Display Military Time? Yes No Outlook for 2002 Growth Is Overcast Nearly 3,000 business and political leaders from around the world packed into a heavily guarded Manhattan hotel Thursday to hear economists, scholars, bankers and diplomats paint a not terribly cheery picture of the prospects for global growth and stability in the coming year. Fiery Leftists Hold Their Own Forum About 40,000 social activists with widely varying causes and temperaments descended on this South American city Thursday for the opening of the World Social Forum, a five-day gathering that is part radical teach-in, part angry political rally. Safety First at Economic Meeting Street protests, airport-style X-ray machines and a blue sea of police uniforms greeted dignitaries as they arrived Thursday for the opening of the World Economic Forum. U.S., Mexico Investigating Child-Smuggling Operation U.S. and Mexican authorities said Thursday that they were investigating what one official here called a huge smuggling ring that transports children to the United States. U.N. Food Relief Draws Crowd of Hungry Afghans Down from the snow-covered mountains they came by the hundreds, to load giant sacks of donated wheat onto their backs or their burros. 4 Hurt in Grenade Blast at Prime Minister's Home Four people were injured, two seriously, when a hand grenade was thrown into the residence of the prime minister of Somalia's transitional government, police said. 43 Killed as Warlords Fight for Afghan City Terrified families huddled in basements and fled on foot Thursday as rival Afghan warlords waged artillery battles for control of this strategic town, killing at least 43 people and injuring dozens of others. 2 Orphaned by Death of Sept. 11 Widow The widow of a carpenter killed in the World Trade Center collapse has died of breast cancer, orphaning the couple's two young sons. Britain Rebuffs Afghans' Troop Plea Prime Minister Tony Blair told interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai on Thursday that Britain could not commit more troops to an expanded international force requested by Afghanistan's people. Haider Retracts Remark About Jewish Leader Far-right Austrian governor Joerg Haider has apologized for making derogatory comments about the leader of Vienna's Jewish community and has withdrawn the remarks. Sharon Sorry Arafat Wasn't Killed in '82 Prime Minister Ariel Sharon says he's sorry Israel didn't have Yasser Arafat killed 20 years ago when it had the Palestinian leader under siege in Beirut. Premier Names New Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi was named Japan's new foreign minister, replacing Makiko Tanaka, who was forced to resign earlier this week. Church Skimping on Fund, Abuse Victims Say Victims of sexual abuse in Ireland's Roman Catholic schools criticized the church's $110-million compensation pledge as insufficient. Karzai Seeks More Peacekeepers Afghanistan's new leader asked the Security Council on Wednesday to approve the deployment of peacekeeping troops throughout his war-racked country, a request opposed by Washington and the European powers leading the small U.N.-backed force now in Kabul. Threat on Reporter's Life A group claiming to have abducted a Wall Street Journal reporter in Pakistan threatened Wednesday to kill him within 24 hours and then target other U.S. journalists if they don't leave Pakistan in three days. U.S. to Investigate Dispute Over Raid The American commander of the war in Afghanistan ordered an investigation into a Jan. 24 raid on two compounds after the new Afghan government said some of those killed and captured were not enemy fighters but officials loyal to interim leader Hamid Karzai. 2 Taliban Officials Detained Two former top officials from Afghanistan's vanquished Taliban regime were detained Wednesday near the southwestern Pakistani city of Quetta, authorities said. Shoe Bomber' Suspect Linked to 2 Other Plots After he failed in his alleged first attempt to board a Paris-to-Miami flight and blow it out of the sky with explosives packed into his shoes, Richard C. Reid sent an urgent e-mail to his suspected terrorist handler, according to a Western diplomatic official familiar with the case. Unlikely Note Is Struck on World Finance Stage At one end of the dais was Uncle Sam's chief financial representative, a man seen by some at this year's World Economic Forum as Uncle Scrooge: Paul H. O'Neill, an unapologetic opponent of increased aid from the world's wealthiest nation to the world's poorest nations. 44 Killed in Turkish Temblor At least 44 people were killed and more than 150 others injured Sunday in an earthquake that rocked the province of Afyon in central Turkey, toppling scores of buildings. Pakistan Police Say Dumped Body Is Not U.S. Reporter In the latest twist to the already enigmatic case of kidnapped American journalist Daniel Pearl, top police investigators rushed to a hospital in this port city early today only to find that a body brought there with a bullet wound in the head was not that of the U.S. reporter. Cease-Fire Reached in Afghan City Afghan and U.N. mediators, joined by U.S. officials, extracted a conditional cease-fire agreement Sunday from two rival tribal warlords in this eastern Afghan town that was rocked by two days of fighting last week.

