrogators at the prison viewed sleep deprivation, stripping inmates naked and threatening them with dogs as normal ways of dealing with 'the enemy.'" [more]

"Iraqis interviewed on the videotape said revelers had fired volleys of gunfire into the air in a traditional wedding celebration before the attack took place. American troops have sometimes mistaken celebratory gunfire for hostile fire." [more]

"'It seems prejudiced to me,' said Abdul Bucky, 40, who works within sight of a camera at Deal Beauty Supply and General Merchandise in East Garfield Park. 'Why didn't they put them in all the neighborhoods?'" [more]

Undercover city officers were sent to monitor anti-war meetings and rallies when opposition to the war in Iraq began to mount last year, the police chief confirms. [more]

"Israel has prohibited vehicles belonging to the United Nations and other humanitarian agencies from crossing the Erez checkpoint into Gaza for the last three weeks, the statement said, and staff must go through on foot. Food shipments through Karni, the only commercial crossing point in Gaza, have also been obstructed." [more]

"The Bush/Cheney campaign Wednesday unleashed its most famous Democratic booster — Georgia Sen. Zell Miller — to make the case presidential foe John Kerry's policies are inconsistent with some of history's most popular Democratic presidents." [more]

"The boys’ deaths on Wednesday triggered days of rioting, looting and arson by ethnic Albanians against Serbs that left 28 people dead, 600 injured." [more]

"The push would effectively expand the scope of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, a 1994 law that requires the telecommunications industry to build into its products tools that U.S. investigators can use to eavesdrop on conversations with a court order." [more]

"Along with the shaving ban, the mayor has proclaimed all men and women must dress in Western or historic clothing on Fridays beginning in May." [more]

"The Bush administration's education secretary, Rod Paige, referred to the nation's largest teachers union as a 'terrorist organization.'" [more]

"Advanced Research and Development Activity works for all the nation's intelligence services, including the CIA, FBI, Defense Intelligence Agency and parts of dozens of other departments. Its budget is part of the National Foreign Intelligence Program and is secret." [more]

"Guerrillas shouting 'God is great' launched a bold daylight assault on an Iraqi police station and security compound west of Baghdad on Saturday, freeing prisoners and sparking a gunbattle that killed 21 people and wounded 33, police and hospital officials said." [more]

"In what may be the first subpoena of its kind in decades, a federal judge has ordered a university to turn over records about a gathering of anti-war activists." [more]

"A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Pentagon has no constitutional obligation to provide the media access to U.S. troops during combat." [more]

"Seeing that operations in Afghanistan haven't succeeded in shutting down terror networks, the Pentagon is planning a 'spring offensive' and ordered troops to start working on logistics and getting equipment in place, a Washington official said, speaking on condition of anonymity." [more]

"Annan suggested forming a U.N. committee on preventing genocide and having a 'special rapporteur' who would report directly to the Security Council to monitor 'massive and systematic violations of human rights and threats to international peace and security.' " [more]

"A man who lived on a golf course for 40 years was told to leave because some golfers complained that he scared them." [more]

"Unlike North and East Africa, no country in West Africa has seen a terror attack against Western interests." [more]

"'Man, they can't pay me enough to stay here,' said a 23-year-old specialist from the Army's 4th Infantry Division as he manned the checkpoint with Iraqi police outside this city 35 miles northeast of Baghdad." [more]

Bush has extended economic sanctions against Libya — a tool commonly used against nations in the Middle East. [more]

"'This is an Israeli decision that the Golan Heights is an integral part of the state of Israel, and we don't have any intention of giving up our hold.''" [more]

"The FBI is warning police nationwide to be alert for people carrying almanacs, cautioning that the popular reference books covering everything from abbreviations to weather trends could be used for terrorist planning." [more]

"All the suspects were charged with 'association with the aim of international terrorism' — a charge introduced in Italy after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. They are believed to have provided false passports and money for recruits." [more]

"In twin setbacks for the Bush administration's war on terror, federal appeals courts on opposite coasts ruled Thursday that the U.S. military cannot indefinitely hold prisoners without access to lawyers or the American courts." [more]

"Unilateral moves would include the completion of a West Bank separation barrier that swallows up large chunks of the land the Palestinians seek for their state, as well as the dismantling of some Jewish settlements ... Sharon will stop short of annexing parts of the West Bank, to avoid further angering the United States." [more]

