From the World-Wide Resourses of the Western Australia Reserch Senter(*) OIL THE NEWS THAT FITS MY VIEWS #22 =============================== In the Run-Up to World War III, Reliably Reporting the News Relevant to Extreme Right-Wing Democratic Socialists Everywhere (validated for RiteThink(tm) by the Office of Our Man in Can-berra). Visit Our Home Page At: http://www.chickenhead.com/loserscopes/0103.asp See the Undeniable Evidence At: http://www.evil-doers.org/evidence Kindly Archived At: http://www.kymhorsell.com/BOZO/archives/ ------------------------------------------------------------ Selecting latest news stories and other data for you... ------------------------------------------------------------ It is a simple choice, people have got to decide weather they are going to allow any 2nd resolution to have teeth, to make it clear that there is a real ultimatum in it. -- Brit PM Tony Blair, 17 Mar 2003, indicating prev UN Resolutions don't have teeth. Tomorrow is the day that we will determine whether or not diplomacy can work. -- Pres George Bush, 17 Mar 2003. The next day diplomacy was called off because a Coal'n resolution appeared doomed to be voted down, removing any legal authority to attack Iraq. Saddam Hussein and his sons must leave Iraq within 48 hrs. Their refusal to do so will result in military conflict, commenced at a time of our choosing. -- Pres George Bush Jr, 18 Mar 2003 (AEDT), indicating the war isn't about WMD. Gulf War II marks the first time AUS will be invading a country without itself facing an imminent threat of attack. It also may spell the end of the Sec Council. ---------------------------------------- Mon, 17 Mar 2003. Markets Proof at any cost has made truth a casualty of the crisis Russian restaurant bans UK, US citizens in war protest Gold, oil surge; stocks, USD sag War's impact on world economy UN closed-door meeting on Iraq N Korea close to nuclear capability, US says New-look China cabinet AUS war Cabinet meets Genocide trials Anthrax vac may be poison Child shot dead by army Baby shot in head as 6 die in Gaza raid Israeli bulldozer crushes US peace activist New flu in AUS already Global alert continues over killer pneumonia Biowar threat not real Passenegrs checked for killer flu Potentially deadly virus sparks mozzie warning Govt doesnt link trade with Iraq Leave Iraq ASAP Arsonists US promises "blitzkrieg" war War virtually inevitable says Cheney France says war only days away Hain spells out price for backing Blair US protesters plan to surround White House Confusing message in giant Baghdad rally Bible in hand, the marines wait for battle Exodus begins from strategic N town Shi'ites promise action against Saddam 'Rolling start' a big risk, experts say Troops break seals Iraq masses its forces Split widens on eve of war Crean toughens anti-invasion stand PM expects Bush to ask for troops soon PM gets call from Bush AUS "human shields" vow to stay AUS Democrats ballot shows staunch opp'n to war Govt warns Aussies out of war risk zone Cabinet to decide war commitment within days: PM Little sleep impairs mind as much as no sleep Climate change caused demise of Mayans: report 1/2 the population in poverty, now Argentinians are fighting back Markets Sydney (11 pm). MARKETS! The All Ords closed down 12 pts at 2,711 after the FTSE dived 70 pts o'night. The Nikkei fell 1.5% today. AMP were down on yesterday, but still over about a psyhcological barrier at $A7.09. The AUD was higher at 60.20 US cents. Oil was down at $US35.37/bbl. Proof at any cost has made truth a casualty of the crisis Washington. Further doubts have arisen over the intel presentation on Iraq's WMD made by US Secretary of State, Colin Powell, at the UN Sec Council last m. UN weapons inspectors have been unable to confirm the accuracy of American claims that its satellite images show chem decontamination vehicles at former Iraqi weapons sites as stated by Mr Powell. UN inspectors say the trucks may have been water trucks. "We have not been able to independently confirm from those satellite photographs whether this thing is a decontamination truck or a water truck," a rep for the chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, said. "Apparently they look very, very similar so it's impossible for us to do an independent analysis." Mr Powell used the satellite images to support claims that Iraq moved its chemical and biological warfare weapons from sites to deceive inspectors. A UN weapons adviser, with some knowledge of satellite photo interpreting, said he thought Mr Powell, "had been poorly served" by some people preparing his intel briefing. The question marks over the satellite pictures follows statements by both Dr Blix and the head of the Internat'l Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, last wk casting doubt on some US and Brit intelligence about Iraq. In his report to the Sec Council on Mar 7, Dr ElBaradei undermined US and Brit claims that Iraq had attempted to reinvigorate its nuclear weapons program. Documents produced by Brit intel and given to the US, allegedly showing Iraqi officials trying to buy uranium in Niger, were false, Dr ElBaradei said. The FBI is now investigating the documents but the forgeries are so crude, IAEA officials question why the US and Brit gave them currency. Most controversial are US claims, repeated by Mr Powell and Mr Bush at the UN, that Iraq attempted to import high-strength aluminum tubes to be used to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. In 3 reports, Dr ElBaradei has questioned the claim but Mr Powell keeps repeating it. Mr Powell's "aluminum tubes" claim has angered David Albright, a physicist and former expert adviser to the IAEA. He had produced a report highly critical of the CIA analysis which led to the claim that the tubes were for use in a secret nuclear program. Dr Albright said DoE experts argued against the CIA analysis and tried to change Mr Powell's speech before he gave it to the Sec Council. They failed. Dr Albright says he offered to discuss his criticism with the CIA but it refused to meet him. Unfortunately, he said, the CIA analyst convinced Vice-Pres Dick Cheney and CIA chief George Tenet. "That's what makes it hard for anyone to back down". Dr Albright is now seen as a Bush critic, although he had been working to expose Iraq's nuclear plans. He still believes there is a small possibility Iraq does have some secret nuclear program. In his Mar 7 report, Dr ElBaradei said there was no evidence, to date, that Iraq had revived its nuclear program. While Dr Blix has more concerns about Iraq's chem and biological programs, he too has raised questions over Mr Powell's intelligence presentation. Inspectors have found no evidence to support Mr Powell's claims that mobile labs with biological weapons are being moved around to deceive inspectors. Dr Blix said inspections had found food-testing mobile labs and mobile workshops but "no evidence of proscribed activities have so are been found". Last wk Dr Blix was asked about a confidential interview with Saddam Hussein's son-in-law in 1995 which lends some weight to Iraq's claims it had destroyed its WMD in the 90s. Gen Hussein Kamal was questioned at length about Iraq's programs when he defected to Jordan. He told UN inspectors that "I ordered the destruction of all chemical weapons. All weapons -- biological, chemical, nuclear were destroyed". Gen Kamal was shot when he returned to Baghdad but Dr Blix said the general's claims were not able to be verified, and his orders may not have been followed. Former inspectors also say Iraq could have easily revived its chem and biological programs after inspectors were barred from Iraq in 1999. The wrangling over the evidence for Iraq's weapons programs climaxed early this wk when US and Brit officials virtually accused Dr Blix of hiding information damaging to Iraq in his Mar 7 report. Dr Blix made a brief reference in his report to Iraq's attempts to develop a drone -- a remote-controlled aircraft, that the US claimed could be used to disperse biological or chem weapons. Reports on the so-called secret drone program appeared on the front pages of newspapers around the world. The Iraqis had, in fact, declared the program to inspectors. And when they showed the drone to reporters it turned out to be a crude prototype which has never flown more than 4 km. A UN weapons adviser said the technology was 30 yo. "In terms of military significance -- there isn't any." Like other advisers, the analyst was frustrated that time was wasted on the drone controversy when more important questions about Iraq's chem and biological programs were outstanding. Russian restaurant bans UK, US citizens in war protest Moscow (ABC). A restaurant in Russia's Ural Mountains has decided to ban customers from Brit and the US, to protest the possible military action against Iraq. Russia's ITAR-TASS news agency says the restaurant, popular with W-ers, has put up signs in English and Russian on the front door informing patrons there are new requirements to have a meal: do not be Brit or American. The owners say they realise they will lose money but believe if every Russian protests against a war on Iraq, things will change. According to opinion polls, only 2% of Russians support a US-led action against Iraq. Gold, oil surge; stocks, USD sag Singapore (Reuters). Prices of gold and oil jumped on Mon, while stocks and the USD slipped as markets braced for war after Washington gave the UN one more day to authorize force to compel Iraq's disarmament. Crude oil futures charged more than $1 higher in trading in Asia, after the US and its allies seemed close to abandoning efforts to gain internat'l approval for military action. The USD fell against the yen and the euro as Pres Saddam Hussein also girded for battle, telling military cmdrs Iraq would take the war anywhere in the world if attacked, "wherever there is sky, land or water." Spot gold surged $US8 in Asia trading on Mon, hitting $US344 by 0640 GMT, compared with NY's last indicated price of $US336.10/oz. Tokyo shares lost 1.64%, Seoul stocks plunged 4.17% and all other Asian markets were lower as well. European stocks were also expected to fall after posting their best back-to-back gains in y last wk. Pres Bush said on Sun the 15-member Sec Council had to agree in the next 24 hr on a resolution laying the groundwork for war. He left no doubt after an emergency summit on Sun with the leaders of Brit, Spain and Portugal on the Azores Islands that the US and its allies would otherwise move to invade Iraq without UN backing. Singapore (Reuters). WAR'S IMPACT ON WORLD ECONOMY! Tokyo's Nikkei average closed down 1.64% at 7,871.64 today, slightly above a 20-y low. Mizuho Financial Group, the world's largest bank, slid 8.32%. "What makes us worried the most is a possible negative impact on the US economy from this Iraq issue -- the economy Japan is largely dependent on," said Hiroshi Nishida, general manager at Mitsubishi Trust Asset Management. Sony Corp, the world's largest consumer electronics maker, lost 1.17% and other big Asian exporters fell as well, after Bush's ultimatum pushed down the dollar. S Korean shares ended at a fresh 17-m low as foreign investors fled the market. Samsung Electronics, the world's biggest memory chip maker, lost 2.87%. Taiwan stocks closed 2.64% lower and AUS fell 0.51%. HK was down 1.72% and Singapore had dropped 1.94% by mid-afternoon. US light crude jumped $1.44 to $36.82/bbl by 0640 GMT from Fri's close in NY, as traders fear war may disrupt supplies from producers in the Middle E, which pump about 40% of globally-traded oil. At 0645 GMT the dollar was at 117.82 yen from around 118.25 late on Fri but fears that Japanese authorities may intervene to prop up the dollar limited its downside. The euro had firmed to $1.0824 against 1.0739. US Treasuries rallied in Asian trade on the looming war and rising expectations the US Fed Reserve may cut rates, or leave the door open for monetary easing down the road, at its monetary policy meeting on Tue. The Fed has chopped rates to a 4-decade low but the job market is floundering and consumer sentiment is at a 10-y low in the world's biggest economy. More clues on the US economy's health -- crucial to Asia's export-oriented economies -- will come from a report on housing starts on Tue, weekly jobless claims on Thu and US consumer price data on Fri. NY. UN CLOSED-DOOR MEETING ON IRAQ! The UN Sec Council will meet in closed session on Iraq early tomorrow. A UN rep says the meeting will start around 2 am AEDT. The announcment comes just hrs after the US Pres met with key allies and gave the UN a 24-hr ultimatum to OK military action against Iraq. Bush issued the threat after holding a 90-min meeting with 2 key allies -- Brit and Spain. N Korea close to nuclear capability, US says Seoul. The US says N Korea might be closer to producing more nuclear weapons than many believe. The US says N Korea could be producing material for nuclear bombs in a matter of m and using 2 separate methods. A uranium enrichment program is feared to be involved. James Kelly of the State Dept confronted the N Koreans over the existence of the program last Oct, the start of the latest crisis. Now Mr Kelly has told Congress the program is much further advanced than many assumed. "It's not somewhere off in the fog of the distant future," he said. Beijing. NEW-LOOK CHINA CABINET! New Prem Wen Jiabao has won approval for a cabinet line-up he hopes will undertake a series of difficult and painful reforms. 