USA
Syria reacted angrily to a warning from Secretary of State Powell to end support for terrorism or face "consequences," accusing the Bush administration of mounting an "illegitimate" invasion of Iraq. Powell's comment, in an address Sunday to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, came after Defense Secretary Rumsfeld accused Syria last week of supplying military equipment to neighboring Iraq, and amid reports of Syrians volunteering to fight for Saddam Hussein's regime. The Arab League voiced concern that the US claims could "inflame the situation further."
President Bush was planning to highlight progress on the war in Iraq and on homeland security, aides said, in a speech to Coast Guard personnel in Philadelphia. The trip is Bush's second since the war began almost two weeks ago. The president has requested $74.7 billion in emergency funding for the conflict, including $4.2 billion for stepped-up domestic security.
Veteran correspondent Peter Arnett was fired by NBC after a controversial interview with Iraqi television in which he said the US is revising a war plan that "failed because of Iraqi resistance." Arnett also apologized, calling the interview a "misjudgment." He was one of the few remaining Western journalists in Baghdad. Two reporters with Newsday and a third freelancer are missing, meanwhile, after being detained by Iraqi police last week.
The US Supreme Court hears arguments Tuesday on the University of Michigan's race-influenced admissions policy, possibly its most closely watched case this term. The school and others like it insist that affirmative action policies are vital to promote diversity on campus. Challengers say they discriminate against better-qualified students.
A suspect in a two-month string of immigrant shootings in New York was due to be arraigned on murder charges Monday afternoon. Police said Larme Price walked into a station in Brooklyn Friday offering information and later confessed to the attacks that killed four people and wounded another. Police said Price cited revenge for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks as his motive. His victims were from Guyana, India, Yemen, and Russia.
The University of Texas became the only No. 1 seed to reach the Final Four of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Texas will play Syracuse, while Kansas faces Marquette University, to determine which two will meet for the national championship Monday night in New Orleans. Texas and Syracuse have never won an NCAA basketball title. Marquette last did so in 1977; Kansas in 1988.
