2002 NEWS HISTORY ARCHIVE

-  -  - CLONING NEWS
"Cloning ban to face debate:  Congress could take up dilemma over experiments." ... "Real or hoax, the claim that the world's first human clone has been born puts the next step squarely into Congress's court: Will it ban baby-making via cloning?" ... "The nation has no specific law against human cloning. But the Food and Drug Administration, which regulates human experiments, contends that its regulations forbid human cloning without prior agency permission - permission it has no intention of giving." -By Lauran Neergaard -AP via  -Boston/Globe

- OPINION
"Jack Whittaker Caps The Year Of The Scam." ... "... Whitaker, the West Virginia man who won "$314.9 million" in the Powerball lottery on Christmas day, is now most known for his participation in a long-running, ever growing scam: the state lotteries." ... "First, the jackpot is not $314.9 million--that's what it would be if paid out over 30 years. Whittaker opted for a single lump sum payment of $170.5 million. That number gets reported, too, but it seems to get buried." ... "State lotteries are a sucker bet. They typically return about 55% of the money wagered. That's much less than a casino or a racetrack. The various lotteries admit it, but it's reported much less often than stories about winners, a staple on the local news. No one ever publicizes the millions of losers, but they're out there. You have to be in it to lose it." -By Dan Ackman -Forbes

-  - 
"North Korea orders expulsion of U.N. nuclear inspectors, says will open laboratory." ... "North Korea ordered the expulsion Friday of U.N. nuclear inspectors and announced it will reactivate a laboratory able to produce weapons-grade plutonium. The U.N. nuclear agency said its investigators were "staying put" for now." ... "The inspectors were the last means that the International Atomic Energy Agency had to monitor whether the facilities are being used for nuclear weapons projects. Despite IAEA warnings, the North removed monitoring seals and surveillance cameras from the nuclear complex at Yongbyon earlier this week." -By Paul Shin -AP via  -SFGate.com

"Democratic contenders challenge Bush's record on terrorism." ... "Democratic contenders for president are beginning to challenge President Bush's record on terrorism, arguing that Bush has failed to do enough to prevent another fatal attack on U.S. soil and that the nation is barely safer than it was before Sept. 11, 2001." ... "While so far the criticisms lack many specifics beyond asking for more money for police agencies or the creation of a new intelligence force, campaign aides said these early challenges on terrorism signaled what they expected to be a central theme in 2004. They argued that Bush was potentially vulnerable on the issue that Republicans view as a pillar of the president's political strength." ... ""It's time for us, without regard to party, to say what every American knows: Washington is not doing enough to make America safe," Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina said in a speech on domestic security in Washington last week. "If the administration continues to do too little, it will be too late again."" -By Adam Nagourney -NYTimes via -SeattlePI.NWsource

- Christmas News
"55-Year-Old Man Wins $314.9M Powerball: 55-Year-Old Contractor Is Sole Winner of $314.9 Million Powerball Jackpot." ... "A 55-year-old contractor won the $314.9 million Powerball jackpot, the largest single lottery jackpot in history, lottery officials said Thursday." ... "Andrew Jackson Whittaker Jr., opted to take the lump sum of more than $111 million after taxes, Lottery spokeswoman Nancy Bulla said." ... "The ticket for the Christmas night drawing was purchased Monday at the C&L Super Serve in Hurricane [West Virginia], 25 miles west of Charleston, officials of the multistate lottery said." -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

-  - 
"U.N.: N. Korea Engaging in 'Brinkmanship':  U.N. Agency Says North Korea Is Engaging in 'Nuclear Brinkmanship'" ... "North Korean workers have moved 1,000 fresh fuel rods to a storage site near the Soviet-designed, 5-megawatt reactor at Yongbyon that was frozen in a deal with Washington that ended the 1994 crisis, the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency said. A total of 8,000 such rods is needed to start the reactor." ... ""Moving towards restarting its nuclear facilities without appropriate safeguards, and towards producing plutonium raises serious nonproliferation concerns and is tantamount to nuclear brinkmanship," Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the Vienna-based agency, said in a statement." -AP via -ABCNEWS.com