28 ministers, 4 vice-premiers and 5 state councillors were endorsed by the National People's Congerss. The nwe cabinet has a fresh look, with 17 new faces, although 11 ministers from Li Peng's State Council kept their portfolios. Wen, elected PM yesterday, has already underlined his determination to rid the govt of some messy bureaucracy. Canberra. AUS WAR CABINET MEETS! PM John Howard says fed cabinet will meet this evening to start discussions on Iraq. Howerevb he says Cabinet will not make a final decision on whether to commit the already-deployed Aussie troops to a war on Iraq. Mr Howard says he spoke to US Pres Bush Jr at lunchtime today to "discuss developments" after the meeting between the US, Brit amd Spanish leaders in the Azores. Phnom Penh. GENOCIDE TRIALS! The UN and Cambodia have finally agreed to set up a sopecial genocide court for former leaders of the KR. Cambodian officials say the draft agreement has been finalised, more than 5 y agyer negotiations started. The draft agreement now has to be approved by the UN GA and the Cambodian Nat'l Ass'y before work can go ahead on actually setting up the court. The utlra-Maoist Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia from 1975 to 1979 and are held responsible for the deaths of about 1.7 mn people. London. ANTHRAX VAC MAY BE POISON! A TV doc says samples of anthrax vaccine have been found to contain a banned substance that could threaten Brit troops' health. The ITV1 program Tinight with Trevor McDonald says Brit Min of Def tabletys were analysed and found to contain squalene, an agent which could damage nerves, cardiac tissues or skin. Squalene has not been granted a license for use in drugs, has never been incl in the UK licensed anthrax vaccine, and is not used in the production of vaccine. Gaza City. CHILD SHOT DEAD BY ARMY! 3 people, incl a 13-yo boy, have been shot dead by Isreali troops making an incursion into Nusseirat refugee camp in the C Gaza Strip. Hospital sources say 12 other people have been wounedd during the incursion, 3 of them in serious condition. The Isreali army launched a major incursion into Nuseirat refugee camp before dawn. About 30 armored vehicles with bulldozers and infantry forces made their way several 100s m into the camp from Netzarim settlement. Baby shot in head as 6 die in Gaza raid Gaza (ABC). A baby shot in the head is one of 6 people killed in an Israeli raid on Gaza refugee camp. 3 other people were shot dead incl a 13-yo boy. A 5th person was crushed under the rubble of a house blown up by the army as it raided the Nusseirat refugee camp. It is not known how the 6th person died. 12 people were wounded in the raid involving about 30 armoured vehicles with bulldozers and infantry forces. Israeli bulldozer crushes US peace activist Gaza (AFP). An Israeli army bulldozer has crushed to death a US peace activist trying to prevent house demolitions in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli fire also killed 2 Palestinians in separate incidents. The killings occurred as Israel sealed off the territories amid fears of an attack during the spring festival of Purim and as a US-led war against Iraq loomed. Peace activist Rachel Corrie, a 23-yo woman from Washington DC, died today when a military bulldozer ran over her in the town of Rafah, said Rafah hospital's chief doctor Ali Mussa and another US activist who witnessed the incident. "She was sitting in the path of the bulldozer. The bulldozer saw her and ran over her. She ended up completely underneath it," fellow activist Joseph Smith told AFP. "He absolutely knew she was there," added Smith, a 20-yo student from Missouri. The army had no immediate comment on Corrie's death. Mussa said she had died of injuries to her head and legs, while Palestinian officials said the Israeli bulldozers had destroyed 2 houses before the young woman's death. Israel forces make frequent incursions from their border positions into Rafah, a sprawling autonomous town with a large refugee population. Dozens of people and several soldiers have been killed in the sector. The area is another flashpoint in the conflict which has claimed 3,089 people, incl 2,314 Palestinians and 717 Israelis. Increasingly deadly Israeli raids in the Gaza Strip, a stronghold of militant Islamic groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad, earlier this m drew a rare US rebuke to Israel for the mounting civilian death toll. Last Thu, the Israeli daily Haaretz leaked a govt document revealing that of 1,945 Palestinians killed by the Israeli army in the uprising against Israeli occupation, 365 were innocent civilians, incl 130 under the age of 16. In an editorial today, Haaretz slammed the army for its use of force, criticised this m by Brit For Sec Jack Straw as "indiscriminate." Haaretz said the army, "which brought up generations of soldiers on the myth of purity of arms and educated its commanders with the idea of the moral deliberating soldier ... is turning into a killing machine whose efficiency is awe-inspiring, yet shocking." Meanwhile, Israel braced for a US-led attack on Iraq which could see Iraqi missiles hit the country as they did in the 1991 Gulf War, with Sharon hinting he will strike back if attacked. "I think there is a strong possibility that Israel will not be attacked. We have taken all the necessary precautions. But if Israel is attacked, it will know how to defend itself. We have expressed ourselves clearly on this point," Sharon warned. Defence Min Shaul Mofaz said Israel would hit back militarily if Baghdad attacked. Perth. NEW FLU IN AUS ALREADY! A perth woman is suspectyed of landing the first case of a mysterious new killer flu. The woman has been admitted to Perth Hosp with breathing difficulties after returning from HK. At present the death toll from the repiratory disease, which is belived to be a virus, stands at 9. More than 100 people are presentkly being treated woirkld-wide for a-typical pneumonia. [In reports tonight, a 2nd woman in MEL has also been admitted to hosp with breathing difficulties. Experts stress neither case has been confirmed to be SARS.] Global alert continues over killer pneumonia Canberra (ABC). AUS health authorities are on the alert for a severe type of pneumonia that has killed at least 9 people, infected more than 100 and sparked a warning from the WHO. Doctors and hospitals across the country are on the lookout for people with the symptoms, which incl 38 deg fever and rapidly progressing respiratory problems. The spread of the disease has alarmed travelers. In HK's internat'l airport, many people arriving from Taiwan, Singapore and elsewhere were wearing surgical masks. A rep for the Geneva-based WHO says there are reports 2 people from the same family have died in Canada, taking the death toll to 9 worldwide since the 1st outbreak of SARS, an atypical pneumonia whose cause is not yet known, was detected in China in Feb. In Geneva, health authorities say 2 people who had recently travelled in SE Asia are under observation in hospital with breathing problems. They gave no further details. The illness, which starts with flu-like symptoms such as coughing, high fever and shortness of breath, can deteriorate rapidly into pneumonia. Sydney. BIO THREAT NOT REAL! An adviser to the fed govt says the spectre of a bio attacjk on AUS is a phantom threat. Prof Lyn Gilbert says the risk of AUS experiencing a smallpox attack is somewhere between extremely low and negligible. Prof Gilbert us a member of the Inf Dis Emerg Resp Working Party, advising the govt on bio-terriorism. AUS has stockpiled 50,000 doses of smallpox vaccine which would be used selectively on memebrs of the public in the event of an outbreak. Sydney. PASSENEGRS CHECKED FOR KILLER FLU! NSW health officials are invesigating whether any locals have come into contact with a deadly respiratory illness spreading from Asia. State dir of communicable diseases, Jeremy McAnulty, says they've been a few calls from concerned Aussies cinec the WHO issued an alert about the pneumonia-like severe acute respiratory syndrome, or SARS, yesterady. However, he says there has not been any confirmed, or even probably, cases at this stage. Potentially deadly virus sparks mozzie warning Perth. Newcomers to the Pilbara and Kimberley, in NW WA, are being warned to protect themselves from mosquito bites, following the detection of a potentially fatal virus. Health authorities say Murray Valley encephalitis has been detected for the 1st time this wet season in the Fitzroy Crossing area. The disease killed 4 people in WA 10 y ago and claimed another victim in 2000. The dept's scientific officer, Sue Harrington, says visitors to the N and young children tend to be the most susceptible. "People really do need to take getting bitten by mosquitos seriously...so we need to be avoiding mosquitos -- there's lots of things you can do about that...by wearing the appropriate clothes and repellents and avoiding being outside at dusk and dawn when mosquitos are most active, and making sure you've got those insect screens in place," she said. Canberra. GOVT DOESNT LINK TRADE WITH IRAQ! PM Howard has rejected any link between the FTA being nogotiated with the US and AUS's position on Iraq. But observers say the same may not be true of the US. Chile had signed an FTA with the US last y, but the US has now indicated it may not be ratified by Congress. Chile has indicated it will not support a 2nd res authoriting war on Iraq. Canberra. LEAVE IRAQ ASAP! The fed govt has called on the 50 remaining AUssies in Iraq to quit the country immediately. For Af Min Alex Downer says war is imminent, and is likely before the end of the wk. Mr Downer says US Pres Bush Jr is expected to give the go-ahead if the UN Sec Council continues to block and authorisation for military action. Melbourne. ARSONISTS! Arsonists are believed to have lit 3 fires which are burning out of control in state forest nr Ballarat in W Vic. Authorities say they suspect arson because the 3 outbreaks are close together. The fires have burned out about 4 ha in an old gold mining area 2 km S of Scarsdale. Ground crews are fighting the blazes, along with 3 helitankers, a water-bombing plane and an aerial observer aircraft. US promises "blitzkrieg" war NY (The Sun Times). US cmdrs have promised war as it has never been seen before. [Outside of Nazi Germny!] The aim, they say, is to shock the Iraqis into defeat. If war is declared this wk, planes and armoured units will tear across Iraq in a 48-hr blitzkrieg. Cruise missiles will be launched from ships and submarines, Brit Tornado fighters will fire bunker-buster missiles, and electronic bombs will disrupt communications. Harlan Ullman, a former US Navy pilot who co-wrote the book Shock and Awe, says it will be nothing like the last Gulf War, when reporters in Baghdad watched cruise missiles skim above the streets. "I don't think anyone will be venturing outside during this attack," Ullman said. "During the last Gulf War the allies launched 325 cruise and precision-guided bombs on the 1st day of a 40-day air campaign; now they are talking about 3000 in 48 hours." The aim of the onslaught is to achieve "rapid dominance" psychologically and militarily. Ullman added: "The idea is to replicate the shock and awe created by a nuclear bomb, but using conventional weapons." In 1991 only 10% of the bombs were precision-guided. This time, more than 90% will be guided