"Rumsfeld [said] that Saddam's classification may change and he may lose POW status if it appears he had a role in the postwar insurgency in Iraq that has killed more than 200 Americans." [more]

"Critics said the policy could discourage countries from helping to rebuild Iraq and complicate American efforts to restructure Iraq's estimated $125 billion debt, much of it owed to France, Germany, Russia and other nations whose companies are excluded under the Pentagon directive." [more]

"The 11,500 U.S.-led troops hunting Taliban and al Qaeda remnants in south and east Afghanistan often are supported by air power, and there have been a string of military mishaps. The worst occurred in July 2002, when Afghan officials said 48 civilians at a wedding party were killed and 117 wounded by a U.S. Air Force AC-130 gunship." [more]

"Four Army divisions now in Iraq are to return next year and will need about six months to rest, retrain and repair equipment. With three divisions set to rotate into Iraq and another into Afghanistan as replacements, about 80 percent of the Army's fighting strength will be either on the mend or on duty fighting terror and stabilizing the two countries." [more]

"Rumsfeld told Davis he could understand [Afghan warlord] Dostum's reluctance to surrender the foundation of his power. 'I don't think his position is unreasonable,' Rumsfeld said." [more]

The vast majority of Americans do not believe the war with Iraq has made them any safer, a new poll revealed. The same majority feel the UN should be allowed to take a more prominent role. [more]

" 'We signed up to fight our nation's enemies and we are fully prepared to do that,' [the soldier] said. 'But if they're going to usurp the laws of this country at the expense of our most precious asset, our soldiers, then I will not stand for that, not for a minute.' " [more]

"About 70 allied soldiers have died in November, already making it the deadliest month since April, when 73 troops died. President Bush declared major combat over May 1." [more]

" 'What we see in the Patriot Act is an attempt to legalize and make more easily available to intelligence agencies tools that were used illegally and unconstitutionally to fight attempts to bring about social and political change,' [a law professor] said." [more]

"Some council members, who were appointed by the coalition in July, are pressing for full sovereign powers as a provisional government, with the United States handing over responsibility for security to an Iraqi-led paramilitary force composed of private militias." [more]

"Many groups are refusing to remove from their Web sites internal Diebold documents that they claim raise serious security questions and threaten the U.S. elections process." [more]

"The giant Caterpillar bulldozer, used by the Israeli military to destroy Palestinian homes in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, now comes with a controversial new feature: remote control." [more]

"The tightening net of Border Patrol and Immigration agents has slowed trade, snarled traffic and cost American taxpayers millions, perhaps billions, of dollars, while hundreds of migrants have died trying to evade the growing army of border authorities." [more]

" 'The computer science community has pretty much rallied against electronic voting,' said Stephen Ansolabahere, a voting expert at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 'A disproportionate number of computer scientists who have weighed in on this issue are opposed to it.' " [more]

"Diebold spokesman Mike Jacobsen said the fact that the company sent the cease-and-desist letters does not mean the documents are authentic — or give credence to advocates who claim lax Diebold security could allow hackers to rig machines. But the activists say the mere fact that Diebold was hacked shows that the company's technology cannot be trusted." [more]

"To chants of 'Impeach Bush,' thousands of anti-war protesters rallied in the nation's capital Saturday and delivered a scathing critique of President Bush and his Iraq policy." [more]

"Kay's inability to find such weapons in three months of searching will make it even harder for the administration to continue to insist that Saddam was an imminent threat — the core argument the White House had made last winter for going to war." [more]

"Aid groups are fleeing in terror. They blame much of their exodus from the southern third of the country on its drug crop, worth an estimated $1.6 billion Cdn, which purportedly finances Islamic extremist violence, ethnic blood feuds, warlord war chests, provincial property disputes and competing political movements." [more]

"[The US] team had found only limited evidence of any chemical weapons effort, [Kay] said, and there was almost no sign that a significant nuclear weapons project was under way." [more]

"The U.S. House of Representatives–Senate conference report on the bill and comments by Senate aides indicated the conferees moved some of the TIA software research and tools to other government agencies for use in gathering foreign intelligence — information about the intentions, plans and capabilities of foreign governments or groups." [more]

"Espionage and aiding the enemy are military charges that can carry the death penalty, said Eugene Fidell, a civilian lawyer in Washington and president of the National Institute of Military Justice. The commanding general in charge of al-Halabi's case would have to decide whether military prosecutors could seek the death penalty in his case." [more]

