ABCNEWS.com : Times Square New Year's Celebration Patriotic and Somber Under tight security, huge crowds converged on Times Square today to usher in 2002, pay a red, white and blue tribute to the Sept. 11 victims and say goodbye to one of the most terrible years in New York history.

India Offers Talks if Pakistan Adopts New Approach Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee said in a New Year message India was ready to open talks with Pakistan -- including on the disputed Kashmir region -- if its neighbor and rival abandoned an ``anti-India mentality.''

The Times - We will win nuclear war, says India India boasted yesterday that it would survive a first strike by a Pakistani atomic weapon, but that its neighbour would be wiped out in a swift nuclear counter-attack.

CNN.com - 101st Airborne to replace Marines at Kandahar - December 30, 2001 The U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division will replace the Marine contingent at the Kandahar airport, the Pentagon confirmed Sunday.

Fireworks cache explodes in crowded area of downtown Lima, killing at least 235 (12/30/2001) Firefighters on Sunday dug through the rubble of a massive blaze sparked by a fireworks explosion in historic downtown Lima, retrieving 235 bodies by the afternoon. Officials were trying to learn what sparked the disaster.

Jupiter to be brightest at midnight on New Year's Eve (12/30/2001) Revelers celebrating the New Year will be treated to a rare sight in the clear midnight sky: Jupiter at its closest and brightest.

Boston Globe Online / Editorials | Opinions / Remembrance and resilience January, we are told, is named for Janus, the Roman god with two faces looking in opposite directions. One toward the past, the other toward the future. That feels about right for January of 2002. We stand here with two minds, struggling with remembrance and resilience.

New York Daily News Online | News and Views | City Beat | A Wooden Ramp Leads to Glimpse of American Nightmare One hundred and sixteen hollow-sounding footsteps take you up the wooden ramp to the viewing platform.

Afghans OK Peacekeepers; Bin Laden Believed Alive Afghanistan's new rulers wrapped up a deal for foreign peacekeepers on Sunday as a senior U.S. official said fresh intelligence showed ``high probabilities'' that fugitive militant Osama bin Laden was still alive despite the U.S. drive to destroy him.

FBI Probes Imply Wide Al Qaeda Presence (washingtonpost.com) The FBI is conducting more than 150 separate investigations into groups and individuals in the United States with possible ties to Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization, according to senior U.S. officials.

The Times of India - Pro-Musharraf tilt irks India The Vajpayee government is aware that the "nuanced difference" which exists between Washington and itself about the sincerity of Gen Musharraf's "conversion to the anti-terrorism cause" could influence the diplomatic and military steps India takes in the weeks ahead.

Pentagon: Taliban Building Bombed Two B1-b bombers struck a complex occupied by members of the fallen Taliban leadership that had harbored bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorists, Maj. Brad Lowell of the U.S. Central Command said Saturday.

Cuba Opposes U.S. Plan for Prisoners at Guantanamo (12/29/2001) Senior Cuban officials voiced their opposition Saturday to Washington's plans for housing Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners at a U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay on the communist-run Caribbean island.

Pakistan Denies Moving Troops From Afghan Border Pakistan Foreign Minister Abdul Sattar on Saturday denied Islamabad had pulled troops from its border with Afghanistan to shore up defenses against India but did not rule out the possibility.

ABCNEWS.com : New Security for New Year's Eve In New York's Times Square the incoming police commissioner, Ray Kelly, has a promise for the hundreds of thousands of revelers expected New Year's Eve: "It's gonna be probably the safest place in the world."

The Times - Scientists confirm bin Laden weapons tests Osama Bin Laden and his terrorist organisation were not only investigating the use of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons against the West, they had conducted preliminary experiments on animals.

Pakistan tells U.S. it may move troops from Afghan to Indian border (12/28/2001) Pakistan told Washington on Friday that it may need to pull away troops patrolling its border with Afghanistan to deal with a possible conflict with India, Pakistani military and diplomatic officials said.

After Sept. 11, United States looks to Mexico for border safety (12/28/2001) Now, as the United States beefs up security after the Sept. 11 attacks, Mexico's endemic lawlessness has raised concerns that terrorists could use the country's organized crime networks to stage future attacks against America.

Prosecutors detail shoe-bomb threat ...if the sneakers had been placed against an outside wall and blown up, they “would have blown a hole in the fuselage.” Reid was sitting in a window seat on board the plane.

BBC News | AMERICAS | Shoe bomb 'came from Netherlands' Dutch authorities are investigating reports that Richard Reid, the British man accused of trying to detonate a bomb hidden in his shoe on a flight from Paris to Miami, bought the alleged explosives in Amsterdam.

An unshakable faith in Old Glory - smh.com.au - News Review In the wake of September 11, Americans have wrapped themselves in the flag, writes Gay Alcorn.

Bush Pours Scorn on Bin Laden, Vows No End to Hunt President Bush on Friday poured scorn on Osama bin Laden and made clear that despite Afghan calls for a quick end to U.S. bombing, the United States would hunt the world's most wanted man for as long as it takes to find him dead or alive.

Shoe-bomb substance identified The main explosive in the shoes of a man who suspected of trying to detonate explosives aboard an airliner has been identified.

From violation to enlightenment | csmonitor.com The commentary in 2011 may confirm or deny whether America's millennial Age of Enlightenment lasted beyond the next Super Bowl. And whether that spangled holiday ball came to symbolize America bestriding the globe, or America picking itself up, dusting itself off, and becoming more a part of it.

Bush administration suggests India and Pakistan take up their differences at a summit of South Asian leaders (12/27/2001) The Bush administration, seeking to calm rising tensions, suggested India and Pakistan try to resolve their differences over Kashmir at a South Asia conference next week in Nepal.

New videotape shows bin Laden may be seriously ill (12/27/2001) The latest videotape of Osama bin Laden, denounced Thursday as ``terrorist propaganda'' by the White House and snubbed by television networks, contains hints that the Saudi-born fugitive may be gravely ill and expects to die soon, according to experts in terrorism, medicine and politics.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Cuba base to house Afghan prisoners The US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says Washington is preparing to transfer Taleban and al-Qaeda prisoners to the Guantanamo Bay naval base in Cuba.

BBC News | UK | 'No favours' for Muslim radicals Home Secretary David Blunkett has challenged claims that government complacency has allowed radical Muslim clerics to recruit converts to Islamic extremism in Britain.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | India and Pakistan crisis deepens India and Pakistan have announced tit-for-tat sanctions against one another as fears intensify that the two nuclear powers may be moving towards serious conflict.

Bin Laden Warns U.S. Its End Is Imminent Osama bin Laden warns the United States in his latest video message that it will soon collapse, regardless of whether he lives or dies, as Muslims around the world ``awaken to its tyranny.''

LA Weekly: Dissonnance: Who’s Bin Smokin’ What? ...All of which brings us to the question posed by the “know-nothing” faction of the anti-war movement. Did our foreign policy — past or present — play a role in provoking the attacks on New York and Washington, D.C.?

NOTE: I am now back to blogging after a brief hiatus.

U.S. Reopens Its Embassy in Kabul After 12 Years The Stars and Stripes flew over the U.S. Embassy in Kabul for the first time in almost 12 years on Monday as the United States reopened its mission in time for the installation of a new Afghan government.

BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Arabs divided over Bin Laden tape Arabs are divided over the authenticity of the videotape released by the Pentagon that allegedly proves that Osama Bin Laden is guilty of the terror attacks on the United States.

ABCNEWS.com : Bush Withdraws From ABM Treaty In a historic break with Russia, the Bush administration today withdrew from the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, a move effective in six months, The Associated Press has learned.

ABCNEWS.com : Moving In The contingent of U.S. Marines who have been operating out of Camp Rhino southwest of Kandahar announced tonight that they have taken the city's airport and may move the entire facility there as soon as Friday.

U.S. Releases Video; Bin Laden Said Surrounded The United States on Thursday released a video it said was the ``smoking gun'' that nailed Osama bin Laden as mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks as one report said the Saudi-born militant was surrounded in a cave complex in eastern Afghanistan.

Blasts, shots near Indian parliament Police and paramilitary forces were fighting a fierce gunbattle with unknown attackers around the Indian Parliament building Thursday afternoon.