by lasers homing in to beacons positioned by special forces. Targets not likely to be bombed are suspected sites of weapons of mass destruction because Pres George Bush Jr wants evidence intact. Also spared will be civil radio stations, bridges, railway stations, roads and most regular army units. The SAS and US rangers will hunt 30 or so mobile Scud missile launchers aided by 100s of unmanned aircraft equipped with spy cameras and missiles. By dawn, Iraq's military and political infrastructure is likely to have been shattered, say analysts. Leaders will have disappeared, entire military units will have been obliterated, power supplies will have shut down, but the visible damage will be surprisingly small. At dawn 100s of helicopters will appear as entire brigades are dropped deep into Iraq, the 1st mass ground operations, to take the oilfields. With Turkey still refusing to admit US troops, Gen Franks is believed to be planning a 2-pronged armoured thrust into Iraq from the S. The 1st will loop from the W around the S port of Basra, cutting off Iraq's 2nd city. The 2nd will start its left hook on Baghdad at the same time, speeding across the W Desert to the outskirts of Baghdad within 3 days. If Hussein has not capitulated, the political imperative to minimise civilian casualties will have to be put aside for street to street fighting. War virtually inevitable says Cheney Washington. American officials are warning that the only way to avoid war is for Iraqi Pres Saddam Hussein to step down. US Vice-Pres Dick Cheney appears to have gone even further, suggesting war is inevitable no matter what Saddam Hussein does. "We've done virtually everything we can with respect to trying to organise a 2nd resolution in the UN Sec Council and clearly the Pres (George W Bush) is going to have to make a very very difficult and important decision here in the next few days," Mr Cheney said. The US is poised to launch a final round of diplomacy in the hope of bringing around UN Sec Council members unwilling to support a resolution authorising military action against Iraq. And the US State Dept has ordered all but essential embassy staff in the Middle E to leave the area, signalling war could be close. The telephone diplomacy follows a summit in the Azores where the leaders of the US, Brit and Spain gave the internat'l community until tomorrow to achieve solidarity. France, Russia and some other Sec Council members remain unconvinced of the need for immediate military action. Iraqi ambassador to the UN, Mohammed Al Douri, says his country has done everything to satisfy UN disarmament demands. "We need some time to ... give evidence to the internat'l community that there is no more, any kind, any quantity of anthrax and VX," he said. The US says its decision to withdraw staff from Israel, Syria and Kuwait, is a result of a deteriorating security situation in the region and fears of anti-US attacks. The State Dept has issued a strong warning to its citizens to cancel plans to travel to the 3 countries and for Americans already there to leave immediately. Brit meanwhile has told all its nat'ls living in Kuwait except diplomatic staff to leave the Gulf state as soon as possible. Brit's FO warns Iraq may attack with chem and biological weapons. It says the threat to Brit citizens and organisations from terrorism is "high" and terrorists may use chem or biological materials. Mr Blair has pledged that after any war, Iraq's oil will remain the property of the people of Iraq, administered through the UN. [Just as long as it's cheap!] Mr Bush also says the UN must have a role in rebuilding Iraq. French Pres Jacques Chirac says the case for war is still weak. He says the presence of Brit and American troops in the area is sufficient threat to ensure continued Iraqi cooperation with weapons inspectors. Chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix is continuing with his work to present a new report to the Sec Council. Despite all the signs the window for a diplomatic solution is closing, Dr Blix says he is continuing his preparations to submit a program of work or roadmap for the completion of the disarmament process in Iraq. It would cover disarmament issues the UN inspectors consider important, he says, implying they would not necessarily tally with those deemed essential by Brit and the US. France says war only days away NY (ABC). France's For Min has joined his Brit counterpart in saying that military action against Iraq is only days away. Dominique de Villepin says the determination of the US to disarm Iraq by force is very strong. Mr Villepin says the UN Sec Council should meet immediately after the next inspectors' report, due on Tue, to decide on a calendar for Iraq to disarm. He says France remains opposed to force against Iraq and there should be a final moment of reflection at the UN. The French comments come ahead of a summit meeting in the Azores tomorrow between US Pres George W Bush and PMs Tony Blair of Brit and Jose Maria Aznar of Spain, the 3 main advocates of using force against Iraq.Blix Meanwhile chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix says he and the UN's nuclear expert, Mohamed ElBaradei will talk today about an Iraqi invitation to visit Baghdad as soon as possible. Dr Blix says he has only just seen the invitation to visit Baghdad. Hain spells out price for backing Blair London (The Guardian). Cabinet Min Peter Hain today lays out the price of support for Tony Blair over Iraq: a radical reshaping of New Labour after the looming Gulf war, with a much greater emphasis on the redistribution of wealth. The Welsh secretary plays down talk of a massive Commons rebellion this wk. In an interview with the Guardian, he says: "My instinct is that a lot of people who may still have big reservations about this course of action will not want to destabilise Tony Blair's authority at this critical moment." After the war is over, though, Mr Hain makes clear that the "trajectory of the govt" will need to be changed in order to enthuse party activists. "We'll have to make it clearer that we are a party that believes in redistribution of wealth and income." He suggests that part of the reason why so many Labour supporters are not backing Mr Blair over Iraq is that they have become disillusioned with the govt. Mr Hain warns fellow ministers against "any triumphalism" after the war, and calls for "lines in the sand" with Washington over other issues, such as the Kyoto protocol. US protesters plan to surround White House Washington. 100s of 1000s of people on every continent have taken part in rallies against a possible war on Iraq. 10s of 1000s of protesters are currently rallying across the US. In Washington protesters at the scene of one of the biggest marches are saying war is not inevitable. Protesters in Washington have begun marching to the White House, which they intend to surround. But in Atlanta, 1000s of people have turned out to support US troops in Iraq. Meanwhile 70 former members of the congress issued a statement to coincide with the nat'l peace protests, asking that Pres Bush give UN weapons inspectors more time. Large demos against a war in Iraq have also taken place across Europe. Police say over 400,000 people marched through the streets of Milan in a protest organised by Italy's largest union, CGIL, which says a general strike will bring the country to a standstill if the war goes ahead. Other smaller protests occurred across Europe, with Muslim marchers in London urging Arab nations not to support the US-led war. Rallies were also held in Leeds and Newcastle. In Germany, 100s of anti-war activists staged a sit-in protest at an American air base nr Frankfurt. Rallies were also held in Russia, but turnout was low. Confusing message in giant Baghdad rally Baghdad. As Saddam Hussein formally put Iraq on a war footing yesterday, 10s of 1000s of soldiers, public servants and school children were bussed to Baghdad's Mansour Square for a flag-burning rally against the threat of war. Despite limited signs of readiness for war in Baghdad, a decree from the Revolutionary Command Council divided Iraq into 4 military districts, all of them under the over-all control of Pres Saddam, "to take the necessary steps to repulse and destroy any foreign aggression". And leadership in the fight for Baghdad, where Pres Saddam has declared he will make a last stand, was entrusted to Qusay Hussein, his 36-yo 2nd son who heads the Republican Guard and is touted as the heir apparent. 100s of buses and trucks clogged the city as they ferried protesters from all corners of the country. Many demonstrators said they had been ordered to attend. Groups of distracted school children jostled with religious and ethnic groups while soldiers wielding Kalashnikovs waved banners and chanted praise for Pres Saddam. The crowd varied from colourfulness to defiance -- chanting dervishes ran their tongues along the sharpened blades of their swords and there were bursts of flame and smoke as the US and Israeli flags were torched. But by the time the last units had passed the dais, it was still difficult to gauge their feelings as war bears down on them. Clearly Pres Saddam can still put a crowd in the streets, but many of those who had weapons did not have ammunition -- that was reserved for the regular soldiers watching over the rally. And in the absence of overt military activity in Baghdad, one of the great uncertainties of this conflict is getting a fix on how the civilian population will heed the Pres's call to arms. Yesterday's marchers were voluble about conspiracy -- the US wants Iraq's huge oil reserves and the Israelis want the Euphrates River -- but they had less to say about Pres Saddam than at such gatherings in the past. So it is difficult to read their minds, just as it was difficult to read the mind of Aziz Shalh al-Noman, a snr Baath Party official who, along with his uniformed colleagues on the dais, seemed to be as distracted as most of the protesters. Bible in hand, the marines wait for battle N Kuwait. The young US marine sat on an ammunition box in a tent, cradling his automatic rifle. "I'm scared to death... I don't mind telling you," he said. The longer world leaders squabble over Iraq, delaying a US-led invasion of the country, the tougher it gets for 10s of 1000s of US and Brit troops living in Kuwaiti desert camps nr the border with Iraq. "I have doubts about all this... real doubts," said the marine, who comes from Alabama. "The other night I read a passage in the Bible and I realised that I have been trained to do a job and I must do it, but I want to be home with my fiance real bad." Desert winds of up to 100 kmh often whip up the sand, blinding the soldiers, blowing down tents and damaging sensitive equipment like computers. The air is so heavy with sand that it killed the chickens the military brought in to alert soldiers to a chem or biological attack. Soldiers in some of the camps, who have been here for 4 m, queue for up to 40 min to get one hot meal a day. The mail is usually late arriving. There are long queues to make telephone calls. And the daytime temperature is quickly rising as summer approaches. This will soon be one of the world's hottest places. But, most of all, the soldiers just want the war to start or to go home. Another marine, about 20, told his sergeant yesterday he was upset because he had heard a rumour that a decision on the war had been delayed 45 days. The sgt told him the army lore about rumours. The road to war is a 6-lane highway packed day and night with convoys of trucks transporting weapons, tanks, ammunition, food and other supplies to the camps from ports in Kuwait City. More camps are still being put up. But troops in combat units massed nr the border are mostly taking it easy, tinkering with their weapons and machinery, making sure everything is working. The frequent exercises they had been conducting for m have largely stopped, replaced by briefings on how the soldiers are to conduct themselves in any war with Iraq, incl the rules of engagement. A US Marines cmdr, Maj-Gen Jim Mattis, has told journalists living in the camps that war with Iraq this time would be a "different ballgame" from the last in 1991 because the lives of many civilian Iraqis, victims themselves of the Baghdad regime, would be at risk. He said soldiers had been briefed to spare civilians and civilian property and to "use your brain before you use your weapon". US cmdrs are worried that the Iraqi military intends to deploy forces near mosques, schools and other areas where civilians congregate. Extensive briefings have also been held on how the soldiers are to handle prisoners of war. A few days ago, according to reports the US military has not confirmed, some Iraqi soldiers turned up at the border wanting to surrender. They were told to go away, the war had not started. The briefings break the monotony of the soldiers' time. Many spend their days reading or watching videos while snr officers revise battle plans which, they say, inevitably keep changing. Other officers assess intel reports about Iraqi units stationed across the border, where sections of the fence have already being pulled down. Gen Mattis told journalists that there could always be more to do in preparing for war but that his marines were "ready to go". The US Ist Marine Division has named one of its biggest camps Matilda because of its relationship with AUS troops at Guadalcanal during the WWII. Waltzing Matilda is the division's theme song. Exodus begins from strategic N town Qushtapa (The Guardian). It was the knock on the door at 5 am that convinced Ali Bresmani it was time to leave. 