"The Ashcroft memo said prosecutors will have a 'general duty' to pursue the most serious crimes they feel confident of proving in court. Plea bargains involving lesser charges should be limited -- there are six specific exceptions -- and would frequently have to be approved in writing by a supervisor." [more]

"Yee is being held at a military brig in Charleston, S.C., Crosson said. That is the same place where officials are holding Yaser Esam Hamdi, an American-born Saudi who allegedly fought with the Taliban, and José Padilla, a former Chicago gang member charged with plotting to detonate a radioactive 'dirty bomb.' " [more]

"In the two years since law enforcement agencies gained fresh powers to help them track down and punish terrorists, police and prosecutors have increasingly turned the force of the new laws not on al-Qaida cells but on people charged with common crimes." [more]

"The pan-Arab station, operating since 1996, was funded by the Qatari government but has shown an editorial independence and aggressiveness that were remarkable in a region where governments usually dictate what goes on the air." [more]

"Zebari, an Iraqi Kurd, sat down at the league's circular table behind little Iraqi flag, becoming Iraq's first envoy to the league since Saddam Hussein was overthrown in April." [more]

"It's time to try to influence the very culture against which this year's record 30,500 Burning Man participants rebelled, the phenomenon's founder and resident visionary said in an interview." [more]

"The St. Petersburg Times reported Aug. 2 that documents filed by prosecutors in Chicago identified Asher as a pilot and former smuggler in the Bahamas. He served as an informant and witness in several trials and has been identified as someone who provided police protection for smuggling operations." [more]

"[The cameraman] was the 17th news organization employee to be killed since the war began. The videotape in [his] camera showed two U.S. tanks coming toward him. Shots were fired, apparently from the tanks, and [he] fell to the ground. His body was taken away by a U.S. helicopter. 'There were many journalists around. They knew we were journalists. This was not an accident,' [a witness] said." [more]

"The deal would call for current President Moses Blah to cede power by October, handing control over to the interim government. That government would see Liberia through elections. The two rebel movements and the government would be shut out of the top administration posts of chairman and vice chairmanship." [more]

"Video footage ... showed a Black Hawk helicopter hovering a few feet from the top of [a] tower and apparently trying to tear down [an Islamic] banner. Later, US Humvees drove by and the crowd threw stones at them. Heavy gunfire could be heard and demonstrators were seen diving to the ground." [more]

"Presidential contenders and congressional Democrats criticized the Pentagon on Thursday for opposing legislation that would extend an increase in combat pay for troops in Iraq and other war zones." [more]

" 'If there are any uninvited guests — swimmers and divers — trying to cause harm to U.S. and coalition naval assets, the dolphins can detect and locate them,' said Lt. Josh Frey, a spokesman of the 5th Fleet." [more]

"President Bush said Wednesday he sent the contingent to help clear the way for humanitarian relief, adding that he still expects Liberian President Charles Taylor to leave the country. Washington has said repeatedly it will play only a limited role." [more]

A federal judge sentenced a man to a year in prison Monday for creating an anarchist Web site with links to sites on how to build bombs. [more]

"According to the aide, by the mid-1990s 'it was common knowledge among the leadership' that Iraq had destroyed its chemical stocks and discontinued development of biological and nuclear weapons." [more]

"The top Republican senator on the 9-11 inquiry, Richard Shelby, said Sunday that 95 percent of the classified pages could be released without jeopardizing national security. Bush ignored a reporter's question on Shelby's assessment." [more]

"The Roman Catholic nuns cut a fence and walked onto a Minuteman III silo site last October, pounding the silo with hammers and painting a cross on it with their blood. Officials said they caused at least $1,000 in damage." [more]

"The Solomon Islands government is nearly broke and issued an appeal to its neighbors this month to help rein in armed militants and criminals who are killing at will, taking hostages and extorting money." [more]

" 'I'm not concerned about weapons of mass destruction,' Wolfowitz told a group of reporters traveling with him. 'I'm concerned about getting Iraq on its feet. I didn't come [to Iraq] on a search for weapons of mass destruction.' " [more]

"Tension on the Korean Peninsula is high over North Korea's suspected development of nuclear weapons, and such shooting incidents in the DMZ are rare. In recent years, however, negotiations and reconciliation efforts have moved forward despite such outbreaks of violence." [more]

"No funds appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Defense ... or to any other department, agency or element of the federal government, may be obligated or expended on research and development on the Terrorism Information Awareness program." [more]

