EU to Iraq: disarm or face threat of war
BRUSSELS, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The European Union stepped up pressure on Iraq to disarm Thursday, telling Saddam Hussein the international community's patience was wearing thin and that only full cooperation with U.N. weapons inspectors could avert war. Speaking after a meeting with U.N chief weapons inspector Hans Blix, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said: "It is not enough that Saddam Hussein's regime opens doors. It has to be much more proactive to convince the United Nations that it has disarmed its weapons of mass destruction." Solana said Jan. 27 -- the date Blix is due to present a progress report to the U.N. Security Council -- was not the "end of the process. However, the former NATO secretary-general said: "Time is not infinite."
Blix: Iraq violating U.N. arms ban
BRUSSELS, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- U.N. chief weapons inspector Hans Blix said Thursday Iraq had clearly violated a U.N. arms ban by importing illegal material that could be used to build nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Speaking after briefing senior EU officials, Blix said: "We have found things that have been illegally imported, even in 2001 and 2002. The question of whether they relate to weapons of mass destruction requires further inspection." Blix, who is due to brief French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister Tony Blair Friday before traveling to Baghdad, said the message he was taking to Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was that the situation is "very tense and very dangerous."
Texas Tech researcher faces federal charge
LUBBOCK, Texas, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- A Texas Tech University researcher is charged with making a false statement to a federal agent about missing vials of bacteria that causes bubonic plague. Dr. Thomas C. Butler was arrested Wednesday night for allegedly telling FBI agents that 30 vials of the bacteria were missing when he knew they had been destroyed, U.S. Attorney Dick Baker said. The initial report of the missing bacteria sparked a national security scare but the FBI reported late Wednesday the vials had been "accounted for" though no further explanation was offered at the time.
Long-delayed mission space-bound at last
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Shuttle Columbia and a crew of seven, including the first astronaut from Israel, took an 8 1/2-minute rocket ride to space Thursday to begin a marathon fact-finding mission for more than 80 scientific investigations. Florida's often-fickle weather was pristine as the NASA launch team crisply ran through checklists to prepare for the 113th shuttle mission. Columbia's flight is a holdover from last year, delayed initially by shuttle fuel line problems and then bypassed by more pressing space station assembly flights.
Survey: Autos most affordable in 20 years
DETROIT, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The cost of buying a new car is the most affordable for families earning a median income of $64,185 than at anytime in last past 20 years, according to a survey by Comerica Bank Thursday. The multi-state financial services provider said it took 19.9 weeks of wages before taxes to buy a vehicle in the third quarter of 2002, the lowest number since 1980, down from 20.9 weeks in the first six months of last year. Comerica's Auto Affordability Index is compiled from Commerce Department and Federal Reserve data.
Jobless claims drop by 32,000
WASHINGTON, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- The Labor Department said Thursday new claims for state unemployment benefits dropped to their lowest in six weeks during the latest reporting week. The government agency said claims for state unemployment benefits during the week ended Jan. 11 sank by 32,000 to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 360,000 -- its the lowest level since Nov. 30 when filings hovered around 358,000. Wall Street economists had been expecting first time claims to rise by 6,000 during the week.
Earnings keep stocks steady
NEW YORK, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Positive earnings from General Motors, United Technologies and Sears sent stocks higher on the New York Stock Exchange. The Dow Jones industrial average gained early in the session on reports out of Germany that Iraq's Saddam Hussein might go into exile but by early afternoon, had given much of the gain back. In early afternoon trading, the blue-chip Dow was up 17.00 points, or 0.19 percent, at 8,740.18. The tech-heavy Nasdaq was off 5.52 points, or 0.38 percent, at 1,433.28.
Kuerten, Seles both lose at Melbourne
MELBOURNE, Australia, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- Serena Williams Thursday rolled to a 6-4, 6-0 win over Els Callens of Belgium in a second-round match at the Australian Open. Williams had 13 of her 19 unforced errors in a sloppy opening set. Meanwhile, Gustavo Kuerten, the 30th seed in the men's draw at the Australian Open and a former world No. 1, failed to get past the second round for the seventh straight year, falling to unheralded Czech Radek Stepanek, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3. In the biggest second-round upset on the women's side, sixth-seeded Monica Seles, a four-time Australian Open champion, wasted a one-set lead in a 6-7 (6-8), 7-5, 6-3 loss to Czech qualifier Klara Koukalova.
