USA

The controversial television ads that dispute Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry's Vietnam War record were overshadowing all other campaign issues over the weekend. Kerry repeated his call for President Bush to denounce the ads by a group of Vietnam veterans and ex-swift boat commanders. He also called for their accompanying book to be withdrawn by the publisher. Meanwhile, retired Air Force Col. Ken Cordier who worked as a volunteer adviser to Bush's campaign, quit over his appearance in the ads, which the White House said it doesn't support. Bush is spending a week at his Texas ranch, preparing for the Republican convention and largely has kept out of the fray.

The Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist plot cost Al Qaeda $400,000 to $500,000, of which $300,000 was deposited in US bank accounts controlled by the 19 hijackers, according to report released Saturday by the 9/11 commission. The report is one of two focused more on financing and the way hijackers obtained US visas and official documents than the overall report issued last month. FBI agents had intelligence about specific suspected fundraisers before the attacks, the commission indicated, but the agency "did not systematically gather and analyze" the information. The financing report also said Islamic charities and facilitators - and not Osama bin Laden - bank-rolled the attacks.

The State Deparment issued an updated travel warning for Americans in the Middle East and North Africa, anticipating that terrorists may be incited by Friday's federal indictment in Chicago of a senior political leader of Hamas. The indictment alleges that fugitive Mousa Mohammad Abu Marzook, who is believed to be in Syria, and two others, who were arrested in the US, used American bank accounts to launder millions of dollars to support Hamas and pay for attacks against Israel.

In the Democrats' weekly radio address, vice presidential candidate John Edwards assailed the possible impacts of the administration's new overtime rules, which take effect Monday. Edwards said the rules, which the White House considers necessary to update outmoded and often-confusing regulations, will take away overtime pay from as many as 6 million Americans. The Labor Department counters that 1.3 million workers will gain eligibility for overtime, while only 107,000 could lose it.