Americans expect another attack More than eight out of 10 Americans say they think it is likely that the United States will be the target of another major terrorist attack in the next few months, according to an NBC-Wall Street Journal poll.

CNN.com - Geraldo's gun-toting sparks debate - December 12, 2001 From his perch near Tora Bora, Afghanistan, Fox News Channel correspondent Geraldo Rivera seemed more agitated by a question about carrying a gun than by the mortar rounds that just exploded nearby.

Al-Jazeera Acknowledges Bin Laden Tapes The Arabic-language Al-Jazeera news station acknowledged Wednesday that it refrained from broadcasting several videos of Osama bin Laden, taken before and after Sept. 11, for editorial or technical reasons.

csmonitor.com - Bin Laden in Pakistan, source claims As US airstrikes pound Tora Bora, a top Al Qaeda aide says the leader has fled.

U.S. Skeptical of Report Bin Laden's in Pakistan A U.S. newspaper reported on Wednesday that Osama bin Laden had left Afghanistan for Pakistan but the report was viewed with skepticism by U.S. officials.

Israel Hits Back, U.S. Peace Mission in Trouble Israel sent its warplanes against Palestinian targets early on Thursday and severed ties with Palestinian President Yasser Arafat in a move that seemed likely to scupper the latest U.S. Middle East peace efforts.

Smallpox Would Spread Rapidly in Modern World If introduced into America or Europe, smallpox would spread rapidly at first, infecting 6 to 12 people for each individual already infected.

ABCNEWS.com : First Key Indictment in Sept. 11 Probe A man who raised suspicions of instructors at a flight school in Minnesota almost a month before the Sept. 11 terror attacks on America has become the first person indicted in connection with the probe, Attorney General John Ashcroft said today.

US worries bin Laden will escape | csmonitor.com At deadline for surrender, Pentagon frets that goals of US and Afghan allies will diverge - and terrorists will flee.

US, world press hard on Arafat | csmonitor.com EU seconds US in intensifying pressure on Palestinian leader - while Arabs stay silent.

Bin Laden on Video 'Marvels' at Attack - Senator ``He laughs. He smiles. He marvels at the destruction and death,'' a U.S. senator who has seen a videotape of Osama bin Laden discussing the Sept. 11 attack said on Tuesday.

Boston Globe Online / Health | Science / Taliban leave behind ruined health system in Afghanistan The clinic is clean, the staff cheerful. The female patients lining an entire wall are happy to have any medical attention at all.

Afghan Leader Vows to Build New Nation Sitting in the sprawling compound of the defeated Taliban leader, Afghanistan's interim ruler pledged Monday to build a new nation - but said the country must first destroy the terrorists who have held it hostage.

Extremism on the run The speed of the Taliban's collapse is an encouraging sign, not just for Afghanistan but for the rest of the world. It suggests that the most extreme form of Islamic fundamentalism may have less staying power as a political movement than many around the world feared.

American Planes Resume Bombing Amid Surrender Talks U.S. planes bombed suspected mountain hideouts of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda fighters on Wednesday as surrender talks were under way, anti-Taliban commander Mohammad Amin said.

U.S., Afghan Allies Harry Bin Laden Loyalists The United States and its Afghan tribal allies hounded fighters loyal to Osama bin Laden in the mountains of Afghanistan where he is believed to be hiding as Washington insisted he be handed over if taken alive.

Al Qaeda Planned New Attack on Washington -Newsweek A U.S.-based cell of Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network nearly launched a post-Sept. 11 attack on a major target in Washington before going underground or fleeing the country, Newsweek reported on Sunday.

Video Ties Bin Laden to Sept. 11 Planning, US Says Top U.S. officials said on Sunday they had viewed a videotape purporting to show that Osama bin Laden had advance knowledge of the Sept. 11 suicide hijacking blitz in what could be the strongest evidence yet of his alleged link to the attacks -- a link he has denied.

The Manila Times Internet Edition | TOP STORIES > US troops camp in Zambo to aid AFP American troops are setting up logistics facilities in Zamboanga City and expanding a training program for elite Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) units, military officials said yesterday

BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Four dead in Israeli raid Israeli troops have killed four Palestinian policemen during a raid on a Palestinian-controlled village in the West Bank.

The Afghans Need America, and They Know It For peace and a just government to take hold, Afghanistan needs a triumph of unflinching American reason.

Bin Laden 'Leading 1,000 Men' in Tora Bora Battle Osama bin Laden is personally leading about 1,000 fighters defending his mountain strongholds in eastern Afghanistan, a Northern Alliance spokesman said on Sunday.

Pentagon: Marines Holding American in Afghanistan A 20-year-old American captured while fighting for the Taliban in Afghanistan is being held by U.S. Marines at a remote desert base south of Kandahar, the Pentagon said on Saturday.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Pressure builds on Tora Bora caves Taleban and al-Qaeda positions in eastern and southern Afghanistan are coming under increasing pressure from the US and its allies.

Former President Carter criticizes military tribunals plan (12/06/2001) President Bush's order authorizing military tribunals for suspected terrorists threatens to undermine the United State's reputation for justice and its ability to promote peace, former President Jimmy Carter said Thursday.

House bill would earmark $2.9 billion for bioterrorism, including vaccine buy (12/06/2001) House Republicans and Democrats on Thursday introduced their answer to the nation's growing concerns over bioterrorism -- a $2.9 billion proposal to increase vaccine stockpiles, train health officials and protect food and water supplies.

Israel Bombs Palestinian Police HQ, Wounds 18 Israeli warplanes bombed the Palestinian Authority's main police headquarters on Friday, wounding at least 18 people in fresh retaliation for suicide attacks in the Jewish state.

Taliban Say They'll Surrender Kandahar The Taliban said on Thursday it wanted to negotiate surrender of its last stronghold, bomb-blasted Kandahar, but only if leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, the protector of alleged Sept. 11 mastermind Osama bin Laden, is granted an amnesty.

Guardian Unlimited | World dispatch | No news is good news Censorship and partisan coverage of events in Afghanistan are not causing concern to a US public unused to complicated stories about the world beyond America's shores, writes Duncan Campbell

Al-Qaida base under assault Afghan fighters and U.S. warplanes struck Osama bin Laden’s forces here today near their extensive mountain stronghold, and local commanders claimed this afternoon to have captured half of the complex from al Qaeda defenders.

America's new charity of choice: Afghanistan | csmonitor.com Whether motivated by guilt over US bombs or a greater sense of global connectedness, many Americans are reaching out to a country halfway around the world that, just three months ago, they likely couldn't have found on a map.

More in US carry guns; restrictions lose support | csmonitor.com It's a busy shopping day at the Pecos Gun Shop. Customers wander the store, staring at gun grips and revolvers and hunting rifles. They consider the options, ask about prices, and - most important to David Dodson - they buy.

BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Hamas beats off Arafat's forces Gunmen from the Palestinian militant group Hamas freed their leader soon after he was placed under house arrest by Palestinian security forces.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | New Afghan leader sets out aims The man appointed to lead Afghanistan for the next six months has said that the country needs economic opportunities and democratic elections in order to move forward.

ABCNEWS.com : Three U.S. Troops Killed by Stray Bomb Three U.S. special forces soldiers were killed and 19 others injured in southern Afghanistan today in an errant B-52 bombing raid, Pentagon officials said.

ABCNEWS.com : Top-10 Fugitive Arrested in Anthrax Hoaxes A fugitive on the FBI's Most Wanted list who is suspected of sending hundreds of anthrax hoax letters to abortion clinics was caught today, authorities said.

FBI Starts Opening Anthrax-Tainted Leahy Letter FBI and Army scientists on Wednesday began the process of opening an anthrax-laden letter sent to Vermont Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy, hoping to find clues to help identify the source of germ attacks that have killed five people since October, FBI officials said.

Afghans Agree on Government, Leader Escapes Bomb Afghanistan's new leaders began beating their swords into ploughshares on Thursday as U.S. forces pursued the ``messy, dirty job'' of finishing off the leadership of the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda.

CBS News | Eye On Politics | Terror War II, The Mideast Front?| Tue, 04 Dec 2001 20:50:06 EST Peace in the Middle East may require putting aside the rhetoric and working with Arab leaders, according to this Against the Grain commentary by CBSNews.com's Dick Meyer.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Afghan opposition clash with al-Qaeda Anti-Taleban fighters in Afghanistan say they have clashed with members of Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda terror network near their cave hideout south of Jalalabad.

