March 21, 2003

If France and Germany are really acting in their own economic interest, and not being true to the idea of the U.N. spirit, then the decision to go ahead without the 'permission' of the U.N. is really a decision move forward with the disarming of Iraq without the permission of France and Germany. "The figures show that since 1997, France and Germany have exported goods worth more than £1.7 billion to Iraq, compared to British exports worth £193 million. " Read the Telegraph story here. 10:09:15 AM

BLIX: SCUDS A "VIOLATION" NY Post - Chief U.N. weapons inspector Hans Blix yesterday said Iraq violated its agreement with the United Nations if the missiles it fired at American troops were Scuds. "I'm very interested to know whether they used Scuds," Blix said in an interview with the Fox News Channel. "If they're firing [Scuds], of course that shows that there's a violation," he said. If any of the missiles launched so far by Iraq prove to be Scuds, said Blix, “Well, then they are liars. - CBS news 8:51:29 AM

Fateful encounter tied to spread of mystery bug The Globe and Mail - It was, as the Chinese might say, an astonishing case of bad luck. Hong Kong health officials now suspect that some or all of the people who picked up a mysterious pneumonia at the Metropole Hotel on the Kowloon peninsula -- including a Toronto woman and a Vancouver man -- spent a few unfortunate moments together waiting for an elevator in the ninth-floor corridor on the afternoon of Feb. 21. 8:46:52 AM

Count your ciggies to calculate cancer risk Independent Online - Smokers and ex-smokers will soon be able to predict their risk of lung cancer by using a new formula that counts how long and how much they smoked, and how long since they kicked the habit. 8:44:51 AM

Web users make war, not love ZDNet.co.uk - War has toppled sex as the most popular search term among Web users as the conflict in Iraq captures the attention and apparently lowers libidos of online Britons, top Internet service Freeserve says. 8:43:31 AM

CNN - U.S., British forces take key airfields in western Iraq, strategic oil fields near Basra, senior U.S. military official says. 8:42:23 AM