USA
President Bush voiced outrage at a church attack in Islamabad, Pakistan, that killed five people, among them two Americans. In a statement, Bush sent condolences to families of the victims. "We will work closely with the government of Pakistan to ensure those responsible for this terrorist attack face justice," he vowed. (Story, page 7.)
Hearings begin today in a new phase of the antitrust case against Microsoft. Nine states and the District of Columbia want federal Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to let them pursue heavier sanctions against the software giant than are required under a settlement reached with the Justice Department and nine other states last fall. Kollar-Kotelly is considering separately whether to approve that settlement.
A child-protection task force set up by Boston's Roman Catholic leader, Cardinal Bernard Law, held its first meeting, pledging to produce a public report on ways to curb sexual abuse by priests. But no deadline was set. Law is under heavy pressure to resign following revelations that his archdiocese transferred a priest accused of molesting children from parish to parish for decades. Catholic leaders around the US are scrambling to address similar complaints.
Salt Lake City Winter Olympics chief Mitt Romney is expected to get a warm welcome today in Belmont, Mass., his hometown. Romney is to announce this week whether he'll challenge acting Gov. Jane Swift for the Republican nomination for governor. A recent poll of GOP voters gives him a three-to-one advantage.
In talks aimed at settling a multibillion-dollar lumber dispute, US and Canadian negotiators traded proposals for a tax on wood shipments. The Commerce Department is scheduled to decide March 21 whether to implement 32 percent duties on Canadian lumber that were approved last year. The US accuses Canada of unfairly subsidizing the sale of $6 billion in wood shipped to the US accounting for one-third of the market a claim Canada denies.
American children have sent $4.5 million to a fund for their Afghan counterparts, Bush said in his weekly radio address Saturday. The announcement came five months after he asked each child to contribute $1. Much of the money will be used for school supplies, the president said. When the Afghan school year begins this month, many girls and young women will be attending classes for the first time since the former Taliban regime fell. The Taliban severely restricted education for females.
Americans of Irish descent marked St. Patrick's Day with parades and other festivities. Bush attended Chicago's event. In New York, firefighters (below) marched with photos of comrades who died in the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
