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8 February 2003 ---------------------------------------------------
The United Nations' top arms inspectors are meeting in Baghdad today to assess Iraq's cooperation with a UN resolution, aimed at forcing the country to disarm. Before meeting in Iraq, Hans Blix and Mohamed ElBaradei held talks in Cyprus on Friday. Blix has refused to reveal details of their discussions until a press conference on Saturday. His colleague Mohammed ElBaradei, a nuclear arms expert, has called for a meeting with Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein to discuss ways to improve their work, "time is critical and we need to show quick progress and we need to show drastic change on the part of Iraq in terms of cooperation in all areas" he said. Meanwhile, a further three Iraqi scientists have been
privately interviewed by the UN. It follows the first on Thursday.
The talks are reported to have lasted for upto three hours each.
No details have been released. Iraq continues to deny holding any
weapons of mass destruction.
A massive demonstration's expected to be held in Munich today as US secretary of State Donald Rumsfeld attempts to gain support for a war with Iraq. Arriving in the German city, Rumsfeld was greeted
by around 2,500 protestors yesterday. The nation has been angered by remarks made by Rumsfeld, who likened the country's oppsition to conflict to Libya and Cuba's. Germany, alongside France, Russia and China, wants inspectors to have more time to conduct their searches for so-called weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Washington however is pushing for a second UN resolution, which could give the go ahead for war. Around 8,000 people are expected to take to the streets
and with the possibility of violence, 3,500 police officers have
been placed on duty. |
5 February 2003 --------------------------------------------------- Home of space exploration
honours shuttle victims Three days after the space shuttle disaster and America's sense of shock is gradually giving way to one of mourning. Houston, so long an integral part of the space programme, will be the venue for a memorial service at which President George Bush is expected to speak. In New York, there was the simplest of expressions of sympathy as people put their names in a book of condolences at Israel's UN Mission. One of the Columbia's crew of seven was an Israeli air force colonel. There were solemn moments, too, on Wall Street, as
traders observed a minute's silence before business resumed after
the weekend. Similar tributes can be expected at today's service
in Houston. But Bush is likely to repeat his belief that space exploration
should continue.
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If the shuttle is to remain at the heart of the space programme then NASA must first solve the mystery of the Columbia disaster. The search for clues spans much of the southern United States, in what has become known as the "debris belt". Officials have admitted the quest could take years and may never be completed. The manager of the shuttle programme, Ron Dittemore, said even though the investigation has just begun it has already provided some important indicators. "We seem to have some conflicting information, but the information of the temperature increase in the wheel well, even though it's small is unusual. It's not normal. The mid-fuselage is not normal. It seems to indicate that we have some type of thermal event going on. Where that thermal environment is coming from, we don't know." However, any doubts about the future of the shuttle were dispelled by White House spokesman Ari Fleischer who confirmed an increase in spending: "On the funding issue - funding for the NASA budget, the total will go from 15 billion dollars in 2003, to 15.5 million dollars in 2004. Funding for the space shuttle itself will go from 3.2 billion to 3.9, as was proposed this morning, as was prepared prior to the disaster involving Columbia." A photograph, which it is claimed shows a crack on
the left side of the spacecraft incurred during take-off, has fuelled
criticism that the ageing Columbia was a catastrophe waiting to
happen. ---------------------------------------------------
A European parliament delegation has presented the United Nations in New York with evidence it claims proves Saddam Hussein possesses and is seeking to procure banned weapons. The group met with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix. Spokeswoman Emma Nicholson said: "I brought with me, hot from Iraq and from the region, the Gulf, some fresh evidence from Iraqi people themselves of storage and resource acquisition of weapons of mass destruction materials." The US says it, too, has evidence of Iraq's alleged weapons programme, which it will present to the Security Council later this week. Iraqi spokesman Amer Al-Saadi is asking "why the delay?": "I mean, it's not the Cuban missile crisis, is it? It's something to search for, hidden items, they could give it to UNMOVIC directly, why are they keeping it all this time?" Washington hopes the new intelligence it is due to
deliver to the Security Council on Wednesday will convince reluctant
members of Iraq's unwillingness to cooperate. The inspectors' next
report to the Council in ten days time is expected to play a crucial
role in any decision on Iraq.
US flexes military muscle as a warning to Korea
As the military build-up continues in the Gulf region, the US has put several of its bombers, fighter jets and warships on alert for possible deployment to the Korean peninsula. A Pentagon official said the forces would only be moved as a precautionary measure against any aggression by North Korea on its southern neighbour. There has been growing tension between the US and North Korea in recent months after Pyongyang broke a 1994 nuclear non-proliferation agreement with Washington. The US has said it wants to settle things peacefully with North Korea and that its current goal is to maintain a military status quo in the region. A spokesman said it was standard procedure to review defenses for existing security commitments when US forces were preparing for potential operations elsewhere.
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February 2003
Legendary record producer, Phil Spector, the man behind the 1960's Wall of Sound sound, is being held by police investigating the death of a woman in his mansion in a Los Angeles suburb. Detectives have not released the identity of the woman who was found shot dead. Police say Spector is being questioned by homicide detectives as a suspect, but has not been arrested. The 62-year-old is regarded as a pioneer in pop production, producing hits for artists such as Ike and Tina Turner, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. He was voted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1989.
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A political row has broken out in Spain over the national film awards. The gala was dominated by anti-war speeches by many of the winning actors and directors, as well as actress Penelope Cruz and director Alejandro Amenabar, who presented the Goya for best film. The title went to Mondays in the Sun (Los Lunes al Sol), directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa, who was brief and to the point as he picked up best director award for the movie: "I've got my script and it goes: no to war." Upon receiving his Goya for best actor for the same film, Javier Bardem was more explicit, urging the government to listen to the "desire for peace of the people," in a clear reference to possible military action against Iraq. Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar is one of President Bush's staunchest supporters over the issue. He was one of eight European leaders who last weeksigned an open letter backing the White House. The head of RTVE, Spain's state broadcaster, says the audience for the awards, carried live, dropped because of the political protest. |
