Anatomy of a Class Action - Teflon Update - Selective coverage of "The Bush Tapes" - Schwarzenegger and the press - The problems of Alberto Gonzales

Israel promises to release 900 prisoners as goodwill, but Palestinians see it as a small gesture because over 8000 are behind bars. Palestinian Authority negotiators called the offer "insulting" and said it was "harming [Abbas] rather than coming toward him"

100 Day Window For Mideast Peace
It's legitimate to want an end to terrorism. Unfortunately, Bush and Sharon don't see that there are other ways to defeat terrorists besides killing them. Instead of undermining Abbas, they would be better off following his lead. He knows that terrorism is a political, not just a military problem

A Year After Coup, Haiti Still Racked By Violence
250 or 460 deaths, depending on who's counting

Arctic's Inuit To Sue U.S. Over Global Warming
Blames U.S. for emissions which result in "everything changing, and changing fast"

Bush Quietly Building Up Nuclear Arsenal
Including a new generation of longer lasting and sturdier "bunker buster" weapons
Previously Unknown Bacteria Frozen 32,000 Years Comes Back To Life
First time any species ever found alive in ancient ice

Bush Stand On Darfur Genocide May Force U.S. To Join International Criminal Court
Bush catch-22: you can't just recognize some human rights violations

With Kyoto Protocol Launched, What Now?
Q&A with world's top environment official, Klaus Toepfer
Gore Says Bush Lacks Moral Courage To Tackle Global Warming
Failure to endorse the Kyoto Protocol represents a "stunning display of moral cowardice"

Congress Bypassing Bush On Global Warming Policy
"The issue is not going away and the cost of inaction will continue to rise" - Sen. John McCain
Risks Of Disasterous Climate Change Increasing, Scientists Warn
Concern that melting ice shelves may speed up glacial melt in a "cork out of bottle" effect

At his inauguration, Bush declared "the best hope for peace in our world is the expansion of freedom in all the world." Less than two weeks later, the king of Nepal, a major U.S. ally on the Chinese border, declared a state of emergency and shut down all communications with the outside world. Some 1,000 leaders and activists from political parties, student groups and trade unions were jailed as others fled. The king also suspended constitutional rights to freedom of speech, assembly, a free press, and authorized preventive detention. Locked in a 9-year stalemate civil war with Maoist rebels that want to overthrow the monarchy, few believe the Royal Nepal Army can defeat them because the roots of the war are in the social and economic poverty of the nation. Nonetheless, India, Britain, and the U.S. are pouring weapons into the country; the Bush administration sees Nepal as another domino in its Terror War, arguing that the country could become a "failed state" and another haven for terrorists if the rebels win

Nepal Settles Into Life Under Martial Law Nepal's Donors Threaten Military Aid Cutoff The King's Desperate Illusion Bush Ignores Plea To Cut Off Military Aid Terror In Kathmandu As Army Runs Amok Fear Spreads As Arrests Continue Hundreds Of Political, Labor Leaders Arrested Exiles Vow To Support Maoist Rebels Martial Law Until Rebel Movement Crushed

Bush Hawks Likely To Exploit Hariri Assassination
"The [Syria] regime changers will be strengthened by this"

Lebanon In Shock From Hariri Assassination
TV and radio airwaves were filled with speculation and finger-pointing
Rice European Tour Saw Change In Style, But Not In Substance
"A successful diplomatic event... no more and no less"
Moscow Says It's Close To "Unique" Nuclear Weapons
Probably research leftovers of the Soviet effort in 1980s to counter Reagan "Star Wars"

World Bank Audit Urges Major Overhaul
Internal report says pressing need for independent oversight

"Real ID" Proposal Threatens Asylum Seekers
Would face strict rules to prove persecution in native land

World Hunger Could Be Easily Cut In Half
For less than Bush is spending each month in Iraq, UN finds
Government Scientists Told To Fake Research
Also warned not to fill out survey form, even on their own time

White House Skews Science To Fit Goals, Researchers Say
Even rewriting underlying scientific findings and analyses to fit political goals

California Sues U.S. Over Budget Abortion Ban
Billion$ in education and labor funds withheld unless states restricts women's rights

Vigilantes Vow To Patrol Border And Block Mexicans
Leader claims U.S. to be "completely overrun with illegal aliens by the year 2025"