ABCNEWS.com : Barbara Walters Interview with President and Mrs. Bush (Part 1) In his first television interview since Sept. 11, President Bush spoke to ABCNEWS' Barbara Walters about the responsibility of leading the nation's response to the terrorist attacks.

Afghans Agree on Government Plan, Fighting Rages Afghanistan inched closer to forging an interim government on Tuesday as Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld pledged to drive Taliban troops out of their last stronghold, Kandahar.

Israel Threatens Tougher Strikes on Palestinians Israel warned it will step up military strikes against targets in Palestinian-ruled areas until Yasser Arafat cracks down on militants behind deadly suicide attacks in the Jewish state.

U.S. Troops May Strike Outside Afghanistan - Bush President Bush said on Tuesday U.S. troops might be used to carry out strikes outside Afghanistan as part of the administration's expanding war against terrorism.

Newsday.com - Anti-Taliban Forces lay siege to bin Laden hideouts Moving to encircle and cut off Osama bin Laden, anti-Taliban forces controlling most of this eastern region yesterday dispatched about 1,000 fighters to lay siege to the remote White Mountains, where the terror mastermind and some 1,200 members of his heavily armed followers are believed to have dug in in a honeycombed complex of caves for one last bloody confrontation with the United States and its local allies.

Report: Bin Laden May Be Close to Nuclear Weapon Osama bin Laden, chief suspect in the Sept. 11 suicide plane attacks on the United States, may be closer than first thought to developing a crude nuclear weapon, The Washington Post reported on Tuesday.

Backlash builds on a quiet Hill | csmonitor.com If history is any guide, wartime Congresses are usually irrelevant. They may thunder and roar, but in the end, the president decides the conduct of a war - including curtailing cherished liberties when deemed necessary.

FOXNews.com - Portland Police Told to Cooperate with Fed Terror Investigation Oregon's attorney general recommended Tuesday that state investigators help the U.S. government with its investigation into recent terror attacks by questioning foreign visitors — a process that has come under fire by local police and civil rights activists.

BBC News | EUROPE | Arafat lawsuit filed in Belgian court A lawsuit has been filed against the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in Brussels accusing him of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Kabul women's march thwarted The Northern Alliance has prevented a group of women from marching through the streets of the Afghan capital, Kabul.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Tough talk ahead for Afghan delegates Delegates at the UN-sponsored conference in Germany on the future of Afghanistan will face hard negotiations as the second day of the conference is due to begin.

Air Force Poised to Strike in Space Shuttle Threat The U.S. Air Force will throw up a 40-mile no-fly zone around the space shuttle Endeavour on launch day and back that up with enough fire power to assure a ``safe and secure'' launch, a senior space wing officer said on Tuesday.

N. Alliance: Prison Revolt Quashed As U.N. talks on the future of Afghanistan began in Germany, anti-Taliban forces claimed to have retaken control Tuesday of a fort where captured Osama bin Laden loyalists staged a three-day prison revolt.

Scientists: Flu Remains World Threat At a time of bioterrorism fears, influenza should not be overlooked as a force of nature or a potential weapon of terrorists, disease specialists said Tuesday.

Possible Afghan Chemical Weapons Sites Found - U.S. The United States has identified more than 40 sites in Afghanistan potentially linked with chemical and biological weapons and is testing samples found there, the regional U.S. commander said on Tuesday.

U.S. Hits Leadership Compound Near Kandahar U.S. warplanes bombed a leadership compound in Afghanistan on Tuesday, stepping up the pursuit of Osama bin Laden and his Taliban allies, as Afghan tribal and ethnic leaders began talks in Germany on the future of their devastated country.

BBC News | EUROPE | 14 held in Masood murder probe French and Belgian police have arrested 14 people in an investigation connected with the killing of Afghan Northern Alliance leader Ahmed Shah Masood.

BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | Heavy fighting in southern Philippines Philippines armed forces have used helicopter gunships to attack a complex held by Muslim guerrillas in the city of Zamboanga.

Bush Warns Iraq, North Korea President Bush said Monday the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan is ``just the beginning'' of the fight against terrorism, and he warned Iraq and North Korea (news - web sites) there would be consequences for producing weapons of mass destruction.

Marines to Cut Off Any Taliban Escape The mission of the U.S. Marines in Afghanistan is to cut off escape routes for Taliban and al-Qaida leaders, pinpoint targets for airstrikes and conduct quick strikes when the chance arises.

Threat Keeps Natural Gas Lines on High Alert Natural gas pipeline operators across the United States said on Monday that Attorney General John Ashcroft's warning of a possible terror attack against their industry underscored the need for heightened vigilance.

Alleged Instructor of Hijackers to Appear in London Court An Algerian pilot suspected of training the suicide hijackers responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington is due to appear in a London court Tuesday in his bid to fight extradition to the United States.

‘This Is Our Life Now’ The battle’s just begun, and George Bush knows it. In a NEWSWEEK exclusive, the First Couple on how the war’s changing America-and them

U.S. Marines Set Up Base in Afghanistan U.S. forces attacked an enemy convoy in Afghanistan on Monday, after establishing a forward base from which to track Osama bin Laden and crush his Taliban protectors.

How to correct Islam's bad image in West | csmonitor.com The Arab League meets today to discuss ways to propagate a more moderate and truer sense of Islam.

US mediators arrive in a doubting Mideast | csmonitor.com Weekend attacks and retaliations between Israel and the Palestinians make Burns and Zinni's task today tougher.

Chicago Tribune | Friendly warning from a lover of liberty Priests, burglars and psychiatrists know the same truth about human nature: Sometimes it takes the eyes of an outsider to let us know how much we have and how easily we can lose it.

Columns: Campaign for Afghan women seems insincere If the Bush administration wants us to believe it is waging war in part to raise the status of women, we need to look at how much concern the administration has given women's equality issues in other parts of the world.

Researchers excited about possible mission to Pluto (11/25/2001) Congress has set aside $30 million to begin planning for a robotic peek at one of great oddballs of the solar system, the tiny planet Pluto.

Three Held in Alleged Plot on Massachusetts School Three students were being held on Sunday, charged with planning a deadly assault on their high school that they promised would be ``bigger than Columbine,'' police said.

Dynamite Found in Suitcases Near Downtown Chicago Two suitcases containing 30 pounds of dynamite were found near downtown Chicago on Sunday afternoon, spurring police to evacuate the area.

CIA Agent Possibly Dead in Mazar Revolt - Media The United States used heavily armed AC-130 gunships and MH-60 Black Hawk helicopters on Sunday to help Northern Alliance commanders crush a revolt by foreign Taliban prisoners at a mud-walled fort in northern Afghanistan, U.S. defense officials said.

Marines Land at Kandahar - U.S. Officials Several hundred U.S. Marines landed in southern Afghanistan near the last major Taliban stronghold of Kandahar and more troops would follow in the next few days, U.S. defense officials said on Sunday.

Boston Globe Online / Editorials / The next phase Now begins the second step: the hunt for bin Laden and the other bosses of Al Qaeda. It is crucial that they do not escape Afghanistan. If they are to be prevented from killing thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of fresh victims, their organization must be decapitated.

Alliance Says Commander Enters Kunduz The first northern alliance troops entered Kunduz on Sunday, and the city's Taliban and foreign defenders were surrendering ``continuously,'' alliance spokesmen said. No fighting was initially reported as the alliance moved in.

Boston Globe Online / Metro | Region / Harvard professor missing A world-renowned Harvard scientist and expert in highly contagious and deadly viruses mysteriously disappeared in Tennessee early last Friday, leaving a rental car on a Memphis bridge.

Bush administration quietly overturning environmental rules / Some policies eased in name of security In the last two months, the Bush administration has proceeded with several regulations, legal settlements and legislative measures intended to reverse Clinton-era environmental policies.

