- Making News: Kofi Annan Announces Temporary UN Withdrawal from Iraq
At the United Nations today, Russian President Vladimir Putin called for a greater UN role in rebuilding Iraq. But at the same time, the UN has announced a reduction of staff in Baghdad. Colum Lynch, UN correspondent for the Washington Post, says that the reduction to a skeletal staff amounts to a virtual evacuation and undermines President Bush-s efforts to increase UN involvement in Iraq. - Reporter-s Notebook: The -Super Bowl- of Recall Debates
Arnold Schwarzenegger raised expectations for last night-s debate by calling it the -super bowl- of California-s recall election, a chance for him to demonstrate the qualities needed to run the world-s 5th largest economy. Yet, the polite term for what happened last night is -free wheeling.- Satirist Harry Shearer focuses his wit and wisdom on last night-s debate and the performances of the five replacement candidates.
Bush-Putin Summit
President Bush will be at Camp David for two days with Russia-s President Vladimir Putin, who-s already said he just might send peacekeeping troops to Iraq. The US also wants Russian help in dealing with France and the nuclear threats from Iran and North Korea. But Putin, a former KGB spy, is accused of leading his country back to the bad old days of the Soviet Union, and critics want Bush to call for public accountability. We hear about -bandit capitalism,- free speech and human rights violations from a former policy advisor to President Boris Yeltsin, former State Department officials and experts on US-Russian relations.