Afghan Countryside Revolt Feared If Crackdown On Opium
Birth of a narco-state

Guantanamo Tribunals Ruled Illegal
Secret military tribunals have already ruled on cases of about 550 detainees

U.S. Citizen Caught In Terror War Catch-22, Held In Saudi Jail Since 2003
No access to lawyer, family, not clear if U.S. or Saudis want him held or for what reason

U.S. Invokes "State Secrets Privilege" To Block Torture Lawsuit
Third time since 9/11 Justice Dept. has claimed national security to dodge courts

Is U.S. Working With Anti-Iran Terror Group?
Hawks want to recast group listed as terrorists since 1997 as Iran liberation movement

Bush Could Bribe His Way To Iran Overthrow
The security forces and the vigilante groups can be bought to look the other way when people revolt

David Kay: Bush Iran Talk Sounds Like Run-Up To Iraq War

UN 'Purges' Suggest Annan Caving In To U.S. Pressure
"The only person who has not been purged is the secretary-general himself. He is probably waiting for the next shoe to fall"

Iraq Oil-For-Food Audit Finds No Widespread Abuse
Volcker takes unusual step of writing op/ed in conservative Wall St. Journal before report release

Rights Group Believes FBI Monitoring Web Page Readership
USA PATRIOT Act loophole could be used for web surveillance

"Black Widow" Trial Spotlights New Fear Of Possible Women Bombers
Russians suspicious of Chechnya Muslim women in traditional dress

Iraq Election Unites The West, Not Iraq
Creating the appearance of democracy signals the country is open for business

Turkey Prepared To Invade N Iraq If Kurds Claim Independence
Along with 40% of Iraq oil

Iraq Economy Balances On Turkey And Its Truck Drivers
Most Iraqi oil refined in Turkey, then sent back via oil tanker trucks
Turkey Nervously Watching Kurd Region Of Iraq
"Turkey no longer sees the disintegration of Iraq as a remote possibility"

Iraq Election Fraud In Kurdish Region, Groups Charge
"This was not an election. It was a census," says member of Arab minority

U.S. And Polish Troops Looting Iraq Artifacts, Researcher Says
Smuggling operations over Kuwait, Jordan borders

Talabani The Next President Of Iraq?
Kurd leader and Saddam foe may be only chance to hold nation together

Buoyed By Elections, Kurds Begin Push For Independence
Kurdistan move to break away from Iraq would be prelude to civil war
Female Genital Mutilation Widespread In North Iraq
"This is very clearly an abuse of children, a gender violence issue"

Russia Looking For Foothold In Iraq
Will write-off about $9 billion of Saddam-era debt, hopes for old oil contracts to be honored

What I Would Have Told Larry King
Mother of slain soldier in Iraq would have given TV host an earful - if she wasn't bumped for the Michael Jackson trial

THE TSUNAMI AND THE KILLING FIELDS

For the Acehnese, the tens of thousands of soldiers in the province to enforce martial law are not a source of security; they are equivalent to a plague of locusts. The troops are expected to earn their own money, as the government covers only a part of their expenses. Thus, checkpoints have become moneymaking franchises; soldiers shakedown passing truckers, motorists, and motorcyclists

Tsunami Tourists Put Strain on Indonesia's Aceh
Some Acehnese believe spirits of the dead are haunting the tsunami-hit areas

Indonesia Red Crescent To Foreign Docs: Get Out
Outsiders who don't understand the language aren't helping tsunami relief

Osama, Islamicists Silent On Tsunami Disaster
Except for Saudi cleric who links tragedy to Asian "fornication and sexual perversions"
Unguarded Radiation Sites In Chechnya A Ticking Bomb
Looters have opened sealed facility, hauled away cobalt-60 containers
Neo-Nazis March In Dresden
"They're very open, out, and that is shocking that that is possible in Germany again"

Europe Moves To Ban Swastika On Auschwitz Anniversary
Resolution given an unexpected boost by photo of Britain's Prince Harry in Nazi garb

Neo-Con Wolfowitz Represents U.S. At Holocaust Ceremony
Ideological group uses Holocaust to justify black/white world views
Opposing Groups Get Opposite Results In ANWR Polls
Of the Republicans polled by Harris, 80 percent support drilling in the refuge

Business Tax Evasion Not Seen As Crime At Davos Summit
Few world leaders seem concerned about effects of tax evasion

Pentagon Fights Disclosure Of "Revolving Door" For Defense Contractors, Ex-Workers
1 of 3 on Defense Policy Board had ties to big contractors

BUSH TURNED FOREIGN AID INTO STRATEGIC WEAPON AFTER 9/11
Starting in 2002 the executive branch began to underscore the war on terrorism as a top foreign aid priority. According to the Congressional Research Service, the State Department now highlights the amount of U.S. assistance going to some 30 "front-line" states in the terrorism war. Aid to Pakistan, for example, jumped from $1.7 million in 2001 to $275 million in 2004.