Dalai Lama Visits Portugal Amid Chinese Criticism The Dalai Lama arrived in Portugal on Saturday at the start of a five-day visit that has generated criticism from the Chinese government.

sunspot.net - Some rights we should surrender Here are the rights and freedoms we should be willing to surrender to shore up the nation's security:

CNN.com - FAA evacuates passenger terminals at four airports - November 24, 2001 Passengers at airports in Seattle, Washington; Oakland, California; and Reno, Nevada, were evacuated and rescreened Saturday morning after a security agent discovered a metal detector at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport was not turned on, an FAA spokesman said.

Wait Until Dark If the administration were really proud of how it's grabbing "emergency" powers that skirt the law, it wouldn't do so in the dead of night.

GN Online: Here's looking at you, Israel During the past week, a television programme called Irhabiat broadcast on Abu Dhabi satellite television has seen strong reactions from the Israeli government. Here is an overview of the issue and reactions in the Arab press.

Israeli Missiles Strike Gaza Positions Israeli helicopters fired at least 20 missiles at Palestinian targets in the Gaza Strip early on Sunday, destroying a security position and wounding three people, Palestinian security officials said.

CNN.com - Japanese troops on aid, rescue mission - November 24, 2001 Japan will send 1,500 troops for the Afghan relief operations which are likely to start in next few weeks, a senior Japanese official said Friday.

CBS News | Hamas Vows 'Painful' Revenge | Sat, 24 Nov 2001 16:10:03 EST More than 60,000 Palestinian mourners in the West Bank and Gaza vowed on Saturday to launch revenge attacks in Israel, a day after an Israeli missile strike killed a senior militant from the Hamas group.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Pakistan warns of Kunduz 'tragedy' Pakistan has continued to express its grave concern about the situation in the besieged city of Kunduz, in northern Afghanistan.

BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | China eyes the Moon China says it will launch a manned flight into space before 2005 to be followed by a mission to the moon.

In New York, On Alert for Bioterrorism (washingtonpost.com) Just before noon on Nov. 13, Farzad Mostashari gazed down at his computer printout and wondered aloud if he was staring into the face of a biological attack.

Milosevic To Stand Trial for Genocide (washingtonpost.com) Former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic will stand trial on charges of committing genocide during the 1992-95 war in Bosnia, a U.N. war crimes tribunal announced today. The 60-year-old Serbian nationalist will be the first head of state to be taken to court on allegations of genocide, the most grievous of all war crimes.

Visitors to U.S. can expect probing terrorism questions Although federal terrorism investigators say none are suspects, thousands of Middle Eastern men in the United States will be asked detailed questions -- ranging from whether they sympathize with the Sept. 11 hijackers to where they have traveled. (Also see Highlights from the questions list.)

Fighters Stream From Kunduz; Bush Vows to Prevail More than 1,000 Taliban fighters surrendered to U.S.-backed Northern Alliance forces besieging the Afghan town of Kunduz on Saturday as President Bush warned Americans of ``difficult times ahead'' as his war on terrorism accelerated.

U.N. meeting on Afghanistan delayed until Tuesday (11/23/2001) A conference of Afghan groups trying to form a transitional government in their country has been delayed a day, with differences still dividing the rival factions, a U.N. official said Friday.

Reflections On 'Wartime' (washingtonpost.com) There's a hollow ring to this loud new wartime motto, "We'll show our enemies we're more powerful than they are." Our enemies know that already, they've known it all their lives as they trained to the careful, hateful mastery of tools the weak may use against the mighty. They can plainly see we are richer, stronger, in every way more capable of destruction. I would like us to show them, instead, that we are better.

Initial Tests Negative in Connecticut Anthrax Death Initial tests showed no trace of anthrax in the mail or home of an elderly Connecticut woman who died earlier this week of inhalation anthrax, Gov. John Rowland said on Friday, leaving investigators with no clear answer to how she contracted the deadly bacteria.

Rabbani to Step Aside for New Afghan Leader Burhanuddin Rabbani, still officially the president of Afghanistan, says he would relinquish any claims to power if next week's talks in Germany succeed in naming a transitional leader.

Israel Kills Hamas Leader as U.S. Peace Bid Nears An Israeli missile strike killed a senior member of the militant Islamic group Hamas, prompting a vow of revenge as Washington prepared a new mission hoping to end 14 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence.

U.S. Warplanes Target Afghan Caves, Drop Huge Bomb U.S. warplanes pounded tunnels and caves in Afghanistan's mountains and the Pentagon said on Friday it had dropped a devastating ``Daisy Cutter'' bomb south of the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar as the United States stepped up the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

CNN.com - U.S. releases Taliban 'catalogue of atrocities' - November 22, 2001 The White House expanded the information war against the Taliban Thursday, releasing a report documenting what it called "atrocities" committed by the Taliban and Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network.

Five Palestinian children killed in explosion near elementary school Five Palestinian children were killed on their way to school Thursday by a powerful explosion in a Gaza Strip refugee camp. In the West Bank, Palestinians fired at an Israeli factory, injuring two workers.

Bush Has Wartime Thanksgiving with Family, Aides Like millions of other Americans, President Bush spent the Thanksgiving holiday on Thursday surrounded by family and friends. Unlike any other American, he also had a war to run.

Northern Alliance Moves to Take Besieged Kunduz Northern Alliance troops and tanks launched an attack on the besieged Afghan city of Kunduz on Thursday after attempts to negotiate a Taliban surrender collapsed.

At destroyed camp, glimpse of how al-Qaida members lived -- and how some died (11/21/2001) Scattered around the 15-foot-deep craters left by American bombs lay the detritus of one of Osama bin Laden's former terrorist camps: spent anti-aircraft shells, mortar detonators, collapsed buildings and payroll records.

Guardian Unlimited | Columnists | Peter Preston: Don't overestimate Bin Laden We are required, because of the havoc he has wrought, to dub him a mastermind, the supreme spider at the centre of an evil web.

U.S. Deploys Cutting-Edge Hardware to Afghanistan The United States rushed a new unmanned spy plane to the skies over Afghanistan and sought to base deadly gunships nearby as the U.S. Pentagon chief on Wednesday said he'd rather see Osama bin Laden killed than captured.

U.S. Hunts Bin Laden; Taliban to Surrender City The U.S. war in Afghanistan looked more and more like a manhunt for Osama bin Laden on Wednesday as the Pentagon's chief said he would rather take the Islamic militant dead than alive, while the Taliban agreed to surrender its northern stronghold.

Portland police stymie terror probe The acting police chief in Portland, Ore., has rebuffed a Justice Department request for help in interviewing Middle Eastern men as part of its post-Sept. 11 terrorism investigation.

America's three Afghan challenges | csmonitor.com How will US planners handle these challenges? The signs are far from encouraging.

BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | 'Over 100' dead in Philippines uprising Fresh fighting in the southern Philippine island of Jolo pitting government forces against guerrillas loyal to a rebellious Muslim governor has so far left more than 100 people dead.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Afghan aid agencies looted The organisation's premises in the eastern city of Jalalabad and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif has been ransacked, UN spokesman Eric Falt says.

Bin Laden's Bay Area recruiter A confessed operative of a Silicon Valley terrorist cell says he recruited 10 U.S. citizens into Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization during his 12-year residence in California, according to a new account of his statements to an Egyptian military court.

Right wing telling Bush to hit Iraq With the Taliban and Osama bin Laden on the run in Afghanistan, President Bush's fellow conservatives are pushing him to attack Iraq as the next step in the war on terrorism.

Visiting Troops, Bush Warns of Protracted War President Bush warned U.S. troops -- and the nation -- on Wednesday that the war on terrorism was entering a dangerous phase in the mountains of Afghanistan, and he vowed to pursue the al Qaeda network beyond the borders of the Central Asian country.

Taliban and U.S. Exchange Death Vows The Taliban and the United States both wished death on their foes on Wednesday as the strict Muslim movement said it hoped ``mighty Allah will break America'' and the Pentagon chief said he would prefer Osama bin Laden dead rather than captured alive.

Inhalation Anthrax Kills Connecticut Woman A 94-year-old woman from a rural Connecticut town on Wednesday became the fifth person in the United States to die from inhalation anthrax, rekindling fears of the potential germ warfare agent.

Was Paper on Bomb a Parody? ...according to Jason Scott, a reporter for a Web newsletter, rotten.com, the document was not quite so chilling a display of nuclear knowledge as The Times might have believed.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Nations unite to rebuild Afghanistan Representatives of 21 countries, as well as the World Bank, the European Union and the Islamic Development Bank, held discussions in Washington on Afghanistan's post-war reconstruction.