5 Iraqi security officers armed with Kalashnikovs burst into his flat. "They searched the entire house. They looked in the cupboards. They looked in the refrigerator. They even searched under the duvet," he said. "They were looking for hidden weapons or people." The war in Iraq may not have started yet, but the exodus of refugees has already begun. Shortly after Iraq's secret police called at his home in the N city of Kirkuk, Ali decided to escape, travelling across a smuggling route into the W-protected enclave of N Iraq. Over the past 4 days nearly 2,000 refugees have streamed out of Kirkuk, bringing few possessions, but laden with stories of searches, arrests and night-time disappearances. Those who have left Kirkuk say the Iraqi authorities have made elaborate preparations to defend the city against US attack and to crush any potential uprising by its majority Kurds. Iraqi soldiers are getting ready for street fighting, refugees say. One refugee, too scared to give her name, said residents living in 3- and 4-storey buildings had been evicted to make way for Iraqi snipers. The campaign of mass arrests and detentions began last wk after protesters apparently destroyed a giant poster of Pres Saddam. The city was then gripped by rumours that Ali Hassan al-Majid, Pres Saddam's cousin and the man who gassed the Kurds in 1988, had arrived from Baghdad. Since then a steady stream of vehicles -- ancient buses, cars and packed orange-and-white taxis -- have crossed into the mountains, and the N safe haven outside Pres Saddam's control. Yesterday dozens of Kurdish refugees queued up to register at a makeshift camp at the Kurdish checkpoint of Qushtapa, 72 km N of Kirkuk. Those with relatives in the enclave were allowed to continue to Irbil, the Admin capital of the Kurdish zone. One refugee says he's staying with relatives in Benislawa, an encampment of shabby concrete bungalows settled by earlier Kurdish refugees. The oilfield nr his home in Kirkuk had been on fire for the past 3 wks, he said, after TNT planted around it exploded. Kirkuk is next to Iraq's most important N oilfields, and remained under Pres Saddam's control after the Gulf war while other Kurdish areas to the N achieved effective autonomy under the protection of Brit and American warplanes. 10s of 1000s of Kurds have left Kirkuk for the safe haven over the past 10 y. Pres Saddam, meanwhile, has moved Arab settlers into the Kirkuk area and enforced a so-called nat'lity "correction campaign" in which Kurds have been forced to adopt Arab names or risk losing their homes. Many have been expelled anyway. Now, though, Kirkuk's Arab settlers are terrified, too, fearful that when the city falls they will be the object of reprisals. Shi'ites promise action against Saddam N Iraq (ABC). 100s of fighters from the main Shi'ite opp'n to Saddam Hussein have held a military parade in N Iraq. Their leaders are vowing to act independently of the US to oust the Iraqi regime. Sporting brand new uniforms, guns, mortars and rocket launchers, fighters from the Shi'ite al-Badr Brigade put on a show of military force at their base in the autonomous zone in N Iraq. While promising to help topple Saddam Hussein, leaders of the Iranian-backed brigade say they will act independently to the US. The al-Badr Brigade is estimated to number between 10-15,000, and the Shi'ite group has long been opposed to Saddam Hussein's mainly Sunni Muslim regime. 'Rolling start' a big risk, experts say Camp Doha, Kuwait (NY Times). The US-led coal'n is planning for a complex invasion of Iraq to begin before all the allied troops have arrived in the region, snr cmdrs say. With 3-dozen ships carrying heavy tanks and equipment for the US Army's 4th Infantry Division waiting off the coast of Turkey because of a political stand-off, the military is scrambling to put together a back-up plan for the N front of a war with Iraq. In Kuwait, only a portion of the 101st Airborne Division's 3 brigades -- equipped with Apache gunships and Black Hawk troop carriers -- is ready to be sent into combat. 3 powerful armoured units are still in the US or Europe and will not be in the Persian Gulf region until mid to late Apr. "We recognised from the very beginning that we're going to be fighting and building up combat power at about the same time," said Lt-Gen William Wallace, who would lead the army's attack. But some military experts are worried by this plan, which has come to be called a "rolling start" to a possible war. The concept gives the coal'n's cmdrs the option of starting at any time. Meanwhile, as diplomacy delays military action, the coal'n can continue to assemble an ever more threatening force. But the adoption of a "rolling start" marks a sharp departure from the doctrine articulated by US Secretary of State Colin Powell, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. During the Gulf War of 1991, under his leadership, the military took 6 m to assemble an overwhelming force, which stormed into Kuwait only after a massive build-up was completed and allied warplanes carried out a 39-day bombardment of Iraq and its army of occupation. The staggered arrival stems partly from the limited capacity of Kuwait's ports, but it also reflects Def Sec Donald Rumsfeld's view that large, heavy ground forces are not always needed. However, some former American cmdrs from the 1991 conflict say the US would be in a better position and could keep risks to its troops to a minimum if it had more forces on hand. For the 1st time, the Bush Admin has identified several snr Iraqi officials, incl Saddam Hussein, who would be tried for war crimes or crimes against humanity after an attack on Iraq, a snr US official has said. In addition to Pres Saddam and his 2 sons, Uday and Qusay, the list incl Ali Hassan al-Hamid, who was the governor of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait in 1990-91, and Muhammad Hamza al-Zubaidi, whom the Admin says was responsible for atrocities against Shiites in S Iraq in 1991. Other Iraqi officials on the list incl Aziz Shalh al-Noman, the 2nd governor of Iraqi-occupied Kuwait; Izzat Ibrahim, the deputy commander of the Iraqi military; Abid Hamid al-Tikriti, the Pres's secretary; and Hani Abd al-Latif Tilfah, the director of the security organisation that the US says is in charge of hiding Iraq's WMD. Qatar. TROOPS BREAK SEALS. In another sign war is just days away, soldiers in the Gulf have started breaking the seals on their chemical warfare suits. The suits come in plastic packets because they degrade when exposed to air. The suites are designed to for a fight lasting 45 days. Kuwait. IRAQ MASSES ITS FORCES! Observers are counting Iraq's military assets. While the numbers are impressive, most say the war is as good as won by the Coal'n thanks to its stunning technological edge. While Iraq has 2,000 tanks -- 4 times the US deployment -- only about 1/3 are up-to-date. It has 150 jets [SBS says 300 "aircraft"], compared with 750 in the US force. The Iraqi military has a total of about 400,000 troops -- outnumbering the Coal'n by almost 2 to 1. But only 100,000 are members of the battle-ready Republican Guard. There are only 15,000 members of the super-elite presidential Guard who are expected to mount a last-ditch defence of Baghdad. Split widens on eve of war Sydney (The Age). PM John Howard yesterday warned Aussies to be ready for war within days, saying an attack on Iraq would be legal with or without a new UN resolution. Mr Howard's warning came as Opp'n Leader Simon Crean strengthened Labor's anti-war stance -- virtually ensuring the nation goes to war politically divided. US Pres George Bush hinted that war was imminent before he flew to an emergency summit in the mid-Atlantic with Brit Prime Min Tony Blair and Spain's Jose Maria Aznar. Brit and the US have virtually abandoned efforts to secure a 2nd UN resolution authorising force, and will rely on the previous resolution, 1441, despite opp'n from France, Russia and Germany. The bombing campaign is expected to be launched within days unless Saddam Hussein agrees to leave Iraq for exile. Mr Crean virtually confirmed that the war would not have bipartisan political support from the outset. He told the Nine Network's Sun program that he would tell the Labor caucus tomorrow that the party should oppose war unless it has outright approval from the Sec Council. This approach would be more militant than Labor's previous position, which reserved the right to support a war even if one of the Sec Council members exercised a veto. But Labor's position was weakened yesterday by apparent confusion over the legality of a US-led attack without UN approval. For aff rep Kevin Rudd told ABC TV's Insiders that action would be "illegal if we're talking about collective action under the collective action provisions of the UN Sec Council". Mr Crean, however, said the "jury's out" on whether an invasion would be illegal if not backed by a UN resolution. Following the collapse of internat'l diplomatic efforts on Fri to secure a 2nd UN resolution, Mr Bush appeared to be preparing to announce his decision to go to war, saying in his weekly radio address: "There is little reason to hope that Saddam Hussein will disarm." His National Security Adviser, Condoleezza Rice, told al-Jazeera television that the White House was closing the door on further debate on the resolution. "This has gone on long enough," she said. France, Russia and Germany issued a joint statement calling for emergency UN talks and suggesting there could be compromise on time limits set for inspectors to disarm Iraq. French For Min Dominique de Villepin urged Brit and the US to rethink their war strategy and attend an emergency UN Sec Council meeting tomorrow. He said France was prepared to bring forward its timetable for weapons inspection. Crean toughens anti-invasion stand Canberra. Labor has called for AUS's troops to be sent home and unequivocally ruled out supporting war in Iraq in the absence of a new Sec Council resolution authorising military action. Simon Crean yesterday announced a toughening of Labor's position on Iraq, ruling out any consideration of support for war even in the event of a single country's veto of a majority Sec Council vote. The Opp'n Leader called for UN weapons inspectors to be given more time, and accused John Howard of being locked into US war plans. "John Howard should be bringing the troops home that have been pre-deployed. He should not be committing those troops that are there in the absence of a UN authority," Mr Crean told the Nine Network's Sun program. "There is an alternative way. We can achieve the peaceful disarmament of Iraq, but we have got to get behind the UN authority." He said UN weapons inspectors had made substantial progress and should be allowed to complete the tasks assigned to them under Sec Council resolution 1441. Mr Crean said Labor's earlier caveat on possible support for war in the event of a veto in the Sec Council no longer applied. It required 2 tests to be met: the establishment of a direct link between the Sep 11 attacks and Iraq, and clear evidence Iraq posed a direct threat to the security of the US and AUS. "Neither of those tests has been met since we put them down almost 12 m ago," Mr Crean said. Mr Howard accused Mr Crean yesterday of being contradictory and hypocritical in calling for AUS troops to be sent home. PM expects Bush to ask for troops soon Canberra. A request from the US for AUS troops to take part in war on Iraq is expected soon by PM John Howard. Mr Howard has asked his Cabinet to meet tonight amid signs a war with Iraq is imminent. After speaking this morning with the US Pres, Mr Howard has told a press conf Mr Bush did not ask for AUS troops to take part in military action but he expects the request soon. Mr Howard says negotiations in the Sec Council will conclude over the next few hr but he doubts the UN will pass the latest resolution on Iraq, and that increases the prospect of AUS going to war. Mr Crean has called on Mr Howard to release his legal advice on an Iraq war from the A-G and Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade. "It is morally wrong to do it without the authority of the UN and it may be legally wrong, but in any event it's wrong," he said. Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett has urged Cabinet tonight to reconsider Mr Howard's position. "The Australian Democrats absolutely condemn Mr Howard and his abhorrent enthusiasm in joining this rush for war," he said. He accused Mr Howard of allowing others to decide whether AUS will join possible war against Iraq. Fed Treasurer Peter Costello says military action may be the only way to save the lives of many Iraqi civilians. Mr Costello says 100s of 1000s of Iraqis have been murdered by Saddam Hussein's chem and biological weapons. Mr Costello says stability in the Middle E will only be achieved through military action. Fed Opp'n leader Simon Crean says it is a black day for AUS. "Today he (Mr Howard) has confirmed what we've said all along -- he'd made the commitment but he didn't have the courage to tell the Australian people and most importantly the troops that that's what he'd done," Mr Crean said. He believes war can still be avoided and he will not be offering bipartisan support. "I would urge the PM at this 11th hour [to] step back from the brink." Canberra. PM GETS CALL FROM BUSH! AUS PM John Howard received another phone call from Pres Bush toady. Mr Howard said the Pres told him the 2nd UN res authorising a US-led war with Iraq would be "resolved" on Mon NY time. But that didn't mean it would be passed, said Mr Howard. The PM said he was waiting for another call from the US Pres that would formally request Aussie troops. The PM says his stance to support the disarmament of Saddam by military action is right on both legal and moral grounds. AUS "human shields" vow to stay Baghdad (ABC). Aussies acting as human shields in Iraq are determined to stay despite the possibility of war. Port Kembla barrister Rosemary Gillespie, 62, is one of 5 Aussies covering 3 sites that may be of interest to the US military. "I am staying put and everybody, all the other Aussies who I have spoken to as of yesterday, intended to stay put," she said. "None of the people I have spoken to have indicated any intention of leaving whatsoever." In a later report on Ch 7, one protester from WA said he'd heard Pres Bush's speech last night and can't recall hearing as many distortions in as short a space of time previously. He says he will definitely not be leaving, saying it's a privilege to help protect ordinary Iraqis. He said like many citizens of Baghdad he won't be going to the bomb shelters when the attack starts. He says a family he had dinner with last night said they preferred to die in their own home. AUS Democrats ballot shows staunch opp'n to war Canberra (ABC). The Democrats say a "ballot" of 50,000 people has found more than 90% of those who voted are opposed to any war in Iraq. The party set up polling booths in cities in NSW asking people to choose between the options of no war, conflict with UN backing, or a US-led war. More than 92% of people who "voted" opposed any war. Less than 7% supported a war with a UN mandate and about 1% voted for a US-led attack. Democrats leader Andrew Bartlett says the poll reflects strong opp'n to war across the country. "It isn't any great surprise that the majority of Aussies don't want a war, and the majority of Aussies are very keen to encourage their leaders to do more to avert that war." Sen Bartlett says a minority of the votes were taken at a peace rally in SYD. Govt warns Aussies out of war risk zone Canberra (ABC). Aussies have been advised not to travel to Iraq, Israel or Kuwait because of the likely war in Iraq. The Fed Govt has also directed non-essential diplomatic staff in Tel Aviv to leave. There are new travel warnings for Qatar, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. The Foreign Affairs Dept says Aussies should defer any non-essential travel to those countries. Cabinet to decide war commitment within days: PM Canberra (Reuters). PM John Howard says he will ask Fed Cabinet to decide within days whether AUS should join a war against Iraq. Mr Howard says he expects to speak with the US Pres George W Bush and Brit PM Tony Blair "in the near future". He believes it is now unlikely a further UN resolution will be passed by the Sec Council, with France indicating it will use its veto power. Mr Howard says Cabinet will make a final decision as to whether to commit AUS troops to war, depending on the events of the next 24 hr. Fed Treasurer Peter Costello is calling on the internat'l community to unite as the world waits to hear if there will be a war. Mr Costello says stability in the Middle E will only be achieved through military action. Fed Opp'n leader Simon Crean has renewed his call for a peaceful solution to the Iraq crisis. Speaking at a St Patrick's day breakfast in MEL, Mr Crean says overnight developments arising from a meeting of the leaders of the US, Brit, and Spain, are disturbing. Mr Crean says he hopes common sense will prevail. "It's St Patrick's day today, I hope there's some of the luck of the Irish in this because we need some, we need some common sense and we need a bit of luck," he said. For Min Alexander Downer has advised a delegation from AUS not to visit Jakarta because of the prospect of war in Iraq. The group from the AUS-Indonesia Institute was due to visit Bali and Jakarta for discussions with high level officials. Mr Downer's office says the delegation came to the minister for advice and has decided to go to Bali but not Jakarta. Mr Downer has told Channel Nine there is no tension between the 2 countries over Iraq. "Our relationship with Indonesia has been very strong, I was there myself just under a wk ago and it's moving ahead very well." Little sleep impairs mind as much as no sleep A warning to Mosley Jones NY (Reuters Health). Many nights of little sleep -- fewer than 6 hr a night -- can impair mental performance as much as not getting a wink for 2 nights in a row, new research shows. The data contradict a popular notion that our bodies can become accustomed to functioning on sustained periods of little sleep without any consequences, said lead author Dr Hans P A Van Dongen, a research assistant professor at the Uni of Pennsylvania School of Medicine in Philadelphia. The 48 participants in the study were divided into 4 groups that slept either 4, 6 or 8 hr a night for 2 wks, or had no sleep for 3 days. The groups were monitored in a lab t'out the 2 wks to ensure that they did not nod off or use caffeine. They were assessed on a battery of mental and physiological tests periodically every day and were also asked to evaluate how tired they felt. People sleeping less than 8 hr a night were slower to react, less able to think clearly and perform simple memory tasks, the researchers report in the Mar issue of the journal Sleep. They also performed as poorly on certain tasks as the individuals evaluated after one or 2 nights of sleeplessness. However, getting some sleep made individuals feel less tired than those who went without sleep despite test results that showed they were just as impaired. As a consequence, Van Dongen told Reuters Health, there should be countermeasures in place for people who cannot avoid being chronically sleep-deprived, such as military personnel, trainee doctors, shift workers and others. Van Dongen recommends that these professions limit the number of hrs people are allowed to work, give people the opportunity to nap at "strategic times" or allow them to use caffeine or other chemical stimulants to maintain alertness. This study is important and "relevant" because it shows what happens when the body alone must deal with its tiredness in the absence of chemical stimulants like caffeine or other distractions, said Dr. Meir Kryger, a professor of medicine at the Uni of Manitoba in Winnipeg, Canada, and a sleep researcher. Data from the National Sleep Foundation show that Americans sleep an average 7 hr a night during the wk, although 31% of all adults regularly get less sleep. Climate change caused demise of Mayans: report Caracas (ABC). New research has found that climate change may have played a key role in the mysterious collapse of the Mayan civilisation in Central America more than 1,000 y ago. American and Swiss researchers, who studied the ancient build up of sediment on the sea floor off the N coast of Venezuela, said there was a century-long dry spell in the period before the demise of the Mayans. They said the long decline in rainfall put a general strain on resources in the region. 1/2 the population in poverty, now they are fighting back BA (The Guardian). On a muddy piece of squatted land in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Florencia Vespignani is planning her tour of the US, where she will be speaking to students and activists about Argentina's resistance movements. "I'm a bit scared," she confesses. "Of the war?" I ask. "No. Of the plane. We have wars here all the time." Vespignani, a 33-yo mother and community organiser, is a leader of the Movimiento de Trabajadores Desocupados (MTD), one of dozens of organisations of unemployed workers, known as piqueteros, that have emerged out of the wreckage of Argentina's economy. When Florencia describes life as war, it is not a metaphor. In a country where more than 1/2 the people are living in poverty and 27 children die of hunger each day, she has learned that to stay alive, you have to fight -- for every piece of bread, for every student's pencil, for every night's rest. From the perspective of the IMF, the piqueteros are the collateral damage of neoliberalism -- a fluke explosion that happened when rapid-fire privatisation was mixed with "shock" austerity. In the mid-90s, 100s of 1000s of Argentinians suddenly found themselves without pay cheques, welfare cheques or pensions. Rather than disappearing quietly into the shanty towns that surround BA, they organised themselves into militant neighbourhood-based unions. Highways and bridges were blocked until the govt coughed up unemployment benefits; abandoned land was squatted to build homes; a 100 closed factories were taken over by their employees and put back to work. Direct action became the alternative to theft and death. But that's not why Vespignani describes life in Argentina as a war. The war is what happens next, after she and her neighbours dare to survive: the visits by armed thugs, the brutal evictions from squatted land and occupied factories, the assassinations of activists by police, the portrayal of piqueteros as terrorists. Last m, Buenos Aires police used tear gas and rubber bullets to clear 60 families out of an abandoned building nr the trendy Plaza Dorrego. It was the most severe repression in the city since 2 young leaders of the MTD were killed by police during a road blockade last Jun. The police said they were concerned about the safety of the squat, but many think the violent eviction was simply part of the latest economic adjustment being cooked up at the Sheraton Hotel, where IMF delegations have been meeting bankers and candidates in the upcoming presidential election for wks now. The great irony is that these movements are actually waging the real war on terrorism -- not with law and order but by providing alternatives to the fundamentalist tendencies that exist wherever there is true desperation. They are developing tactics that allow some of the most marginal people on earth to meet their needs without using terror -- by blockading roads, squatting in buildings, occupying land and resisting displacement. Feb 15 was more than a demo; it was a promise to build a truly