"There are nearly 150,000 U.S. troops in Iraq, some of them under fire from anti-U.S. forces. 'We need to not develop an expectation that all of these difficulties will go away in one month or two months or three months,' Franks testified." [more]

"US troops patrolling the capital and other areas have been attacked several times a day. Iraqi police and civilians perceived to be working with the occupying forces have also been targeted." [more]

"Bush said he would not be rushed into making a decision before he leaves Monday evening for a five-country African tour. He called anew on President Charles Taylor to resign and leave the country, steps that U.S. officials have hinted are a condition for dispatching American troops." [more]

"The reward for Saddam matches the $25 million that Washington is offering for its other top fugitive: Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader missing since U.S. forces helped dislodge the Taliban regime in Afghanistan." [more]

Government Information Awareness "hopes to create a self-sustaining community where, as occurs with popular Web sites eBay and Google, the users keep it running and credible." [more]

"Though insisting CTS isn't intended for homeland security, DARPA outlined a hypothetical scenario for contractors in March that showed the system could aid police as well as the military." [more]

"A leader of a prominent Shiite group accused the Bush administration on Wednesday of reneging on pledges to hand over power to local political groups in Iraq and blamed Americans for failing to secure Iraq after Saddam's fall and 'plunging the country into an unending cycle of violence.' " [more]

"Opium use among all age groups is on the rise in Afghanistan, which produces more of the drug than any other nation, according to the United Nations. But in a poor country where anti-narcotics efforts are focused on combating supply, not demand, there are few places to treat addicts who need help." [more]

" 'I don't think the American people fully appreciate just how long we are going to be committed here and what the overall cost will be,' said Senator Joseph Biden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee." [more]

"A federal appeals court ruled Tuesday that the Bush administration is not obligated to publicly identify the 762 foreigners it detained in the weeks and months after the Sept. 11 terror attacks." [more]

"The AP excluded all counts done by hospitals whose written records did not distinguish between civilian and military dead, which means hundreds, possibly thousands, of victims in Iraq's largest cities and most intense battles aren't reflected in the total." [more]

"US military units assigned to track down Iraqi weapons of mass destruction have run out of places to look and are getting time off or being assigned to other duties even as pressure mounts on US President George W. Bush to explain why no banned arms have been found." [more]

"Since the United States broadened its anti-terrorism campaign to include Iraq, there has been a surge in violence against Westerners in the Islamic world. A May 12 attack on housing complexes in Saudi Arabia killed at least 23 people, bombings in Morocco killed 31 victims, and there have been continued guerrilla assaults on U.S. troops in Iraq." [more]

"The Pentagon's intelligence service reported last September that it had no reliable evidence that Iraq had chemical agents in weaponized form." [more]

"The government ignored long-standing immigration practices so it could hold dozens of foreigners for long periods following the Sept. 11 attacks, the Justice Department inspector general has concluded." [more]

"Many acknowledge feeling powerless and weary after standing up against a military campaign that rolled over both Iraqi defenses and the antiwar movement. However, many are already rechanneling their energy into other social causes or party politics, often with a mind to unseating President Bush in next year's election." [more]

"The case tied up the court longer than any other this year. When justices heard arguments in December, they worried over its implications in terrorism cases. The ruling could have implications for counterterrorism interrogations, when building a criminal case may be less important than gathering intelligence." [more]

"Rebels ignored [a] deadline, saying they were prepared to fight what could be a bloody new phase in a 26-year conflict that has killed nearly 12,000 people. But they also suggested there still was room for compromise." [more]

"In what officials have said was a strongly worded letter, [US Secretary of State] Powell cited complaints from allies in his argument that the indefinite holding of foreign citizens undermines efforts to win international cooperation in the war on terror." [more]

"U.S. soldiers opened fire on Iraqis at a nighttime demonstration against the American presence here after people shot at them with automatic rifles, soldiers said Tuesday. The director of the local hospital said 13 people were killed and 75 injured. The demonstrators insisted they were unarmed." [more]

"The lack of basic services such as power, water and police protection has hobbled the city's economy and fueled a mixture of rage and resentment against American forces. Iraqis are angry that U.S. troops rarely assume the role of police and resentful when they do." [more]

"Human and mechanical errors send 10 percent or more [missiles] astray, Pentagon and civilian experts say — a disastrous percentage for civilians living near the intended targets." [more]

