Closed session called in Senate
In a rare move, Democrats called a closed session Tuesday of the GOP-led Senate, questioning President Bush's use of pre-Iraq war intelligence.
Republicans decried the action as politically-charged, while Democrats claimed Republicans were ignoring the issue and protecting Bush's administration at all costs.
By the end of the session, both sides agreed to conduct a Senate Intelligence Committee investigation into the matter.
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., demanded the closed session mid-Tuesday afternoon, halting normal Senate activities.
Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., suggested the closed session may have been called as a political response to Bush's nomination of Samuel A. Alito Jr. to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Source: The Associated Press
Death toll rises in Pakistani temblor
The official death toll in Pakistan's devastating earthquake on Oct. 8 was raised by 16,000 yesterday, bringing the central governments official count to 73,276, with about 69,000 severely injured. Local Pakistani officials suspect that the toll could climb to 79,000.
Maj. Gen. Farooq Ahmed Khan told reporters that the spike in the death count is because of bodies that have been recovered from the quake's debris.
Yesterday, U.S. military officials reported that a rocket was fired at a U.S. relief helicopter flying over the Pakistan-India border in Kashmir on Tuesday, according to The Associated Press.
Pakistani officials cited engineers blasting a road near where the helicopter was in flight as the probable cause for the U.S. military report.
Maj. Gen. Shaukat Sultan said he did not think any attack took place.
Source: the AP
Chirac calls for calm in violence
Rioting throughout the outskirts of Paris prompted French President Jacques Chirac to call for a calm in the violence yesterday, reiterating that authorities will use force to curtail what he described as a "dangerous situation," according to the AP.
The rioting - which was sparked by the accidental deaths of two teenagers who were being chased by police officers - has spread to nine towns near Paris.
"The law must be applied firmly and in a spirit of dialogue and respect," Chirac said at a Cabinet meeting, according to the AP. "The absence of dialogue and an escalation of a lack of respect will lead to a dangerous situation."
The violence has re-opened debate about France's integration of immigrants into its culture and society.
Police are hesitant to enter many of the areas where the rioting has taken place as crime frequently runs rampant through these impoverished regions.
Source: the AP
-Compiled by City Editor Sam Hodgson
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