internat'l anti-war movement. If that is going to happen, N Americans and Europeans will have to confront the war on all its fronts: to oppose an attack on Iraq and reject the branding of social movements as terrorist. The use of force to control Iraq's resources is only an extreme version of the force used to keep markets open and debt payments flowing in countries such as Argentina and S Africa. In places where daily life is like war, the people who are militantly confronting this brutality are the peace activists. We all want peace. But let's remember that it won't come without a fight. Sydney (close). MARKETS! The All Ords closed down 13 pts on thin volume. The ASX was led lower by News Corp, which was down 3% at the close. AMP shares were also down to just over $A7. Markets in Asia were also broadly down, waiting for the war signal from the US. They are expected to rebound tomorrow. Gold is up $US3.5 to $US339/oz. Oil is also up. ---------------------------------------- Tue, 18 Mar 2003. Markets 10 people killed by army 8 militants shot dead Gunman kills 3 Rioters burn palace Police raid gang-leader US withdraws res No vote Legal arguments No war on the opera house Final ultimatum Ultimatum rejected Window has closed US camp stirs for action Baghdad readies for action Iraq crisis Formal request for Aussie troops US Pres declares war Its war US troops on the move Iraqis ordered out of AUS Cabinet Min resigns in protest Blair rallies support Peaceniks plan rallies US says it wont forget Afghanistan Polls show incr support for war Flu victims Flu victims both Vics Qantas cuts more jobs FTA talks Vic fire bans Army fights Amazon fires Markets NY (6.30 am). MARKETS! The Dow has surged 225 pts (2.8%) to 8,083, with investors looking forward to a short war. The Nasdaq was up 35 pts. Tech stocks led the surge with brokers, networkers and chip makers favoured. Walmart made good gains, helped by the spring shopping weather. Analysts expect another surge as war actually gets underway. Yesterday the Nikkei was 131 pts down. The ASX also closed down. Gold was up to $US335/oz and oil was down to $US34.52/bbl. The AUD lost 1/4 c to 59.27 US cents after the USD surged against the Euro. Later reports say the DJIA closed up 281 pts. In London, the FTSE also saw a rally, closing up 120 (3.2%) to 3,722. But the German Dax was down 83 (3.3%) to 2,487. Gaza Strip. 10 PEOPLE KILLED BY ARMY! Israeli troops have killed 10 people, incl a toddler and a 13 yo boy, in raids on the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, 2 militants were killed in a blast in the W Bank that's been blamed on the Israeli govt. The deadly new raids come after an army bulldozer crushed a US peace activist to death yesterday, while she was trying to prevent the almost daily house demolitions in Rafah. The first raid in the latest operation targeted the Nusseirat refugee camp just S of Gaza City, where the radical Islamic group Hamas enjoys strong support. Srinagar. 8 MILITANTS SHOT DEAD! Officials say Indian troops have shot dead 8 Islamic militants in separate gun-battles in Indian-administered Kashmir, in the wake of a major attack on a police post. A def min'y rep says security forces o'night gunned down 6 militants in the S Doda district, 200 km S of the country's summer capital, Srinagar. The rep says troops cordoned off the area after a tip-off there was a militant hideout there. He says the militants opened fire and 6 were killed in the encounter. Yemen. GUNMAN KILLS 3! A gunman has killed 3 employees of a Western oil company before killing himself. Officials say the men killed were an American, a Canadian, and a Yemeni. It's believed the attack was related to an increase in anti-US sentiment in the country. Lagos. RIOTERS BURN PALACE! Rioting youths have burned down the palace of a local king in SW Nigeria in a fresh outbreak of violence in the run-up to nat'l elections next m. Residents say at least 1 woman was killed by a stray bullet when paramilitary policy moved in to disperse rioters who set ablaze the palace in Sagamu, just N of Lagos. Residents say the whereabouts of the king, Oba Michael Adeniyl Sonariwo, are not known. Police could not immediately confirm the death or the fate of the king. Belgrade. POLICE RAID GANG-LEADER! Police have raided the home of a late underworld boss in their hunt for the assassins of the Serbian PM. Authorities have accused the underworld Zemun Clan, named after a Belgrade suburb, of being behind the assassination of Zoran Djindjic. The clan is made up of crime bosses, drug traffickers and shadowy paramilitary figures dating back to the regime of ousted former Pres Slobodan Milosevic. NY. US WITHDRAWS RES! The US, Brit and Spain have withdrawn their draft resolution seeking UN backing for war on Iraq, closing the diplomatic window for disarmament. Announcing the move, Brit's UN ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said the co-sponsors reserve their right to take their own steps to secure the disarmament of Iraq. Speaking shortly before the Sec Council went into closed-door session, Greenstock blamed France for the failure of diplomacy. French officials said the Coal'n had discovered the majority of the Council was against the use of force. Colin Powell said again today that prev UN resolutions gave the US sufficient legal authority for war with Iraq. Some observers say the message is mixed -- claiming not to need further authorisation, the Coal'n has been twisting arms for support, and have now spat the dummy when is wasn't forthcoming. NY. NO VOTE! Brit, Spain and the US has indicated there will be no vote on a draft resolution authorising war on Iraq. Observers say the res with withdrawn because the US didn't have even a moral majority to have it pass. And France and Russian threatened the veto, anyway. The US amb said the vote would have been "close". France continued to object to any res that threatened the automatic use of force if Iraq failed to comply with UN demands. Pres Chirac had prev offered to drop the veto threat if Iraq was given 30 more days to comply with Res 1441. But the offer was rejected out-of-hand by the US. As expected, Powell said the only way now to avoid war would be for Saddam to leave the country immediately. Observers said the US is again signalling the standoff is more about changing the Iraq regime to a more W-friendly one, than the country's alleged WMD, a case that to date has been based largely on flawed data. ElBaradei says no smoking gun has been found by weapons inspectors so far. He's also been critical of much of the US and Brit "evidence". But other observers hold out hope Saddam may yet take up the offer, saying he has a $2 bn Swiss bank account in place already. Meanwhile, volunteers from Iraq's Arab neighbours are reportedly flooding into Iraq to defend it against the Western powers. Observers doubt they will make any difference in the conflict to come. The AUS military says the war will be over in a wk. But some military officials are not so sure if the conflict moves into Iraqi urban areas. Meanwhile, Iraq is moving military h/w into place. PM John Howard is to brief Parl on Iraq today. Fed cabinet will meet again to "discuss the military options". A Cabinet meeting last night lasted 2 hrs, and looked at "legal advice" about un-sanctioned action. It was also addressed by snr members of the armed forces. But "all relevant issued were discussed", said Mr Howard. Reports say Cabinet was "reassured" it would be legal for Aussie forces to assist in the invasion of Iraq. The legal case is based on Gulf War I resolutions. Mr Howard said Cabinet will make a quick decision once the US formally asks for troops. Canberra. LEGAL ARGUMENTS! There are still legal arguments over war with Iraq, and Australia's part in the US-led action. Some legal experts say the UN Charter only allows an invasion if a country is directly and imminently threatened, or the UN Sec Council authorises it. But the fed govt is now arguing that prev UN resolutions have already sanctioned war. The US Admin also says resolutions from Mar 1991 signalled the forceful disarmament of Iraq. The 1441, passed unanimously last Nov -- even by Syria -- authorises force by threatening "serious consequences" if Iraq fails to disarm. But legal critics say 1441 was put to the Council with an explicit understanding it did not contain hidden or automatic triggers for war. The US has reversed itself, say observers. This double-back has caused a lot of the blood presently flowing around the UN. Sydney. NO WAR ON THE OPERA HOUSE! 2 demonstrators early this morning have written "no war" on the largest concert hall sail of the SYD Opera House. The pair were just putting the finishing touches to the sign when they were approach by police and arrested. The Opera House management says it will remove the 10-m tall red lettering by the end of the day. The 2 culprits were charged with malicious damage. One of them, a scientist from Brit, was subsequently re-arrested on immigration offences. The incident has proved an embarrassment to authorities, who had previously ID-ed the Opera House as a terrorist target. Tonight there is some finger-pointing over how the pair got onto the property unseen. With observers saying AUS has become a high-profile target now it has declared its hand as one of the 3 English-speaking countries that are prosecuting the invasion of Iraq, police and govt officials are expected to launch an inquiry into the state's much-publicised beefed-up security measures. Washington. FINAL ULTIMATUM! US Pres George Bush Jr is scheduled to give a press conf and give a final ultimatum to Saddam Hussein that he must step down immediately or face annihilation. Whitehouse mouth Ari Fleischer says Bush will address the American people at 8 pm EST (noon AEDT). The address follows the failure by the UN Sec Council to reach a consensus on how to deal with Iraq. Fleischer says Bush will say that to avoid military conflict, Saddam must leave the country. Observers say, again, the US Admin is sending a mixed message. While maintaining the conflict is about Iraq's WMD, the Whitehouse also will avert war if the Iraqi dictator stands down. Baghdad. ULTIMATUM REJECTED! Even as it was issued, Iraq has rejected an ultimatum from US officials for Saddam to quit the country, "or else". Iraqi For Min Naji Sabri has rejected a US ultimatum for Pres Saddam to step down to avoid war with the US. Sabri says the only option to avoid war is the departure of the Number One war-monger in the world, US Pres Bush Jr. Sabri hit out at what he called the failing Pres Bush who has made his country a joke in the world and isolated his Admin. NY. WINDOW HAS CLOSED! The US says the diplomatic window has closed. It's now expected Pres Bush will shortly declare war on Iraq and order an invasion laster in the wk. Speaking at the UN French officials regretted diplomacy has failed. US officials have railed against France for threatening to block a new UN resolution authorising war. The US didn't need the authorisation in any case, they argue. Germany says it's still working to avert military action, but the prospects of anything happening to avert war now are very slim indeed. UN Sec-Gen Kofi Annan told reporters it was "a sad day for everyone". US Pres Bush is scheduled to address world at noon AUS time. Meanwhile, the UN has ordered weapons insp out of Iraq. Observers say this is the "primary indication" that war is to proceed in the next 12-24 hrs. The evacuation of foreign press and aid staff is also in full swing in Baghdad. The IAEA's ElBaradei said he was just advised by the US to pull his personnel out. Meanwhile, the AUS govt has ordered Aussies out of Kuwait, Syria and Israel, unless they have a reason to be there. The warning is based on fears of terrorist reprisals following a formal declaration of war. The Brit govt has also ordered its people out of Iraq and surrounding nations for the same reasons. The US is also scaling down its embassy staff in Israel and Kuwait. In Kuwait City reporters say the mood is upbeat. A poll published today says 80% of Kuwaitis support the US taking military action against Iraq. Despite the military buildup across the country, people are in the streets and cafes, discussing the coming war. Doha. US CAMP STIRS FOR ACTION! In Qatar security is tight, even tighter than "normal". When a dog reacted to something underneath of a car coming into the main US base yesterday, the whole camp was