"Fearing friendly fire incidents with U.S. forces and clashes with Iraqi Kurds, the United States opposes Turkish intervention." [more]

"Anti-war protesters took to the streets again Monday, with more than 100 arrests in the city's financial district and noisy student demonstrators crowding the hallways of an administration building at San Francisco State University." [more]

"Anti-war protesters blocked morning traffic in Washington, San Francisco and Philadelphia and chanted 'no blood for oil' outside the White House on Thursday in reaction to U.S. military strikes against Iraq." [more]

"Galvanized by the American attack on Iraq, thousands of anti-war activists around the country set off their own barrage of street protests, chaining themselves together, blocking workers and traffic, walking out of classes, and parading in mock chemical suits." [more]

"As the deadline for the war on Iraq drew closer Wednesday, some 300 people demonstrated in Manhattan against a U.S. invasion and called on others to leave work and school to increase the voice of protest." [more]

" 'This is a sad day for the United Nations,' Annan said. 'I know that millions of people around the world share this sense of disappointment and are deeply alarmed.' " [more]

"The U.S.-backed resolution on Iraq may be withdrawn because of France's threat to veto it, the Spanish foreign minister said Wednesday." [more]

With Pakistan's abstention, the United States must now win the votes of all five undecided nations — Angola, Cameroon, Chile, Guinea, and Mexico — in the UN Security Council in order for the resolution authorizing war on Iraq to pass without a veto. [more]

" 'It's a fact that the children of Iraq are extremely vulnerable,' said UNICEF Executive Director Carol Bellamy. 'Their health, their nutrition, their access to safe water — all of which are weak already — will be further jeopardized in a war.' " [more]

"A [Philadelphia] city official is urging his colleagues to join dozens of other municipalities that have adopted resolutions in defiance of an anti-terrorism law that permits unprecedented levels of domestic surveillance." [more]

"Anti-war activists, determined to continue the momentum from last month's massive global rallies, were preparing for another day of marches and demonstrations expected to draw students around the city and country." [more]

"From the Brooklyn Academy of Music to a coffeehouse in northern New Mexico to the National Theatre of Iceland, actors are planning a day of international theater protest against a possible war with Iraq." [more]

"The nation's largest labor federation declared its opposition Thursday to war against Iraq at this time, saying President Bush has not made a case for an attack without broad support from U.S. allies." [more]

The Supreme Court ruled that federal racketeering laws cannot be applied to aggressive protesters. The suit, brought by anti-abortion activists, applies to protests of all sorts. [more]

"In the event of war, American and allied forces could not assure the safety of civilians who deliberately position themselves as human shields against attack on Iraqi targets, the U.S. general who would run the war said in an Associated Press interview." [more]

"Mexico appeared to be the first among a handful of undecided U.N. Security Council members to shift toward the U.S. position on Iraq as Canada sought to find a middle ground among members split between disarming Saddam Hussein by force or giving weapons inspectors more time." [more]

"About 15,000 males age 16 or older from Saudi Arabia and Pakistan will have until March 21 to be fingerprinted, photographed and show certain documents at local Immigration and Naturalization Service offices. The previous deadline was Feb. 21." [more]

"More than 250 people were arrested during a massive demonstration against possible war in Iraq as tens of thousands of protesters packed a 20-block area north of United Nations headquarters, New York police said Sunday." [more]

"Millions of protesters — many of them marching in America and the capitals of America’s traditional allies — demonstrated Saturday against possible U.S. plans to attack Iraq." [more]

"While other major cities around the world held peace rallies Saturday, a demonstration planned in San Francisco was held back a day to make way for the city's traditional Chinese New Year's parade." [more]

"More than 100,000 people hit the streets of San Francisco on Sunday to join the voices around the world this weekend protesting a possible U.S. invasion of Iraq." [more]

"Anti-war demonstrators packed the streets north of the United Nations headquarters Saturday, filling police-barricaded protest zones for more than 20 blocks as civil rights leaders and celebrities energized the banner-waving crowd." [more]

"A British-based Islamic news agency said Thursday it has a new audio recording of Osama bin Laden in which he predicts he will die as 'a martyr' this year in an attack against his enemies." [more]

"Six House members, members of the military and parents of servicemen went to federal court Thursday to try to prevent the president from launching an invasion of Iraq without an explicit declaration of war from Congress." [more]

"The judge's ruling said t