-  - Christmas News
"Anticipation builds for Christmas Powerball drawing:  An estimated $280 million is on the line." ... "One of the hottest stocking stuffers this Christmas may provide an extremely enriching holiday season for at least one lucky recipient." ... "With an estimated value of $280 million, the Powerball lottery jackpot -- the fifth largest lottery payoff in the world -- was attracting plenty of attention as a last-minute gift ahead of the Christmas night drawing." -AP via  -CNN

- Christmas News
"Christmas under tight security." ... "Christians in many parts of the world are celebrating Christmas this year under tight security, following the recent devastating attacks by Islamist militants in Indonesia and Kenya." ... "There has been particularly strong tension in Pakistan, after the authorities discovered grenades and ammunition close to a big church in the capital, Islamabad." -BBC/News

-  - Christmas News
"'Saddest Christmas Ever' in Bethlehem." ... "Palestinians marked what some called the saddest Christmas ever in the biblical city of Bethlehem, walking to Mass through cold rainy streets bereft of holiday cheer after weeks of Israeli military occupation." ... "Hundreds of Palestinians and a few hardy tourists and pilgrims attended Christmas Day services in the ancient Church of the Nativity, the reputed site of Jesus's birth, but found little joy from an Israeli army pullback for the occasion." -By Mark Heinrich -Reuters

- Christmas News

-  - 
"US tries diplomacy, firm line on N. Korea." ... "The Bush administration pressed North Korea diplomatically yesterday to refrain from restarting a dormant nuclear reactor, even as Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld warned that the US military could simultaneously take on both Iraq and the communist Pyongyang regime." ... "''We are capable of fighting two major regional conflicts,'' Rumsfeld said at the Pentagon. ''We're capable of winning decisively in one and swiftly defeating in the case of the other, and let there be no doubt about it.''" ... "Rumsfeld stressed that no military action to halt Pyongyang's renewed nuclear ambitions was imminent, and White House officials said the United States intends to pursue a diplomatic course to persuade North Korea to abandon efforts to expand its nuclear arsenal." -By John J. Lumpkin -AP via  -Boston/Globe

- Christmas News
"Eleven deaths blamed on winter storm." ... "A storm system blamed for at least 11 deaths moved across the Plains on a path toward the Northeast Tuesday, leaving up to a foot of snow across parts of Oklahoma and making travel hazardous in the Missouri Ozarks on the day before Christmas." ... "Winter storm warnings and advisories were in effect Tuesday from the mountains of New Mexico to Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia., and snow was likely on Christmas Day in northern New Jersey, southeastern New York and southern New England, the National Weather Service said." -AP via  -CNN

- 
"North Korea warns of 'catastrophe': North Korea has warned the United States that broadening the dispute over its nuclear program would result in what it calls an "uncontrollable catastrophe."" ... "Ratcheting up tensions on the Korean Peninsula Tuesday, the North's state-run Rodong Sinmun newspaper said the nuclear issue could only be resolved by North Korea and the United States, "the countries responsible for it."" ... ""If the U.S. persistently tries to internationalize the pending issue between the DPRK (North Korea) and the U.S. in a bid to flee from its responsibility, it will push the situation to an uncontrollable catastrophe," it said." -CNN /World /Asia

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"Yahoo buys search firm Inktomi for $235M." ... "Yahoo Inc. has purchased Inktomi Corp. for about $235 million, the companies announced today. Yahoo will add Inktomi's Web search technology to its portal sites in hopes of becoming the premier destination for Web searches, it said." ... "Foster City, Calif.-based Inktomi has deals with Amazon.com Inc., eBay Inc. and Microsoft Corp.'s MSN.com portal, according to its Web site. Computerworld.com also uses Inktomi search software." -By Tom Krazit -IDG.net via -Computerworld

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"Yahoo Buys Search-Software Maker Inktomi." ... "Internet media company Yahoo Inc. YHOO.O on Monday said it would pay $235 million to buy Internet search-software maker Inktomi Corp. INKT.O , strengthening its position in the growing Web search business." ... "The cash deal of $1.65 per share valued Inktomi, a high-flyer during the Internet boom, at a 41 percent premium to Friday's close but at less than a third of its value at its 1998 initial public offering." -By Ben Berkowitz -Reuters/Business