locked down for 90 mins. It turned out to be nothing. Reporters say there are 10 barriers between the entrance of the base and the media centre. Elsewhere, Aussie troops are still cooling their heels, waiting for the "go". They're still treating their pre-deployment as a training and acclimatisation mission. They are not yet formally committed. "We're just waiting", said an officer. Asked about possible peacenik activities back home, soldiers seemed pleased. Lt Col Mark Elliott told reporters they were happy that there is a difference of opinion back home among the public. "It wouldn't be Australia if there wasn't a debate", one said. Meanwhile, in the US media centre, the Aussie media and military are not happy. On a $300,000 set designed by Hollywood that will be used by the US to present its war, there is a map of the world. The map is meant to signify the world's unity over the Iraq war, say US psy-ops people and media managers. But the Aussies are not happy. As one of only 3 countries supporting the effort with military forces, the map does not show Australia. Aussie officials say the situation will be "rectified". Baghdad. BAGHDAD READIES FOR ACTION! In the Iraqi capital shops are closed. Most things of value were put on the back of trucks earlier this wk, and taken away for safe-keeping. Yesterday people were taking TV sets and putting them into storage. Aussie reporters say they've been ordered out by their networks. They say they're reluctant to go because they feel the need to tell the story of war from the Iraqi side. But the US media machine will be left to tell the story of the invasion now. UN officials are pulling out of Baghdad. As well as weapons inspectors and diplomatic staff, staff of the UN's oil-for-food program are leaving. One of the most successful UN program in its brief history, the program had fed about 80% of the Iraqi population. Now the organisation is closing up show, Iraqis will be dependent on the stores of food they keep at home. In the prev months, the Iraqi govt has issued every household with enough food to last 6 weeks. Canberra. IRAQ CRISIS! Fed politicians return the CBR today with the events in the Middle E the only issue up for discussion. Most MP's and senators are dealing with 100s of letters, emails and phone-calls about the Iraq issue, with other issues pushed to the back-burner. Fed Cabinet is expected to meet again this wk to formally decide if AUS troops take part in US-led military action against Iraq. Canberra (8 am). FORMAL REQUEST FOR AUSSIE TROOPS! PM John Howard says Pres Bush Jr has formally requested him for troops to join the "Coalition of the Willing". He said the call came at 6 am AEDT. Mr Howard told ABC radio Cabinet will meet at 8 am to discuss the request. He says when a decision is reached it will be immediately communicated to the US and Aussie forces in the Gulf. The Parliament and AUS people will be informed later. Mr Howard has previously indicated the fed Parliament will get an opportunity to debate the decision, but will have no say in the process. Washington (midday). US PRES DECLARES WAR! After the UN failed to back the Coal'n resolution authorising US-led military action, Pres Bush has declared war on Iraq. In a nat'lly televised address to the US and the world, Mr Bush justified his decision. He said the Iraqi regime threatened the lives of 100s of 1000s of Americans and had to be eliminated before it could attack. Mr Bush said he'd moved to expel Iraqi officials from the US because they posed a threat to nat'l security. In a world where terrorists were a threat, Mr Bush said, no country could wait for a formal decl of war. The Pres said US military forces would attack Iraq at a time of his choosing. Mr Bush said Congress had authorised him to declare war last Nov. He criticised the UN for failing to approve the military action. The US had broad support from its allies, he said. And the extant resolutions from Gulf War I made the attack legal. Indicating the 3000-missile attack the US has declared it will launch on Baghdad in the first 48 hrs of the conflict, Bush ordered all civilians out of Iraq for their own safety. He said the US would ensure the protection of Iraqi civilians. The Pres told the Iraqi people his quarrel was not with them, but with their leaders. Bush said the US refused to be blackmailed. But he gave Saddam and his sons 48 hrs to leave Iraq or they would face total war. The Pres promised the US would give food and medicine to Iraq and help it rebuild a Western-style democracy after the war. Mr Bush warned Iraqi military officers not to fight the invading forces. He also said that if officers tried to destroy the Iraqi oilfields they would later be tried for war crimes. They would also be tried for war crimes if they used WMD, he added. Washington. ORANGE! The Whitehouse has put the US back on orange alert -- signifying authorities believe there is an heightened threat of attack against US citizens O/S or against targets on the US mainland. Canberra (10.30 am). ITS WAR! Following an emergency Cabinet meeting this morning at 8 am, PM John Howard has announced he has committed Aussie troops to military action against Iraq. He said AUS was endorsing the existing UN res that Pres Bush Snr used in Gulf War I. From the early morning, protesters lined streets to Parl house. A group of doctors symbolically spilled their blood on the UN Charter. Other demonstrators held up signs with anti-war slogans. At Parl House Labor back-benchers said it was a terrible day for AUS. It was "a sad day for Australia" said Opp'n leader Simon Crean. He said Mr Howard was beholden to the US Pres but not the Australian people. Mr Crean said the Opp'n would try to stop AUS taking the wrong path. Mr Howard had joined an "immoral minority", Mr Crean said. The Greens and Democrats also decried the decision taken by the PM and Cabinet. Dem Sen Andrew Bartlett told reporters the PM has turned AUS into a rogue nation. Sen Bartlett said any Aussie with a problem should take it up with the PM and his "gutless bunch of backbenchers". Previously, the PM had urged Aussies not to take out their disappointment, that war was now inevitable, on Aussie troops. They should take it out on him, Mr Howard said. Green Sen Bob Brown wished Aussie troops were safe at home, like those of NZ, Canada, France and Germany. He said any blood would be on John Howard's back. Kuwait. US TROOPS ON THE MOVE! US troops have dismantled part of their brigade HQ in Kuwait amid a surge in activity by air and ground forces across the country's NW desert nr Iraq. At the same time UN observers have left the DMZ on the border and UN weapons inspectors have been advised to withdraw from Iraq as all signs point to imminent war. US military officers have declined to comment on any invasion plans, but trucks have been leaving the compound with equipment. Canberra. IRAQIS ORDERED OUT OF AUS! For Min Alex Downer says all Iraqi diplomats in AUS have been ordered to leave the country by the end of the wk. Mr Downer says the move's been made in view of the govt's decision that AUS will participate in the Coal'n military action against Iraq. He says the Iraqi embassy staff have been given 5 days to leave the country and will be required to go on later than midnight Sun, Mar 23. London. CABINET MIN RESIGNS IN PROTEST! Snr Brit Cabinet Min Robin Cook has carried out his threat and resigned his position, after disagreeing with the govt's decision to back military action against Iraq. Cook resigned his post as the govt's leader in the Commons after a private meeting with PM Tony Blair. A feared debater, Cook demolished the govt's case for war, saying Iraq did not pose a threat to the world. He outlined the history of support for Iraqi bio and chem weapons programs, seeded by the US and supported by previous UK govt's since the 1980s. He asked why it was so urgent to disarm Saddam this wk, when Saddam had been in power for 20 y and had been supported by the UK in the past. Mr Cook also queried why the Blair govt was supporting the US-led war, that wasn't backed by NATO, the EU or -- now -- the UN. More worrying for Blair, Cook's speech was met with a standing ovation. The PM now faces a major revolt within the Labour Party over his decision to back US Pres Bush. He must put his decision to a vote of the House tomorrow. Insiders say up to 160 Labour MP's could now cross the floor to vote against disarming Saddam by force. In what was effectively a no-confidence motion earlier this m, about 120 Labour MP's voted against Blair's war position. Tomorrow, it's possible a majority of Labour MP's will vote against Blair, leaving the PM to call on the Tories for support. Later reports say Blair called an emergency Cabinet meeting after Cook's resignation and 100 other MP's threatened to cross the floor. London. BLAIR RALLIES SUPPORT! PM Tony Blair is mounting a list-ditch effort to ensure a majority of his MP's back military action against Iraq. The govt has asked the Commons to support its decision to use all means necessary to strip Saddam Hussein of his weapons of mass destruction. Rebels in the govt Labour Party have vowed to vote against the govt and declare that the case for war hasn't yet been established. Melbourne. PEACENIKS PLAN RALLIES! AUS anti-war protests are expected to reach a crescendo the day war breaks out against Iraq, with mass rallies planned around the country. 10s of 1000s of Australians are expected to meet at 5 pm in capital cities and reg'l centres the day the bombs start to fall in Baghdad. The rallies are expected to match those that shut down some capitals last m, when several 100,000 marched through SYD and MEL. Brussels. US SAYS IT WONT FORGET AFGHANISTAN! The US has vowed not to abandon Afghanistan in any war against Iraq as internat'l donors pledged nearly $A3.4 bn to rebuild the shattered country. Afghan Fin Min Ashraf Ghani says the response has been extremely generous. He says 90% of what Afghanistan asked for has been committed. His comments came after a 1-day meeting in Brussels of about 60 donor countries and organisations. Observers say the US has been embarrassed by the funding of Afghan reconstruction. While it made commitments ahead of the war against the Taliban to fund the re-building of the country, Congress "forgot" to allocate any funds for the job. Canberra. POLLS SHOW INCR SUPPORT FOR WAR! Newspoll shows that support for a war in Iraq is growing, but the overwhelming majority of Australians are against an invasion of Iraq. Support for war with Iraq is up 2 pts from the last poll to 22%, but 71% of respondents were against military action, down 5 pts. The poll also found the PM's personal popularity is at its lowest levels since Jul 2002. Support for Mr Howard is at 51% down 3, while support for Mr Crean is steady at 22%. Support for the govt is at the same levels for the last fed election. Perth. FLU VICTIMS! There are now 2 suspected cases of the new killer Asian flu, with a Vic woman from Ballarat hospitalised with breathing difficulties after recently returning from Asia. Doctors are still waiting on test results from both cases. Meanwhile, officials say the killer flu, that's now claimed 10 lives O/S and has seen about 500 victims hospitalised, is not a case of bio-terrorism but just a "normal" influenza epidemic. O'night, US officials said the disease is more likely to be a virus than a bacterium because it doesn't respond to antibiotics. The WHO has dispatched health workers to S China where they will observe an outbreak of influenza-like symptoms there. Health officials are not sure that outbreak is linked with the disease seen in other countries. Melbourne. FLU VICTIMS BOTH VICS! Contradicting many prev reports, health officials have confirmed that 2 Victorians are now being treated as suspected cases of a pneumonia-like illness that's so far killed 10 people worldwide. Dept of Human Serv rep Bram Alexander says a 47 yo woman is being treated at Ballarat Base Hosp and a 44 yo man is in a stable condition at Royal Melb Hosp. The Ballarat woman returned from China on Sat and was admitted to hosp on Sun night, and the man recently returned from HK. Later reports indicate neither of the cases are typical of the WHO symptoms. It was revealed 3 other suspect cases in AUS have been cleared. There are now 167 registered cases of SARS world-wide. In late reports, the ABC says 21 cases are being investigated in AUS. Sydney. QANTAS CUTS MORE JOBS! Qantas