CNN.com - U.N. says it can't oversee Taliban surrender at Konduz - November 20, 2001A top U.N. official said Tuesday that the United Nations cannot oversee the surrender of Taliban troops holed up in the northern Afghanistan city of Konduz, and the Pentagon described the situation there as a "standoff."

ABCNEWS.com : Vatican Heightens Security Around Pope But for a series of missteps, authorities believe a plot against the pope would have been carried out six years ago. As the pope prepared for a visit to the Philippines in 1995, bin Laden's operatives scrambled to get into place for an attack.

ABCNEWS.com : U.S. Mulls Bombing Break as Afghans Talk The United States has agreed to stop bombing locations around the besieged city of Kunduz if it improves the chances of a Taliban surrender — but has refused to do so if it would allow Taliban or al Qaeda leaders to flee Afghanistan.

Connecticut woman tests positive for inhalation anthrax (11/20/2001) An elderly woman who lives by herself in the farm country of southwestern Connecticut has inhalation anthrax, according to initial test results disclosed Tuesday.

Depraved minds think alike My generation frequently has wondered how the world could not have been alert to the evil of Hitler, especially after he made his insane, murderous agenda clear in "Mein Kampf." Today, many anti-war types have been willing to paper over the bloody plans of bin Laden, so hungry are they to make America the world's villain.

Spanish Judge Details Islamic Suspects' Calls A Spanish judge has detailed what he believes to be a coded telephone conversation between suspected Islamic militants that referred to the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.

Named Atta Contact Charged An Indonesian man named in FBI documents as a contact for airline hijacker Mohammed Atta is being charged with helping obtain false identification for another man listed in the same documents as a contact for Osama bin Laden.

Afghan Talks Set; Taliban Battles On U.S. bombers attacked the last Taliban strongholds in Afghanistan Tuesday as the United Nations set talks in Germany next week to begin mapping the road to peace for a country still very much at war.

ABCNEWS.com : Reporter's Notebook: Siege of Kunduz As we made our way out of the recently liberated town of Taloqan toward the large city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan, we passed about a dozen Soviet-era T-55 tanks, armored personnel carriers, and some mobile artillery parked on the outskirts.

BBC News | ASIA-PACIFIC | Philippines peace deal broken Hundreds of Muslim rebels have launched attacks on army units in the southern Philippines, reneging on a 1996 peace deal with the government.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Pakistan's Taleban ties dissolve The Pakistan Government has said for the first time it no longer has any relations with its old allies, the Taleban.

Powell demands Israel end occupation of West Bank and Gaza, halt settlement activity (11/19/2001) Secretary of State Colin Powell accused Israel of crippling chances for peace with the Palestinians by building homes for Jews on the West Bank and in Gaza.

Courting Muslims, Bush Hosts Ramadan Dinner Hoping to give America's wartime image a boost in the Islamic world, President Bush brought ambassadors from Muslim countries to the White House on Monday for prayers and a traditional Ramadan dinner, telling them the bombing must continue because ``evil has no holy days.''

United States accuses Iraq, North Korea of developing biological weapons (11/19/2001) The United States accused Iraq, North Korea and four other countries on Monday of building germ-warfare arsenals, and said it worried one of them might be helping Osama bin Laden in his quest for biological weapons.

Ha'aretz - Article There appears to be some evidence that Palestinian public opinion is sympathetic to Osama bin Laden.

U.S. Announces Mideast Mission but No Solutions Secretary of State Colin Powell has spelled out Washington's vision for peace in the Middle East and announced a diplomatic mission, but offered no solutions to Israeli-Palestinian violence.

Bush Signs Law Ordering Federal Baggage Screeners President Bush on Monday signed legislation ordering the federal government to hire thousands of airport baggage screeners in an attempt to boost public confidence in flying after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States by hijacked commercial airliners.

U.S. Pushes for Total Victory Over Taliban The United States combed southern Afghanistan on Monday for Osama bin Laden and rejected any negotiated surrender for his al Qaeda fighters or top Taliban protectors that would allow them to avoid capture or death.

The Manila Times Internet Edition | TOP STORIES > Terrorists ‘can’t sow fear forever’ The President said Friday while she was in ground zero, the area where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood, she couldn‘t help but think that from the island of Basilan to the island of Manhattan, the terrorists have sowed fear in the hearts of the world.

Terrorists traces left in Kabul | csmonitor.com A bomb-making laboratory found in a residential house is part of a growing body of evidence emerging in the Afghan capital, Kabul, about the global magnitude of terrorist activities here.

BBC News | MEDIA REPORTS | Mediawatch: Fears of Afghan fallout The startling speed with which the Taleban's rule in Afghanistan ended has spawned fears in Pakistan that instability will cross the border.

BBC News | UK | UK troops' Afghan mission delayed The deployment to Afghanistan of thousands of British soldiers has been delayed after "discouraging" reports from troops on the ground, the BBC has learned.

Taliban Base May Be Crumbling, Alliance to Talks A blistering U.S. bombardment showed signs of prying Taliban fighters from their last northern stronghold in Afghanistan on Sunday as opposition leaders agreed to talks to form a broad-based government for the war-torn nation.

What the Muslim World Is Watching Al Jazeera, which claims a global audience of 35 million Arabic-speaking viewers, may not officially be the Osama bin Laden Channel -- but he is clearly its star...

ABCNEWS.com : On My Mind: Break for Afghan Women I remember the old saying we hear in this country: "When you educate a man, you educate an individual. When you educate a woman, you educate a family."

Despite recent military gains against Abu Sayyaf, Philippine island's woes seem far from over (11/18/2001) While the United States wages war in Afghanistan, the Philippines is fighting its own terrorist enemy and claiming progress.

CNN.com - Konduz surrounded; Taliban urged to defect - November 18, 2001 Northern Alliance forces have surrounded Konduz and are urging Taliban soldiers to surrender, offering them safe passage from the Afghan city if they hand over their weapons, CNN correspondent Satinder Bindra told CNN.

Rice says U.S. moving closer to bumping up against constraints of missile defense treaty (11/18/2001) U.S. testing of a missile defense shield will approach the limits of an arms control treaty with Russia and require the two countries to ``move beyond'' the pact at some point, the president's national security adviser said Sunday.

Tanker Sinks After U.S. Boarding, Five Missing An overloaded tanker suspected of smuggling Iraqi oil sank in the North Arabian Gulf on Sunday after being boarded by a U.S. team enforcing U.N. sanctions, leaving one Iraqi dead and three Iraqis and two Americans missing, the Pentagon said.

Taliban Hang On, Lose Track of Bin Laden Afghanistan's Taliban clung on to their last two main strongholds on Sunday in the face of U.S. bombing as their only diplomatic envoy said for the first time Osama bin Laden was no longer in territory under their control.

The Times - Andrew Sullivan: Remind me, who put this triumph together? With amazing swiftness and surprising finality, the enemy caved in last week. I refer not to the Taliban but to the chattering classes — especially its left-liberal sections. Never before in the field of human conflict have so many armchair generals been exposed as idiots in such a short period of time.

Afghan Alliance Agrees Talks, U.S. Pursues Al Qaeda U.S. officials on Sunday welcomed progress toward setting up a broad-based post-Taliban government in Afghanistan but stressed their top priority was to hunt down Osama bin Laden and his al Qaeda network.

The Jerusalem Post Newspaper : EU to Arafat: Take tougher measures against terror European officials assured Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat yesterday of growing world support for a Palestinian state and urged him to take tough measures against Palestinian militants. Arafat told the EU delegates that he is doing his best to enforce a cease-fire.

CNN.com - Polling stations close in Kosovo - November 17, 2001 Voters in Kosovo have gone to the polls in elections for a new 120-seat assembly in the U.N.-run Yugoslav province.

Chicago Tribune | Factory ships nuclear reactor body to Iran amid U.S. protests The only Russian factory capable of making a complete nuclear reactor on Friday shipped its first reactor body to Iran, part of a project that has raised strong U.S. protests.

Treasury to issue war bonds The Treasury Department is going to issue war bonds--the first since World War II--to help pay for the fight against terrorism and for relief efforts after the Sept. 11 attacks.