- 
Discussion - "Yahoo Buying Inktomi."  -Slashdot

- Christmas News
"Asia adopts Christmas." ... "Somewhere on the journey to becoming the world's biggest exporter of Christmas toys, China started importing yule for itself." ... "Christmas wreaths and lighted trees, white-foam snowmen and special dinners, as well as an ethos of "jingle-bell cool" are wafting in on the wings of global culture, bringing a holiday atmosphere to Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou." ... "Throughout Asia, in fact, Western holidays have become chic, both for their commercial potential and because new generations think the act of decorating and celebrating is fun and different. Not only Christmas, but Valentine's Day, Father's Day and Mother's Day, Thanksgiving and Halloween, are finding a Pacific niche - where five years ago there was none." -By Robert Marquand  -CSMonitor/buy

-  -  - OPINION
"[New York states Attorney General Eliot] Spitzer: Man Of The Year - Savior of Capitalism?" ... "Using a New York state law, he obtained some explosive internal emails from Merrill Lynch and secured a $100m fine. This pushed a complacent Securities and Exchange Commission into action, and finally yesterday Spitzer got the reward for his pursuit." ... "As part of the agreement forged with the Stock Exchange [full details], the ten leading brokerages must pay $900 million in retrospective relief, $450m to fund "independent" research and $85 million to "investor education". The brokerages, including Solomon Smith and Barney, CSFB, Lehman, Morgan Stanley and UBS Warburg, will not be allowed to reward CEOs with IPO offerings, and must operate at arms length from no less than independent analysts on each offering. (Since the brokers are still paying these independent analysts' fees, it's hard to see how this cure will be truly effective.)" ... "But for the Bronx-born Spitzer, his legend is assured as a pugilist populist attorney straight from central casting. He's taken on the mob, the music pigopolists (for CD price fixing), low-paying employers, and is currently suing President Bush for gutting the clean air act." -By Andrew Orlowski -TheRegister.co.uk

-  -  - 
"French journalist killed by US tank." ... "One of the best-known television journalists in France, Patrick Bourrat, has died in hospital in Kuwait." ... "He was injured on Saturday after being run over by a tank while covering US military exercises in the desert." ... "Mr Bourrat, who was in his 40s, was a correspondent for the TF-1 television station." ... "American military officials say the precise circumstances of the accident are being investigated."-BBC/News

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"Iraq welcomes 'American intelligence' to weapons hunt:  Denies 'material omissions' in declaration." ... "Iraq's top government scientist Sunday said his country would welcome "someone from American intelligence" to show U.N. weapons inspectors where President Bush believes Iraq is hiding its weapons programs." ... "Gen. Amir Al-Saadi said U.S. and British claims that Iraq is hiding nuclear, chemical or biological weapons programs are "old rehashed reports," some from as far back as 1990, that Iraq has already disproved." ... ""We even wouldn't mind if someone from the American intelligence were to accompany the inspection teams to show them the places in which they allege there is something," he said." -CNN /World

-  - 
"U.S. Said to Ready Kurd Areas in Iraq for Possible War." ... "American intelligence officials have been working alongside Kurdish officials in recent weeks, and recruiters for an American-sponsored opposition group have been selecting candidates for a program to train scouts and translators that one day may help American forces inside Iraq, according to Kurdish and Western officials." ... "American military planners have visited secluded corners of the country to examine potential basing sites for use in a war, according to a Western expert familiar with the activity." ... "No American military forces are based here yet, Kurdish officials say, and recent Turkish and Arabic news reports of sizable military deployments appear unfounded." (1, 2) -By C. J. Chivers -NYTimes via  -AltaVista-News

- Bill Frist

- Bill Frist
"'Fristy' is wealthy, personable and a friend of the president." ... "As he prepares to become the next Senate majority leader, Sen. Bill Frist is on the cusp of another milestone in his second career that some believe may include a run for the White House in 2008." ... ""Fristy" to his friend President Bush, the heart-and-lung transplant surgeon from Tennessee already had been mentioned as a possible secretary of the new Department of Homeland Security, a future party leader in the Senate, even Bush's running mate in 2004. Not bad for a man who didn't bother to vote until age 34."-LAtimes via -StarTribune.com

