USA
To avoid pre-emptive US action, Iraq must forever give up weapons of mass destruction, end support for terrorism, and stop persecuting ethnic and religious minorities, President Bush declared in an eagerly awaited speech to the UN. Iraq has defied the UN for a decade on these and other demands, Bush said, and the world body "will be irrelevant" unless it confronts the regime of Saddam Hussein. Before ushering the president to the podium, Secretary-General Kofi Annan cautioned the US not to act without Security Council approval. Annan rated Iraq as the second-greatest threat to world peace, after the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Tyco International's ex-chief Dennis Kozlowski was indicted, along with two other former executives, on charges of fraud and corruption by the Manhattan district attorney. Kozlowski previously had been accused of tax evasion. In related developments, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged the trio with securities fraud, and Tyco reportedly was planning to sue Kozlowski for $250 million in post-1997 income, benefits, and severance pay.
The economy appears to have weathered "severe blows" from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and a plunge in stock prices, Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan told Congress Thursday. "Although," he added, "the depressing effects still linger."
"Depressing effects" were amply evident in the latest economic data. The current US account deficit the broadest measure of trade with foreign countries rose a steep 15.6 percent to just under $130 billion in the second quarter, the Commerce Department reported. And the Labor Department said jobless claims rose last week to a four-month high of 426,000.
Falling debris from strong winds killed three people and injured at least 18 others in New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York, and temporarily left 150,000 households without power in those states and in Massachusetts. The winds were a combination of hurricane Gustav off the East Coast and a high-pressure system to the west. In Colorado, heavy rains caused mudslides near Durango for the second time in less than a week. A wildfire in June wiped out pine forests in the area, leaving hillsides susceptible to erosion.
Professional football legend Johnny Unitas, who died in a Baltimore suburb Wednesday, ranked as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. During an 18-year NFL career, he won three championships with the Baltimore Colts and set 22 passing records, including throwing for at least one touchdown in 47 consecutive games. Unitas retired after the 1973 season and was inducted into football's Hall of Fame in 1979.