CBS News | Terror Supporters Among Us | Sat, 17 Nov 2001 16:25:05 EST The largest criminal investigation in American history has exposed the rough outlines of at least a half-dozen centers of terrorist support on U.S. soil operating underground before the Sept. 11 suicide attacks, officials say.

BBC News | UK | UK troops 'staying in Afghanistan' There are no plans to pull British soldiers out of Afghanistan despite Northern Alliance demands for the withdrawal of troops near Kabul, the Foreign Office has said.

Rumsfeld: U.S. Campaign Splitting Al Qaeda, Taliban The U.S.-led military campaign in Afghanistan is driving a wedge between the Taliban and al Qaeda network even though Osama bin Laden and Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar share common views, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told a Chicago newspaper.

U.S., British Troops on Bin Laden's Trail - Report Britain's Sunday Times said British and U.S. special forces had narrowed the search for Osama bin Laden to a 30 square mile area in southeastern Afghanistan.

Taliban Back Off Claim on bin Laden A Taliban official said Saturday that Osama bin Laden has fled Afghanistan. Later, he backed off the claim, saying he didn't know where bin Laden was.

Fmr. President Arrives in Kabul In a convoy of vehicles with his picture plastered on the windshields, the Afghan president ousted five years ago by the Taliban returned Saturday to the capital to reclaim his post. His return raised worries over the effort to build a broad-based, post-Taliban government.

Ha'aretz - American betrayal? Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's most successful Peace-Not-Now ploy is running out of steam. The tactic was simple and successful - no negotiations under fire. It spoke to the heart of America even before September 11 and, of course, afterward as well.

Israel Says Pulled Out of Another West Bank City The Israeli army said on Saturday it had withdrawn from the West Bank city of Tulkarm in the latest pullout from Palestinian areas seized last month after the assassination of an Israeli cabinet minister.

New Afghanistan: Power plays begin A deputy to the U.N.’s top envoy to Afghanistan is heading to Kabul Saturday to try to persuade the Northern Alliance to take part in a meeting, outside the country, on forming a transitional government in Afghanistan. Alliance leaders, though, continue to insist the gathering be held in the capitol, raising concerns that they may seek to defy countries who want the country’s new government to represent multiple ethnicities.

Taliban Said to Quit Southern Afghan Powerbase (11/16/2001) Senior officials of the victorious Afghan opposition said on Saturday they did not welcome foreign troops on their soil, even as 42 days of relentless U.S. air raids appeared finally to have crushed the defiance of the Taliban's supreme leader.

National Guard troops returning to protect Capitol for first time in three decades (11/16/2001) The stationing of National Guard troops around the Capitol grounds means that armed and uniformed soldiers will be protecting the building for the first time in more than three decades.

Cuba ready to normalize relations with U.S. (11/16/2001) Cuba is ready for normal relations with the United States ``on the basis of respect and noninterference in the domestic affairs of each country,'' Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque said Friday.

For many Afghan women, bare faces and lives resumed | csmonitor.com Saida Oranos Al Ghazal was so elated Monday night when the Taliban fled Kabul, "I couldn't stand up," she says.

CBS News | Do We Want Him Dead, Or Alive? | Fri, 16 Nov 2001 07:50:04 EST As special forces try to fulfill President Bush's desire to get Osama bin Laden "dead or alive," many lawmakers say bluntly that dead is preferable. They are concerned about a trial, whether in open court or closed military tribunal.

FOXNews.com - Taliban Is Losing Popularity Among Pakistani Holy Warriors Pakistani holy warriors are deserting Taliban ranks and streaming home in large numbers, tribal leaders said Friday, while in the streets of Peshawar, portraits of Osama bin Laden go unsold.

The Sacramento Bee -- sacbee.com -- Justice: One standard Lawmakers need to summon their courage and demand, at a minimum, that the administration justify its plans, even if it has to be done behind closed doors. And if they are not persuaded, they must fight this threatened subversion of American principles -- principles that deserve to be defended just as fiercely as the war against terrorism must be fought.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | US allies deny 'Mazar massacre' The Northern Alliance has denied reports of the mass execution of captured Taleban soldiers in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | UN 'winning battle' against famine The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) says it is winning the battle to get enough food aid into Afghanistan to feed the six million Afghans who most need it.

ABCNEWS.com : Second Senate Anthrax Letter Found Sources tell ABCNEWS that the letter was "similar in nature" to the one opened in Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle's office on Oct. 15. Officials told ABCNEWS that the letter was postmarked Oct. 9 from Trenton, N.J. It also had the same phony return address from the Greendale School.

washingtonpost.com - Aid Workers Recount a Time of Contrasts in Prison Even as Heather Mercer's Taliban guards treated her like a sister, allowed her to sing and pray and occasionally sent meals prepared by the commander's cook, she often listened as Afghan women prisoners in the same jail were beaten until they bled.

On Left and Right, Concern Over Anti-Terrorism Moves (washingtonpost.com) A growing chorus on the left and the right is accusing the Bush administration of ignoring civil liberties while leaving the courts and Congress out in the cold as it aggressively pursues the war on terrorism here and abroad.

washingtonpost.com - U.S. Special Forces Engaged in Ground Combat Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said today that U.S. special operations forces are engaged in ground combat in southern Afghanistan, operating inside the country for days at a time and "killing Taliban that won't surrender."

Congress Passes Airport Safety Bill The U.S. Congress on Friday approved and sent to President Bush a bill ordering a government takeover of airport security in response to the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and Washington.

Bin Laden Aide Said Killed, Taliban in Retreat In rapid gains in the U.S-led war on terrorism, American warplanes apparently killed the suspected military planner of the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States and Afghanistan's ousted Taliban rulers reportedly decided to pull out of their besieged stronghold.

Abandoned al-Qaida Lab Found in Kabul Materials left behind in a compound used by Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network - including a booklet offering advice on how to survive a nuclear explosion - suggest the terrorist group may have been trying to develop chemical arms and other unconventional weapons.

Taliban Leaders Captured, Bin Laden Still Free In a potential intelligence coup, Northern Alliance opposition forces on Thursday apparently captured some senior Taliban leaders in war-torn Afghanistan, but Saudi-born fugitive Osama bin Laden remained on the run despite U.S. assertions it was ``tightening the noose'' on him.

Yemeni fugitive believed to have been 20th Sept. 11 hijacker (11/15/2001) Investigators believe a Yemeni fugitive named Ramzi Binalshibh was intended to be the 20th hijacker on airplanes seized on Sept. 11 and crashed in suicide attacks, officials confirmed Thursday.

Facial recognition technology will be used during Olympics Olympic hockey spectators at the E Center will be examined with the facial recognition technology used at last season's Super Bowl.

Afghanistan turns a corner | csmonitor.com For much of the past month, this busy corner of Islamabad's Aabpara market has been pulsating with thousands of furious Muslim conservatives, who burned effigies of President George Bush. Today, guava fruit sells better than posters of Osama bin Laden.

Iran's soccer fervor turns political and violent | csmonitor.com Following a succession of recent soccer matches, hundreds of thousands of Iranian boys and girls have poured into streets across Iran, chanting "Zindibad azadi!" (Long live freedom), blaring banned Western pop music from car radios, and shouting in support of the exiled son of the shah, now emerging as the unlikely figurehead for the democratic desires of Iranian youth.

Lawmakers Strike Airport Security Deal U.S. lawmakers reached a deal on Thursday to turn airport security over to the government, after weeks of wrangling about how to make flying safer following the Sept. 11 hijack attacks.

U.S. Says It Tightens Noose Around Bin Laden Afghanistan - The United States said it was ``tightening the noose'' around Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan on Thursday, as thousands of his Arab troops and Taliban protectors were surrounded in the northern city of Kunduz, facing a fight to the death.

Navy Plane Crashes in Washington State A U.S. Navy radar jamming airplane with three people on board crashed in rural Washington state on Thursday, the Coast Guard said.

Troops Rescue 3 Filipino Hostages From Abu Sayyaf (11/14/2001) Philippine troops have rescued three Filipinos held hostage for nearly six months on southern Basilan island by Muslim extremists linked to Osama bin Laden, the military said on Thursday.