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"Critics Decry Detention of M. Eastern Men:  Critics Say Detention of Middle Eastern Men in California Harms Terrorism Fight." ... "A post-Sept. 11 federal registration policy that led to the detention of hundreds of Middle Eastern immigrants hurts more than it helps the war on terrorism, critics charged." ... "The detention of some immigrants who showed up to register under a new security policy drew comparisons to the internment of Japanese-Americans in World War II." ... "Critics alleged the detentions probably failed to net a single terrorist but did rile law-abiding Muslims who already feared being scapegoated." -AP via  -ABCNEWS.com

-  - 
"US agrees to share Iraq intelligence." ... "The United States says it will share intelligence data about Iraq with United Nations weapons inspectors following a request from chief inspector Hans Blix." ... "The agreement comes while the US is preparing for a rapid increase in its military strength in the Middle East, almost doubling the number of troops near Iraq." ... "Mr Blix told the BBC on Friday that, if US officials knew where they thought Iraq was storing banned materials, he could send his inspection teams to check." -BBC/News

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"California May Bar Judges from Joining the Boy Scouts." ... "he California Supreme Court is considering a proposal that would forbid the 1,600 judges in the state to belong to the Boy Scouts because of its refusal to accept gays." ... "California judges are prohibited from joining groups that discriminate based on sexual orientation, but nonprofit youth organizations are exempt. The Supreme Court took up the proposal to consider changing the rule at the request of bar associations in San Francisco and Los Angeles." -By Adam Liptak -NYTimes via  -AltaVista-News

- 

Trent Lott Controversy

- Trent Lott
"Politicos stunned by Bush's 'skilled' removal of Trent Lott:  President 'extracted' the senator without leaving fingerprints." ... "As President Bush was cheerily shaking the hands of thousands of guests at glittering White House Christmas parties this week, his advisers and influential Republicans were working overtime to jettison Trent Lott as the Senate Republican leader." ... "By the end of the week, as the White House watched its favorite, Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee, step up to replace Lott, R-Miss., Washington's political professionals were left stunned and awed. They said that Bush and his powerful political adviser, Karl Rove, had stumbled at times, but still had managed to depose in eight days the unanimously elected Senate leader of their own party." -By Elisabeth Bumiller  -NYTimes via -SeattlePI.NWsource

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"Can Tribune's FitzSimons Do It Again?" ... "Watch for dramatic industry changes next year if the Tribune (nyse: TRB - news -people) broadcasting czar, Dennis J. FitzSimons, has his way. FitzSimons was named chief executive officer last week, replacing John W. Madigan as CEO of the No. 2 U.S. newspaper company (estimated 2002 revenue: $5.3 billion) behind Gannett (nyse: GCI - news -people). FitzSimons' fame? The 20-year Tribune veteran, who formerly ran Tribune's WGN-TV, put print-dominated Tribune on the television map, buying 18 of Tribune's 24 stations since 1992. TV is now Tribune's fastest growing unit, accounting for 26% of sales and 35% of operating profit." ... "Under FitzSimons, TV will get even bigger as soon as he can rally the Federal Communications Commission to repeal decades-old rules banning ownership of TV stations in markets where it already owns newspapers or other TV stations." -By Erin Killian -Forbes

-  -  - TIA: Total Information Awareness
"Bush Administration to Propose System for Monitoring Internet." ... "The Bush administration is planning to propose requiring Internet service providers to help build a centralized system to enable broad monitoring of the Internet and, potentially, surveillance of its users." ... "The proposal is part of a final version of a report, "The National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace," set for release early next year, according to several people who have been briefed on the report. It is a component of the effort to increase national security after the Sept. 11 attacks." ... "The President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board is preparing the report, and it is intended to create public and private cooperation to regulate and defend the national computer networks, not only from everyday hazards like viruses but also from terrorist attack. Ultimately the report is intended to provide an Internet strategy for the new Department of Homeland Security." -By John Markoff and John Schwartz -NYTimes via  -Google-News

