World News
www.forbes.com Reuters World News Highlights 1000 GMT Feb 28 Reuters, 02.28.03, 5:03 AM ET
BAGHDAD - Iraq will comply with U.N. demands to destroy al-Samoud 2 missiles and dismantling of the weapons could begin on Saturday, Iraqi sources said. The sources confirmed that Baghdad had sent a letter to Hans Blix, chief of the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC), in which it said it would abide by his order to destroy the missiles.
UNITED NATIONS/WASHINGTON - The United States dismissed Baghdad's agreement to destroy its al-Samoud 2 missiles and pressed on with its war preparations against Iraq, deploying a sixth aircraft carrier and B-2 stealth bombers.
BEIJING - Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said Russia opposed any U.N. Security Council resolution which would lead to a war to rid Iraq of weapons of mass destruction and declined to rule out a Russian veto.
SEOUL - North Korea, which is reported to have fired up a key nuclear reactor, now looks set to raise tensions further by preparing to start reprocessing plutonium and test a ballistic missile, officials and reports said.
KARACHI - A gunman killed at least two police officers and wounded six other people outside the U.S. consulate in the southern Pakistani city of Karachi, police said.
WASHINGTON - Warplanes taking part in U.S.-British air patrols attacked three air defence targets in the northern "no-fly" zone of Iraq and two targets in the southern "no-fly" zone in response to Iraqi threats, the U.S. military said.
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon began a second term at the head of a hawkish coalition that includes fierce opponents of a Palestinian state and staunch supporters of Jewish settlement on occupied land.
NICOSIA - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders had agreed to a new deadline of March 10 for them to sign a peace deal to unite the island.
JAKARTA - Muslim cleric Abu Bakar Bashir was handed over to prosecutors in Indonesia to face trial for treason, police said. Bashir has been described by several Southeast Asian nations as the spiritual leader of the Jemaah Islamiah network that officials blame for the Bali bomb blasts. He denies any link.
CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's negotiators failed to show up for talks with the opposition, and foes accused the leftist leader of resisting efforts to discuss how to end a long-running political conflict.
WASHINGTON - The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to ban all forms of human cloning, roundly defeating a rival bill that would allow the use of cloning technology for medical research.
DILI - East Timor prosecutors charged more than 50 people, including a former police chief and a militia boss, with crimes against humanity over violence surrounding a 1999 vote for independence from Indonesia.