has announced a total of 2,500 job cuts in the lead-up to an Iraq war. The cuts will take effect by Jun. The company had previously advised it would cut 1,500 jobs due to an expected downturn in air travel ahead of the war. Announcing the additional cuts yesterday, Qantas said there would be more cutbacks if the situation worsens. Meanwhile, a Qantas pilot was reportedly stood down after he reported there were nauseating fumes in the cockpit of his aircraft. Canberra. FTA TALKS! Formal talks for a free trade agreement begin in CBR today. Negotiators from both countries will attend the talks, which are expected to take up to 18 m. The wk-long session won't deal with any particular issue, as the US is restricted by its own laws until a report on the proposed FTA is compiled by the Int'l Trade Commission. Some observers have doubted anything of benefit for AUS will come from the talks, with 50% of AUS trade still connected with Asia. Critics have claimed a bilateral agreement with the US will sour relations with our region. Other observers say the FTA will result in automatic access for US companies to service industries in AUS. They point to the increase in US farm subsidies by 80% last y. Analysts the hike represents a salary increase of $9,000 pa for each farm worker in the US. Melbourne. VIC FIRE BANS! Most of Vic faces a day of total fire ban today as firefighters continue to watch over 3 fires thought to have been lit by arsonists. Fire crews were late yesterday holding back the largest fire on the edge of rural properties in an old gold mining area S of Scarsdale. Dept of Sust and Env state fire coordinator Mark Woodman says 70 kph winds sparked spot fires up to 1 km from the largest blaze. Brasilia. ARMY FIGHTS AMAZON FIRES! The army has taken control of fighting massive forest fires in the Amazon jungle. In the past 4 days, satellites have detected 686 hot spots in the Roraima region of the N Amazon, most of which are believed to be forest fires. Marcos Barros, head of the govt's env agency, says the army has been put in charge because it has greater operational capabilities. Barros says up to 200 specialist firefighters will be streaming into Roraima within days, bringing the total number to about 850. Sydney (late). MARKETS! The local markets surged on optimism it would be a short and successful war with Iraq. Following 3% rises in US and EU markets the All Ords was up 93 pts -- the biggest rally since Oct 97. The Nikkei was up only 1%. News Corp was up 9%, the banks in the 4 to 5% range, and AMP Ltd was up 7%. Oil prices were down sharply. They were $US38/bbl mid last wk, but now are less than $US32. Futures show the market expects prices to be around $US27/bbl by the end of the y. The AUD was 59.33 US cents at 10 pm. Analysts say as oil prices go down the USD will surge, and the AUD will go backwards. Observers say the financial markets went very quiet at midday, as the US Pres announced war would start within 48 hrs. Analysts fear there's a lot of best-case planning going on, but the US military and Admin are putting no thought into worst-case scenarios. ---------------------------------------- Wed, 19 Mar 2003. Markets Troops advance Powell warns NK Blair warns Parliament The hunt for an assassin Genocide charges dropped Iraq formally rejects ultimatum France offers military against Iraq PM created Army gasses peaceniks Protesters chained to PM gates Protests turn violent 21 suspected flu cases Fires Parl votes on nuke dump NY (7 am). MARKETS. Oil has dived o'night, seeing its largest fall in over 1 y. With an hr to trade, the Dow is volatile. Within minutes it went from +40 to +15 after the US Fed released a "very unusual" report. While leaving int rates on hold, the Fed refused to characterise the state of the US economy. It said there were "mixed signals" in the data. US housing starts registered the worst decline in 9 y. Other data was indifferent. The Nasdaq is marking time. Traders are looking at the comments of world leaders on the coming Iraqi war. While US Colin Powell is stressing that 30 countries are backing the Coal'n, some are worried only 5 of those on the Sec Council were apparently prepared to say so publicly. NZ PM Helen Clark says the US is setting a "dangerous precedent" by going to war without an explicit UN sanction. Russian Pres Putin says the US is making a "mistake". French Pres Chirac, the target of much US ire, says the US, in ignoring the bulk of world opinion, is carrying a "heavy responsibility" for the war. N Kuwait. TROOPS ADVANCE! 1000s of US marines have started the drive to Baghdad, setting off across the Kuwaiti desert to take up battle positions nr the border. With US ground forces mostly made up of Marine Corps, this man's war will be unusual. It'll see the Marines involved in one of its longest drives from the sea to a target -- a distance of about 700 km. About 4,000 marines in 1,000 tanks, armoured vehicles and trucks are all packed and waiting for a secret location to head to the so-called line of departure. After months of sitting in the desert while diplomatic debate dragged on, troops have expressed relief to be going to war. The forecast for Thu, the date the Pres's deadline expires for Saddam to leave Iraq, is for relatively calm conditions. Washington. POWELL WARNS NK! US Sec of State Colin Powell has delivered a stern warning to North Korea. He told the communist state it should not crank up a nuclear re-processing facility or test a long-range missile. Many analysts belive P'yongyang might take such steps to try to wrest US attention away from conflict in the Middle E. NK has escalated the crisis over its nuclear program in recent months, ejecting inspectors, withdrawing from a key non-proliferation treaty, and sending fighter jets to buzz a US spy plane. The US continues to reject calls by NK for direct talks over the standoff. London. BLAIR WARNS PARLIAMENT! Brit PM Tony Blair has warned a rebellious parliament that failure to act against Iraq could have disastrous consequences for the whole world. Blair told MP's that if the world backs away from the confrontation now then future conflicts will be infinitely worse and more devastating in their effects. Parliament is to vote today on Blair's participation in the attack on Iraq. The PM is facing the biggest crisis of his 6-y rule over his pro-US stand. Yesterday, 3 Ministers resigned in protest over Blair's stand on US-led military action against Iraq, incl former For Sec Robin Cook. Belgrade. THE HUNT FOR AN ASSASSIN! Police hunting the killers of Serbian PM Djindjic have detained more than 750 people in a sweep through the country's underworld. Meanwhile, Serbia's Parl has voted in Zoran Zivkovic as a new PM in a move likely to allay W fears of a power vacuum in the Balkans. Zivkovic was a close ally of the slain leader. He told Parl the govt will push on with W-backed reforms and has pledged a drive to crush organised crime in the country. Lima. GENOCIDE CHARGES DROPPED! The Peruvian Congress has narrowly voted to drop charges of genocide against wanted former Pres Alberto Fujimori for his role in a state-run sterilisation program in the 90s. The decisive vote was cast by Congress Pres Carlos Ferrero, of the ruling party, after voting was tied. Last y the Health Min'y claimed 100s of peasants were coerced into being sterilised under Fujimori, who ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000. Fujimori's in self-imposed exile in his ancestral Japan, where he fled at the height of a major corruption scandal. Baghdad. IRAQ FORMALLY REJECTS ULTIMATUM! Iraq's leadership has rejected Pres Bush's ultimatum that Saddam and his sons leave Iraq for face war. Saddam appeared for the first time in 4 y in full military uniform. The announcement comes as the UN pulls its weapons inspection staff out of the country as battle appears inevitable. Iraq's al-Shabab TV, owned by Uday, says the decision to defy Pres Bush Jr's ultimatum was made in a joint meeting of the Revolution Command Council and the leadership of the Baath party. Uday has also warned that Americans anywhere are now targets in Iraq's bid to repel the US invasion. Previously, US intel had warned the Bush Admin Saddam might link up with internat'l terrorists in an act of desperation. Paris. FRANCE OFFERS MILITARY AGAINST IRAQ! The French For Min'y says the French military could join the US-led Coal'n if Iraq uses bio or chem weapons against invading forces. France has been opp'n to US war plans in Iraq, and French Pres Chirac has today reiterated he believes there is no justification for military action. But the For Min'y says France's position could change if Iraq uses bio or chem weapons in a war. Jerusalem. PM CREATED! Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has signed legislation creating the position of PM hrs after it was passed by Parl, taking a major step toward US-sought reforms. Arafat is expected to offer the job to number 2 in the PLO, Mahhoud Abbas, a moderate who has spoken out against the armed uprising against Israel. He is the candidate favoured by the US and Israel. In the W Bank, meanwhile, Israeli forces killed 2 Hamas militants accused of a string of shootings and bombings that killed dozens of Israelis. Rafah. ARMY GASSES PEACENIKS! Witnesses say Israeli troops have tear-gassed peace protesters in the Gaza Strip as they tried to put flowers on the spot where an army bulldozer crushed a US pacificist to death yesterday. Several 100 people, incl 30 International Solidarity Movement members, carried flowers and a tree to be planted at the spot where Rachel Corrie was killed. She was run over by an Israeli army bulldozer as she tried to prevent the army destroying Palestinian houses. Soldiers responded by firing tear gas and dispersing the crowd. Canberra. PROTESTERS CHAINED TO PM GATES! Anti-war protesters have chained themselves to vehicles blocking the gates of PM John Howard's official residence in CBR. About 15 Greenpeace activists dressed as UN personnel swooped early this morning, parking 4-wheel drive vehicles across the entrance to The Lodge. About 20 police guarded The Lodge -- where Mr Howard is believed to be staying -- but early this morning they'd made no attempt to remove the protesters. Harare. PROTESTS TURN VIOLENT! Zimbabwean police, backed by army choppers and armoured cars, have arrested 63 protesters after the biggest opp'n protest in 3 y against Pres Robert Mugabe turned violent. Mobs burned a bus and stoned motorists at the start of a national strike called by the opp'n Movement for Democratic Change. The strike has shut down factories and shops in Harare, raising the pressure on Mugabe's Admin 2 days after the Commonwealth extended its suspension of Zimbabwe over alleged vote rigging and human rights abuses. Melbourne. 21 SUSPECTED FLU CASES! AUS health authorities are keeping a close watch on 21 possible cases of a deadly type of pneumonia originating in Asia. A SYD businessman has been singled out as AUS's first likely case of SARS, which has killed 10 people O/S. NSW Dir of Communicable Diseases, DR Jeremy McAnulty, says the man aged in his 50s, travelled to HK early in Feb. A rep for the fed govt says there are currently about 20 people under investigation. Melbourne. FIRES! About 250 firefighters are racing against time to block-out a fire on Vic's Mornington Peninsula before an onslaught of ferocious winds forecast for this afternoon. The CFA says winds up to 80 kph have been predicted. And a fire which razed 40 ha in the Mt Martha Public Park last night could flare up again. Today is a day of total fire ban in Vic's NE, E, and C districts, which includes metro MEL. Adelaide. PARL VOTES ON NUKE DUMP! SA MP's will vote today on whether to ban the establishment of a nuclear waste dump in the state's far N. While the fed govt could override a local ban, support for the state legislation would send a message to CBR. The state govt's bill will be considered by parliament's upper house. The bill also bans the importation of nuclear waste from other states on SA roads. ======================================== (*) Who is responcible for W.A.R.S? A small group of dedicated sandgrubbers, bannana-lickers and 5th columnists on the run from support payments and sundry legalese in their home countries. Mention us at any Uncle Harry's Suburban Bunker and get a 10% discount on cop-killers! All speling macroizated for correctitood by Mcrosotf Speelchek. *** WHERE DID I PUT MY GAS MASK? ***