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"South Korea picks liberal Roh for president." ... "Ruling party candidate Roh Moo-hyun won South Korea's presidential election on Thursday, a result that could complicate ties with the United States as the allies grapple with North Korea's nuclear programme." ... "The triumph of Roh, 56, a populist human rights and labour lawyer, marks a stunning turnaround after the 11th-hour desertion of his election alliance partner, Chung Mong-joon." ... "The United States has 37,000 troops helping protect the South from its reclusive neighbour. North and South Korea are technically still at war as the 1950-53 conflict ended in a truce, not a peace treaty." -By Paul Eckert -Reuters via /Asia

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"U.S. Sets Late January Decision on Iraq War." ... "The Bush administration has set the last week in January as the make-or-break point in the long standoff with Iraq, and is increasingly confident that by then it will have marshaled the evidence to convince the U.N. Security Council that Iraq is in violation of a U.N. resolution passed last month and to call for the use of force, officials said yesterday." ... "In a boost to the administration's position, Hans Blix, the United Nations' chief weapons inspector, plans to tell the Security Council today that Iraq failed to account fully for chemical and biological bombs and warheads it had assembled as well as materials it bought that could be used to produce more of them, U.N. and administration officials said." -By Walter Pincus and Karen DeYoung-WashingtonPost

- Trent Lott

-  - 
"Halliburton settles asbestos claims:  Company paying about $4 billion to thousands of victims." ... "The company said at least 75 percent of plaintiffs with pending cases agreed to the settlement." ... "Representatives for the Houston-based oilfield-services company once led by Vice President Dick Cheney were in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Pittsburgh on Wednesday to settle most of the pending asbestos cases against the company and one of its former subsidiaries." -AP via  -MSNBC

-  -  - Christmas News - 
"When a 'Christmas Truce' put war on back burner." ... "Christmas came to the battlefield in "the Great War to end all wars," and that story became the stuff of legend." ... "The History Channel tells what happened when British and German soldiers laid down their arms to meet in a No Man's Land strewn with the bodies of their fallen comrades. Never before --and never again, probably -- was there ever such a celebration as The Christmas Truce." -By Ann Hodges -HoustonChronicle.com

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"Terror Suspects Found With Chemicals in Paris." ... "In the latest sweep against suspected Islamic militant groups here, French officials said today that they had arrested four people early Monday and had seized chemicals and a military personal-protection suit, suggesting that the suspects may have been preparing a chemical attack." -By John Tagliabue -NYTimes via  -Google-News

"Lott Vows Fight to Retain His Post as Senate Leader." ... "Mr. Lott, at a 100th-birthday party for Senator Strom Thurmond, referred with praise to Mr. Thurmond's presidential bid in 1948. The campaign was based on maintaining racial segregation. Mr. Lott had made similar comments two decades ago, and tonight MSNBC reported a third instance — at a bill signing ceremony in October 2000 — in which Mr. Lott said Mr. Thurmond "should have been president."" ... "As White House officials sought to gauge support for Mr. Lott or for possible rivals, Mr. Lott also spent his day making phone calls, trying to assess whether he could survive a Senate vote on his leadership called for Jan. 6." -By Elisabeth Bumiller and Carl Hulse -NYTimes via  -Google-News

-  - 
"U.S. officials: Saddam ready to target his own country, blame U.S." ... "Iraq is preparing to destroy its own oil fields, food supplies and power plants and blame the destruction on U.S. bombs during a war, U.S. intelligence officials said Wednesday." ... "The officials, briefing reporters at the Pentagon, said they have evidence Iraqi President Saddam Hussein has plans to wreck his own infrastructure to foster a humanitarian crisis and turn international opinion against any U.S. and British advance into his territory." ... "Citing the need to protect intelligence sources, the officials declined to describe that evidence. They spoke on condition of anonymity." -By John J. Lumpkin -AP via  -SFGate.com