Israeli Forces Raid Two Palestinian Towns, 13 Hurt (11/14/2001) Israeli tanks and troops raided two Palestinian-ruled towns in the Gaza Strip and West Bank early on Thursday, wounding at least 13 Palestinians in heavy shooting, witnesses and medical officials said.

Afghan Alliance Says Won't Cling to Power (11/14/2001) The opposition Northern Alliance that has captured Kabul told Reuters on Thursday it had no desire to cling to power but would govern the capital until a broad-based post-Taliban government was formed.

CNN.com - Ex-Afghan president heads to Kabul - November 14, 2001 Former Afghan President Burhanuddin Rabbani is expected to arrive in the capital of Kabul on Wednesday to declare the city free from Taliban rule.

Report: Nuclear Bomb Papers Found in Kabul House Documents giving details of how to build a nuclear bomb have been found in a looted Kabul house used by Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda network, The Times newspaper reported on Thursday.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Taleban leader remains defiant Taleban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar has rejected any cooperation in a future broad-based government for Afghanistan.

U.N. Approves Afghanistan Measure The U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday endorsing efforts to help fill a political vacuum in Afghanistan and provide security for the vast areas of the country captured by anti-Taliban forces.

Freed Aid Workers Land in Pakistan Eight foreign aid workers, including two Americans, held captive in Afghanistan for three months for preaching Christianity were airlifted to freedom Wednesday by U.S. military helicopters.

New York Daily News Online | News and Views | Opinion | Other Islamic Dictators Will Fold Like Taliban But Kabul has given George W. a reputation on the Middle Eastern street. All those planes and carriers and troops poised in the region, and a wall-to-wall consensus at home, mean that he's got the next move. He should use it to present the Islamic Axis with two simple, nonnegotiable demands...

Exiled King Urges Afghans to Unite Afghanistan's exiled king urged Afghans on Wednesday to unite and freely choose their own destiny now that the Taliban rulers have fled Kabul.

Bush: Foreign Aid Workers Rescued From Afghanistan President Bush said on Wednesday night that U.S. forces had rescued eight Western aid workers in Afghanistan, including two Americans, who had been held by the Taliban under threat of death since August.

The Jerusalem Post Newspaper : Online News From Israel - News Article Palestinian Authority officials said yesterday, the eve of the 13th anniversary of the PLO's symbolic declaration of statehood in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem, that they have come closer to their aspiration of statehood as result of America's endorsement of a Palestinian state based on UN resolutions.

Hurdles to building a stable Afghan regime | csmonitor.com In military parlance, it's called gathering in the victory: turning military success into a sustained win by making sure the political goals that justified war are achieved.

ABCNEWS.com : Blair Presents New Bin Laden Evidence A document released by the British government today claims newly declassified evidence proves nearly all of the hijackers behind the attacks were linked to al Qaeda, rather than just three who were initially tied to the group.

U.S. Military Cautions War Not Over in Afghanistan With the Taliban reeling before rebel forces and U.S. warplanes, the Pentagon cautioned on Wednesday the war in Afghanistan was not over and America was prepared to fight a guerrilla conflict there if necessary.

Bush OKs Tribunal to Try Terrorists The Sept. 11 attacks and the threat of new terrorism justify President Bush (news - web sites)'s decision to allow the trial of noncitizens by military tribunals, administration officials say. The United States has not seen such tribunals since World War II.

Taliban Control Crumbling; Hunt for Bin Laden Is On Anti-Taliban forces swept across still more of Afghanistan on Wednesday with the hard-line Islamists' control of their stronghold of Kandahar apparently crumbling.

After the Taliban (washingtonpost.com) Now that the American-led effort in Afghanistan has achieved its first significant success -- the removal of the Taliban from Kabul -- four ingredients are essential to prevent the country from slipping back into anarchy of the sort that followed our last success there in 1989.

U.S. Special Forces On the Trail of Taliban Leaders (washingtonpost.com) After five days of swift battlefield success that put about half of Afghanistan in the hands of the opposition, the United States is zeroing in on the leadership of Afghanistan's retreating Taliban militia and its allies in Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said yesterday.

New Palestinian Official Puts His Feet to the Fire With Words of Moderation Thrust back into the spotlight, Nusseibeh immediately offered words of moderation and wisdom not often heard here in the last blood-soaked months.

All forces must pull out of Kabul: CE: UN peacekeepers demanded -DAWN - Top Stories; 14 November, 2001 President Gen Pervez Musharraf called on Tuesday for all forces to withdraw from Kabul and the deployment of a UN force in the city following its capture by the Northern Alliance.

CNN.com - Bush announces major nuclear cuts - November 13, 2001 President George W. Bush on Tuesday announced the United States will slash its nuclear weapons stockpile by about two-thirds over the next decade to between 1,700 and 2,200 warheads.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Afghan women find new freedom The Northern Alliance has announced that women in Afghanistan can now go back to work, and girls can go to school - activities that were banned by the Taleban.

Rattling noise heard in cockpit seconds before fatal crash (11/13/2001) The cockpit voice recorder from American Flight 587 indicates the pilots struggled to control the jetliner after a rattling was heard less than two minutes into takeoff, investigators reported Tuesday.

FOXNews.com - Afghan War Phase Two — in the South — Will Present New Challenges for U.S. The next focus of the Afghanistan war — in the south where Usama bin Laden is believed to be hiding in caves — could present the U.S. military with a formidable challenge.

Afghan Refugees Start Trip Back Home At a refugee camp in Afghanistan bustling with women loading donkeys for the long-awaited trip home, a crowd of men swelled around a transistor radio and listened to the stunning news of Taliban forces being routed in city after city.

Rumsfeld: U.S. Warplanes Pound Fleeing Taliban U.S. warplanes on Tuesday hounded Taliban troops and al Qaeda guerrillas fleeing Kabul and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said elite U.S. troops were now operating in both northern and southern Afghanistan.

NTSB: Jet's Engines Show No Internal Failure A preliminary inspection of the engines from doomed American Airlines Flight 587 showed no evidence of internal failure, investigators looking into what caused the airliner to crash, killing up to 265 people, said on Tuesday.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | 'No more retreat' Taleban troops told The leader of the Taleban, Mullah Mohammad Omar, has ordered his troops to stand and fight following the fall of the Afghan capital Kabul, it is reported.

CBS News | Iraq Denies Kuwait Attack | Tue, 13 Nov 2001 10:35:05 EST Iraq Monday dismissed as lies a Kuwaiti report that it fired a mortar across its border.

No Time To Haggle (washingtonpost.com) When Sam Rayburn was speaker of the House, he used to say, "There is no education in the second kick of a mule." We are about to learn whether Congress and the Bush administration have realized there is nothing to be gained by ignoring the threat of terrorism twice.

Russian Official Reveals Attempt Made to Steal Nuclear Materials (washingtonpost.com) A senior Russian official has reported a major incident involving the attempted theft of nuclear materials in the past two years, raising fresh fears about the security of the former superpower's aging nuclear arsenal.

FAA had issued warning about engine Federal safety officials concluded a month ago there was an unsafe condition in the type of engine that powered an airliner that crashed in New York City, and started moving toward tougher inspections.

Another blow to the economy, and maybe to the GOP The immediate reaction by policymakers inside the Bush administration to Monday's air disaster was concern about the effect on the nation's morale and the economy if it's ultimately shown that the crash of American Airlines Flight 587 resulted from another terrorist attack.

Group Seeks Negotiations for Future The foreign minister of the Afghan northern alliance said Tuesday that it had invited all the country's factions - except the Taliban - to come to newly captured Kabul to negotiate a post-Taliban government.

More scary news for jittery Americans (11/12/2001) For a few frightening moments, it seemed to be happening all over again: the news-channel images of flame and fear flashing over a waking nation. The sketchy details exchanged breathlessly across breakfast table and hotel lobby.

U.N. Calls for Quick Meeting on Afghanistan The United Nations said on Tuesday it would send political personnel into Kabul immediately and called for all factions to meet in one place for a conference on the country's future as soon as possible.

Kandahar Airport Falls to Opposition-Tribal Chief The strategic airport outside the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, powerbase of the fundamentalist Taliban, fell to opposition forces on Tuesday, tribal leaders said.

U.N. Fears for Civilians as Afghan Cities Fall U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson urged the United States and Britain on Tuesday to ensure civilians are not massacred as Afghan cities controlled by the ruling Taliban fall to the Northern Alliance.