After West Bank Wall, Israel Plans Gaza Trench
Trench along Egypt border could demolish up to 3,000 Palestinian homes

Murder Rate Of Haiti Street Kids Soaring
Targeted beatings and killings up 500% since February ouster of Aristide
First Person-to-Person Avian Flu Transmission Confirmed
Concern that new mutation could lead to global pandemic

Stem Cells Used To Treat Type 2 Diabetes
Not cure, but improvement to point diabetes can be managed with medications
Viruses, Grilled Meat Added To Cancer-Cause List
X-rays, viruses transmitted during sex also listed for first time

China Giant Poised To Stomp Key U.S. Industries
High-tech, auto, aerospace among industries once thought "safe" for U.S. industry

Paraguay, Brazil Saving Ancient Trails From Search For "Land Without Evil"
Guarani Indian treks combined economics with religious hunt for mythical land

Outside Pakistan's Cities, Childbirth Often Deadly
Doctors don't want to work in rural areas, and trained midwives scarce

Burmese Migrants Find Welcome Wearing Thin In Thailand
Underpaid and exploited, Burmese migrant workers are hidden face of Thailand

Note Written In Blood Led To Probe Of Sex Slave Rings
Thousands of Chinese women tricked into Malaysian prostitution

Rolls-Royce Among Corporate Backers Of Burma Regime
Report lists 439 multinational companies with economic ties to brutal junta

Without Warning, India Bulldozes The Great Slums Of Mumbai
3 million to be made homeless in redevelopment to "turn Mumbai into another Shanghai"

Brutal Conditions In Meat Slaughterhouses Found
Report charges federal regulators ignoring the most dangerous factory job in the U.S.

Neo-Cons Want Big Boost In Size Of Army
And about another $15 billion added to defense budget each year

WHAT'S IN A SYMBOL? During the Feb. 2 State of the Union Address, a contingent of GOP Congressmen thrust their right arms in a gesture uncomfortably reminiscent of the Nazi salute, although intending to show their fingers were dipped in blue as solidarity with Iraq voters. But when Iraqi guest Taleb al-Suhail flashed the classic symbol for peace, the offical American Forces Press Service was compelled to qualify it as the "two-fingered Iraqi peace sign"

Negroponte Pick As Intel Chief Seen As Defeat For Neo-Cons
Hawkish and controversial, but also a tough realist

Unclear If Neo-Cons Still In Driver's Seat For 2nd Term
Analyists watching Rice appointments for clues to power balance
The Whistle-Blower That Chertoff Tried To Silence
Forced out of her job for advising future Homeland Security head on ethics
Bush Budget Hits Environmental Agencies Hard
"Most anti-environmental budget blueprint" ever, groups say

Bush Budget Seeks Big Boost In Foreign Aid
$23 billion, not counting another $82 billion for Iraq, Afghanistan
Bush Budget Slashes Domestic Programs
Scrooge-like budget surprises include more for Mad Cow research, solar energy research

Bush Quietly Drops 2002 Budget Pledge To Poorest Nations
Bush 2002 promise: "I carry this commitment in my soul"

Bush Steers Ship Of State Deeper Into Mideast Waters
Not-so veiled threats against Iran in State of the Union address
Bush Using "Rush Limbaugh Strategy" To Pass Agenda
Clearly planning to govern just as he ran for re-election
The Accountability Moment
According to Bush, we, the people relinquished any right to hold this administration accountable for anything
Congress Enabling Corruption
The battle against corruption in Congress has collapsed, and that's just the way both Republicans and Democrats want it

MOLLY     IVINS Texas Wants To Tighten Screws On Pregnant Minors When Bush Moral Values And Special Interests Collide A Screw-The-Kids Budget Repubs Finally Shove Through Anti-Class Action Law Bush's Budget Of Shame Private Account Smokescreen Plenty Of Dissonance From The White House Hard To Be Optimistic About Iraq