- OPINION -  -  -  - TIA: Total Information Awareness
"Snooping in All the Wrong Places:  Not only would the Administration's plan to centralize every American's records destroy privacy, the security payoff would be minimal." ... "The 2002 elections proved one thing: The promise of security wins votes. The GOP campaigned on a pledge to make the country safer, and it brought home one of the biggest midterm victories in decades. That huge win may have emboldened the Bush Administration to ignore widespread criticism of the Defense Dept.'s $240 million effort to develop a Total Information Awareness system (TIA)." ... "The outrage over TIA doesn't seem to have reached the President's ear, but it should. It's not too late for him to realize the folly of such a plan. Funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the project would combine every American's bank records, tax filings, driver's license information, credit-card purchases, medical data, and phone and e-mail records into one giant centralized database. This would then be combed through for evidence of suspicious activity." -By Jane Black  -BusinessWeek/Daily

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"Feds Indict 7 in Texas Terror Probe:  Feds Indicte [sic] Employees of Texas Computer Firm and Hamas Leader on Terrorism-Related Charges." ... "The leader of an Islamic militant group, his wife, and five brothers work at a Texas computer firm were indicted on charges of trafficking with terrorist states Libya and Syria, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Wednesday." ... """The war against terror is a war of accountants and auditors as well as weaponry and soldiers," Ashcroft said. "We will pursue the financiers of terror as well as pursue the thugs who do their work."" -AP via  -ABCNEWS.com

- 
"Four men arrested in Texas by anti-terrorism task force." ... "Four men connected to a computer company that did business in the Middle East were arrested by federal anti-terrorism agents early Wednesday on money-laundering charges." ... "The four men worked at Infocom, a suburban Richardson computer company that federal agents raided in September 2001." -By Angela K. Brown -StarTribune.com

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"Russia 'regrets' Bush missile plan:  Moscow has expressed "regret" at U.S. President George W. Bush's decision to deploy a limited missile shield by 2004, saying the move could lead to a new arms race." ... "The Russian statement came a day after Bush ordered the U.S. Defense Department to begin work within two years on deploying the first interceptors that are to form the base of the missile defence system." ... "The Bush administration intends to ask the U.S. Congress to allocate $1.5 billion for 2004-2005, on top of the $8 billion already budgeted."  -CNN /World /Europe

- Christmas
"Chain Stores Take on Christmas Trees." ... "Operating a roadside Christmas tree stand has never been a huge moneymaker, and now that the big boys have moved into the market it's even tougher." ... "The National Christmas Tree Association says 17 percent of the roughly 30 million Christmas trees sold last year were at large chain stores, such as Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Lowe's and Target. That's up from 14 percent in 2000 - the first year the association began tracking sales at chain stores - and came even as the overall market shrank a bit." -By Clarke Canfield -AP via  -SeattlePI.NWsource

- Christmas - 
"The gift of virus:  In the spirit of the holiday season, a tale of one man who clicked too soon but discovered that missent e-mail can still lead to a wonderful life." ... "This holiday season, when thoughts turn to family and friends, we are all perhaps a little more trusting, and maybe a little more gullible. This is not necessarily a bad thing. That's my one excuse for falling prey to a software virus that disguises itself as an e-card." -By Nick Altebrando -Salon

"Majority Say Lott Should Not Lead:  GOP Strategists Worry Over Backlash Among Voters." ... "Slightly more than half of all Americans believe incoming Senate majority leader Trent Lott should step down from his leadership post for making racially insensitive remarks two weeks ago at a birthday party for retiring Sen. Strom Thurmond, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll." ... "Fifty-one percent of those interviewed--including two out of three minorities--said Lott should not lead Senate Republicans when the new Congress convenes next month. Forty-one percent said he should continue to lead Senate Republicans." -By Richard Morin -WashingtonPost

- - 
"C.I.A. Chief Prospers From Bond With Bush." ... "When George W. Bush was president-elect, he got some fateful advice about his daily C.I.A. briefing from a man who would know." ... "Mr. Bush's father, the only president to have served as C.I.A. director, was in the unique position of having both given and received the secret morning updates, and often told friends that his time in the 1970's at the C.I.A. headquarters in Langley, Va., was one of the best jobs he ever had." ... "He unequivocally instructed his son, said Andrew H. Card Jr., the White House chief of staff, to develop a close relationship with the person who ran the spy organization and oversaw the other intelligence agencies that make up America's covert empire." (1, 2) -By Elisabeth Bumiller -NYTimes via  -AltaVista-News