Afghan Opposition Predicts Speedy Fall of Kandahar The Afghan opposition based in Pakistan on Tuesday predicted that the Taliban's southern stronghold of Kandahar could fall within 24 hours as moderate Taliban forces abandon the hard-liners.

Afghanistan Hijacked By William Saletan As Britain and the United States launch their public relations campaign to defend the war, they must take this message to the people and national leaders whose discomfort with civilian casualties is driving the global outcry for a bombing halt. The conscience of the world is the cover of terrorists. That's just as true when we attack terrorists as when they attack us. Americans hate killing civilians. But we were prepared to pull the trigger on Sept. 11, when the civilians in the crossfire were our own.

TNR Online | TRB: Life Support by Peter Beinart In the eyes of the world, we are told, the United States is losing the moral high ground in the war against terrorism. The reason: We are killing innocent Afghans. And if we kill innocent Afghans in retaliation for the killing of innocent Americans, how are we different from the Taliban?

Bush tells Russian reporters he will `substantially lower' U.S. nuclear arms levels (11/12/2001) President Bush said Monday he will slash U.S. nuclear weapons to ``substantially lower'' levels even if Russian President Vladimir Putin refuses to respond with similar cuts. The two leaders open three days of talks Tuesday.

Taliban Military Said to Flee Kabul Taliban military forces appeared to have deserted the capital of Kabul at dawn Tuesday, after a series of stunning military victories by opposition forces over the past four days, witnesses said.

Israel Raids Palestinian Village In a 10-hour raid Monday on a Palestinian village, Israeli troops killed an Islamic militant and arrested 45 residents, including 16 on Israel's wanted list.

Investigators Rule Nothing Out in NY Plane Crash Authorities scrambled on Monday to determine what caused the crash of an American Airlines Airbus A300-600 jetliner in New York, with the government ruling out nothing but taking steps consistent with a safety probe rather than a criminal one.

Pentagon to base U.S. aircraft in Tajikistan to step up pressure on Taliban (11/12/2001) The Pentagon, hoping to intensify pressure on the Taliban, has decided to put military aircraft at one or more airfields in the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan on Afghanistan's northern border, a senior defense official said Monday.

FOXNews.com - Veterans Day Different This Year For many, Veterans Day had become little more than a day of flying flags, visits to the cemetery, old soldiers in uniform, and gradually thinning parades down Main Street — but the first post-Sept. 11 Veterans Day saw the often-overlooked holiday infused with a new spirit of patriotism.

Rebel force ‘waiting to enter’ Kabul With Taliban fighters reportedly fleeing in droves, Afghan opposition troops were waiting Monday just outside the capital after a lightning-fast military advance, but opposition officials said they would honor international requests that they not move into the city. Truckloads of jubilant fighters chanting “God is great!” rolled south toward the front lines, leaving behind celebrations among residents of a strategic northern city they captured over the weekend.

CNN.com - White House: No sign of terrorist link to crash - November 12, 2001 There's no evidence of terrorism in the crash Monday of American Airlines Flight 587, and the government had no information of any threat against U.S. commercial airliners, senior Bush administration officials told CNN.

BBC News | AMERICAS | Powers search for Afghan settlement Foreign ministers from eight key powers have agreed to speed up efforts to form an alternative government for Afghanistan.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Major boost for Afghan aid effort Uzbekistan says it will allow a big emergency aid operation to begin into neighbouring Afghanistan on Monday, two days earlier than planned.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Three journalists killed in Afghanistan Three journalists - two French and one German - have been killed in northern Afghanistan in a Taleban ambush on an opposition convoy.

Opposition Advances on Kabul; Some Taliban Flee Dozens of Taliban tanks and armored personnel carriers raced out of Kabul when darkness fell Monday after the opposition broke through front lines, backed by U.S. bombers and a fierce artillery barrage.

Saudi Dissident Says Al Qaeda Planning More Attacks Osama bin Laden's network of supporters in Saudi Arabia is planning a strike against government or U.S. military interests in the oil-rich desert kingdom, a leading Saudi dissident said Monday.

Plane's Flight Data Recorder Recovered From Wreckage Investigators quickly recovered the flight data recorder from the doomed American Airlines jetliner that crashed in New York on Monday, a senior investigator said.

Passenger Jet Crashes in New York Residential Area An American Airlines flight with 255 people on board crashed in a nosedive on Monday while taking off from John F. Kennedy International Airport, setting fire to a swath of nearby homes and sending new fears through a city still jittery from the Sept. 11 attacks.

Opposition Ministry Orders Kabul Advance -Commander The opposition Northern Alliance Defense Ministry has ordered an advance against the Taliban-held Afghan capital Kabul on Monday, a frontline commander said.

BBC News | SOUTH ASIA | Pakistan offers India arms talks Pakistan has offered to hold talks with India to discuss way of reducing tensions between the neighbouring nuclear powers.

BBC News | AMERICAS | Pakistan wins big aid deal The United States has promised Pakistan more than a billion dollars in aid as a reward for its support of the war on terrorism.

BBC News | UK | British troops in Afghanistan British troops are on the ground in Afghanistan, Defence Secretary Geoff Hoon confirmed on Sunday.

Bin Laden says he is not responsible for anthrax attacks (11/11/2001)Osama bin Laden was quoted Sunday as saying he is not responsible for the anthrax attacks in the United States, and most U.S. investigators won't argue with him on that.

Insight on the News - Police State
Rep. Ron Paul says the text of the USA PATRIOT bill was not made available for review before the vote.

Russia Says Test Ban Impasse Could Bring Crisis Russia, challenging U.S. objections, on Sunday warned of ``dangerous trends toward disrupting'' a global treaty banning nuclear tests and said this could lead to a crisis and the uncontrolled spread of nuclear weapons.

Boston Globe Online / Editorials | Opinions / A war to end the terrorist era WE ARE NOW into the long haul of the new kind of war that began for us Sept. 11. Victories on the ground are few or invisible; we hear more and more about the need for patience; we speak more and more about quagmires.

Bush Pays Tribute to Veterans of War, Sept. 11 President Bush marked Veterans' Day on Sunday with a tribute to Americans who fought in past wars and vowed U.S. troops now in action in Afghanistan would exact ``a serious price'' for Sept. 11.

Taliban Foes Eye Kabul After Victories Afghanistan's opposition Northern Alliance said on Sunday the ruling Taliban's main fighting force had been wiped out after a string of surprise weekend defeats and refused to rule out an advance on the capital, Kabul.

GN Online: Muslim doctors shun U.S. drugs A group of Muslim doctors in Mumbai plan to boycott drugs manufactured by U.S. and British companies from next week to protest the killing of innocent civilians in Afghanistan, a doctors' association official said yesterday.

The Jerusalem Report Magazine: Israel : Israel Article The prime minister says he’ll personally head negotiations with the Palestinians for statehood, but also that he’ll send troops into Palestinian areas whenever necessary. He calls the Palestinian Authority a coalition of terror, but insists he is not seeking to topple it. No wonder the Americans, his coalition partners and the Israeli public are confused.

FOXNews.com - Powell Affirms Support for a Palestinian State Secretary of State Colin Powell affirmed his support for a Palestinian state on land held by Israel on Friday in a series of television interviews.

Salon.com News | No facts, please -- we're British Americans are flocking to feisty British papers for news about the war. But there's a reason the U.S. media fails to follow up on the Brits' "scoops" -- they're frequently not true.

BBC News | MIDDLE EAST | Bin Laden's PR blunder Osama Bin Laden's popularity in the Arab world appears to be waning - even if his appeal is still a force to be reckoned with, especially in parts of Saudi Arabia.

Chicago Tribune | Security giant's overhaul fails to win over its foes Reeling from a barrage of criticism for security lapses at its checkpoints at the nation's airports, the country's largest airport security firm on Friday sought to recast itself by announcing a major overhaul.

HIDING PAST AND PRESENT PRESIDENCIES: The Problems With Bush's Executive Order Burying Presidential Records On November 1, President George W. Bush signed his latest effort to govern by secrecy - Executive Order 13233. For good reason this Order has a lot of historians, journalists, and Congresspersons (both Republican and Democratic) upset.