-   - Christmas News
"Joyless Christmas in Holy Land." ... "Known as the birthplace of Jesus Christ, Bethlehem is epicenter for Christians in the holiday season. But the mood could not be further from the traditional spirit of Christmas. After more than two years of surging Israeli-Palestinian violence, fear and despair hang heavy over the West Bank town." ... "Christmas festivities, which before the 26-month-old Palestinian intifada used to bring in thousands of pilgrims and tourists a day, as well as tens of millions of dollars in revenue, have been canceled." ... "Only the midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity, which was built in the 4th century A.D. to mark the spot where tradition holds that Jesus was born, will go ahead as planned. But few people are expected to attend, given curfew restrictions." -By Jim Maceda -MS NBC

-  -  - TIA: Total Information Awareness
"The web bites back." ... "Protesters are turning the tables on government officials and businessmen who they say are making the web less pleasant to use." ... "The web activists have found the personal details of the man behind a federal surveillance system [John Poindexter] and an e-mail spammer [Alan Ralsky] and are giving them a dose of their own medicine." -BBC/News

-  - Smallpox News
"Smallpox Vaccine Transmission Raises Liability Issue." ... "President Bush's decision on Friday to offer smallpox vaccinations to up to 10 million health care workers, firefighters, police officers and other emergency workers suddenly makes relevant the question of who pays the medical costs of illness from accidental infection." ... "Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, and other federal experts on smallpox were asked on Saturday who would pay. They said they expected standard health insurance to pay for such medical care." ... "But they left unanswered the question of who would pay if the accidentally infected individual was among the estimated 41 million Americans who had no health insurance." -By Lawrence K. Altman -NYTimes via -AltaVista-News

- ELECTION 2004
"Democrats expect wide-open fight:  More candidates likely to join 2004 fray." ... "Had Gore run, said veteran California Democratic consultant Bill Carrick, “everything would have pivoted off him as the front-runner, and people would have chosen sides for or against him. Now, all the candidates will be trying to find out exactly who their constituencies are, and the primary voters will be much more in a shopping-around mode.”" ... "Gore’s decision was not good news for the White House, where political aides had been openly hoping for a rematch. Despite the fact that Gore won the popular vote in 2000, he was viewed as a perfect foil for the president. One official commented that Gore “was very defined in his views, and one of those definitions was the fact that he kept changing those views.”" -Analysis By David S. Broder-WashingtonPost via  -MSNBC

- ELECTION 2004
"Gore takes self out of '04 race." ... "''I've decided not to run,'' the former vice president said during a last-minute interview with the CBS News program ''60 Minutes.'' ''I've decided that I will not be a candidate for president in 2004.''" ... "Gore, who also ran unsuccessfully for president in 1988, would not rule out another campaign in 2008 or beyond, but he said, ''I make this decision in the full knowledge and in awareness that if I don't run this time -which I'm not going to run in 2004 - that's probably the last opportunity I'll ever have to run for president.'' He added that he believes he can continue to affect policy outside the political arena." -By Glen Johnson -Boston/Globe

- ELECTION 2004
"Gore passes on 2004 presidential run." ... ""I personally have the energy and the drive and the ambition to make another campaign, but I don't think it's the right thing for me to do," Gore, 54, said on CBS' 60 Minutes. A rematch "would inevitably involve a focus on the past that would in some measure distract from the focus on the future that I think all campaigns have to be about."" -By Susan Page -USATODAY

- ELECTION 2004
"Gore won't run for president." ... "Former Vice President Al Gore won't run for president in 2004 and will make an announcement on CBS news program "60 Minutes" on Sunday evening." -By Allen Wan -CBSNews /MarketWatch

"European Union Acts to Admit 10 Nations." ... "The new members — Poland; the Czech Republic; Hungary; Slovakia; the former Soviet republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia; the ex-Yugoslav republic of Slovenia; and two Mediterranean islands, Cyprus and Malta — will formally join the European Union in May 2004." ... "Nothing was signed today. The European Union prides itself on process and consensus, which means serial meetings before decisions can be made. So a formal treaty will be signed in Athens in April." (1, 2) -By Elaine Sciolino -NYTimes via -Google-News

"'For first time in history, Europe will become one'." ... ""Accession of 10 new member states will bring an end to the divisions in Europe," said Romano Prodi, president of the European Commission. "For the first time in history, Europe will become one because unification is the free will of its people."" ... "But divisions remained in the Mediterranean after talks on reuniting Cyprus collapsed here Friday. The failure of these talks means the Greek-Cypriot part of the island could enter the European Union in 2004 without the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, which is recognized only by Turkey and which is home to almost 20 percent of the island's population." -By Thomas Fuller -IHT.com

"EU celebrates addition of 10 new member countries." ... "The European Union was on the road to becoming wider and bigger yesterday after embracing 10 mostly ex-communist nations, but now has to make an orderly home for 450 million people speaking a multitude of languages." ... "The decision to add 10 new members to the present 15 came at the end of an intense two-day Copenhagen summit and means the EU's population will grow by 20 percent to 450 million people, creating an economic colossus to rival the United States." -Reuters via -Ha'aretzDaily

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"Bush Has Widened Authority of C.I.A. to Kill Terrorists." ... "The Bush administration has prepared a list of terrorist leaders the Central Intelligence Agency is authorized to kill, if capture is impractical and civilian casualties can be minimized, senior military and intelligence officials said." ... "Despite the authority given to the agency, Mr. Bush has not waived the executive order banning assassinations, officials said. The presidential authority to kill terrorists defines operatives of Al Qaeda as enemy combatants and thus legitimate targets for lethal force." ... "The president is not legally required to approve each name added to the list, nor is the C.I.A. required to obtain presidential approval for specific attacks, although officials said Mr. Bush had been kept well informed about the agency's operations." ... "But the decision by the Bush administration to authorize, under certain circumstances, the killing of terrorist leaders threatens to thrust it into a murky area of national security and international law that is almost never debated in public because the covert operations are known only to a small circle of executive branch and Congressional officials." (1, 2) -By James Risen and David Johnstone -NYTimes via -AltaVista-News

"Turkey moves closer to entry negotiations." ... "The Union announced that it would open negotiations for Turkish membership after December 2004 if Ankara met conditions on such issues as human rights and the removal of the military from civilian life." ... "Officials then added "without further delay" to their communiqué." ... "Analysts and some EU officials said the Turks had realized that they had campaigned too aggressively in recent weeks - tactics that had emboldened some EU opponents to speak out against offering a firm date. "There has been strong pressure from Turkey, which many didn't like," the Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi, said Friday." ... "Analysts said some EU members also resented Turkey asking President George W. Bush to lobby on their behalf. The White House spokesman, Ari Fleischer, welcomed the EU decision Friday." -By Thomas Fuller -IHT.com

"Henry Kissinger quits 9/11 panel amid controversy." ... "Kissinger's appointment last month revived memories over his contentious service as national security adviser and secretary of state in the Nixon administration and his role in the Vietnam War. But more immediately, it set off an argument between congressional Democrats, who said he must disclose his financial ties, and the White House, which said there was no need to do so. Kissinger did not respond to a message left at his New York office last night, but his letter to Bush said he feared such arguments would soon engulf his firm, Kissinger Associates." ... "Kissinger's resignation was apparently triggered by a legal opinion from Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Ethics Committee, who said Thursday that all members of the commission would have to comply with congressional financial disclosure requirements." -By David Firestone -NYTimes via -SeattlePI.NWsource

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"US accuses Iran of secret nuclear weapons plan." ... "Washington edged closer to confrontation with all three members of President Bush's "axis of evil" yesterday when US officials accused Iran of secretly developing two nuclear plants which could be used to produce weapons." ... "Iran denied the charge, pointing out that officials from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) had been invited to visit the two sites, near the towns of Arak and Natanz, in February." -By Julian Borger  -Guardian.co.uk