Glowing Putin Book Rings Propaganda Bells From its family tree covering seven generations to its accounts of precocious athletic prowess, the new biography "Vladimir Putin: A Life History" is raising eyebrows here for appearing to bring back the Soviet tradition of writing paeans to the nation's leader. China Scholar Gets 13 Years, Activists Say Chinese authorities have sentenced a Hong Kong-based historian to 13 years in prison, according to a human rights group, in the harshest sentence meted out to any of a group of academics arrested in a crackdown on alleged spying. Troubled Current Under Surface of U.S.-Saudi Ties The government of Saudi Arabia is about to ask the United States to withdraw its troops from the kingdom. Or maybe not. The United States is looking to move its forces out of Saudi Arabia. Or maybe not. 115 Students Held, Questioned About Ties to Radicals in Yemen Authorities have detained 115 foreign students for illegal residence and questioned them about links to radical Islamic groups, an Interior Ministry official said Saturday. 190 French Troops Arrive in Kyrgyzstan to Help With Base A first contingent of 190 French troops arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Saturday, joining an advance U.S. team to help set up a base that will house thousands of troops waging war in Afghanistan. Bin Laden Interviewer Was Under Duress, TV Station Says An influential Arab television station said Saturday that it never aired an October interview with Osama bin Laden because the interview was conducted under duress and the questions were dictated to its correspondent. Unmanned Planes Face Threats From Near, Far In Afghanistan, unmanned aircraft have come as close to being war heroes as machines can get. They are providing invaluable reconnaissance, damage assessment and other intelligence information. Some have even hit enemy targets. All at zero risk to American pilots. Terror War Expansion Troubles Allies U.S. officials put the world's defense chiefs on notice Saturday that the war against terrorism may soon target Iraq and other states in an "axis of evil," intensifying fears that Washington is carrying its campaign to avenge the attacks of Sept. 11 too far for its allies. Fate of Abducted U.S. Reporter Is Still Unclear A nervous uncertainty surrounded the fate of American journalist Daniel Pearl on Saturday, with no apparent communication from his alleged kidnappers and no trace of his whereabouts after three separate police searches for his body in this turbulent port city. Dutch Prince, Argentine Banker Wed in Splendor The crown prince of the Netherlands married a party-loving Argentine investment banker Saturday in ceremonies that combined Dutch simplicity with regal splendor. Thunderous cheers from thousands of spectators signaled the blessing of his people. Forum Plays Second Fiddle to N.Y. Wedding Love got in the way Saturday night, forcing a large contingent of police to escort the high-profile delegates of the World Economic Forum from the midtown Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan for a gala dinner. Death Toll From Panic After Blasts Tops 1,000 Nigerian officials reported that more than 1,000 people were killed when massive explosions ripped through Lagos neighborhoods a week ago. The dead were mainly children who drowned in a canal as they fled in panic. Government Backs Off Media Control Laws The Zimbabwean government backtracked dramatically on its sweeping media control laws, indicating that they will not be imposed immediately and may not be enforced at all, a state-run newspaper reported. Dalai Lama Feels Much Better,' Leaves Hospital Hospital staff showered petals on Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, as he left a Bombay hospital after recovering from a bowel infection. Cold War Cover-Up of Murder Fifteen years ago, Hong Kong police burst into an apartment after neighbors complained of an unbearable stench and found the decomposing corpse of a woman with a pillowcase over her head and a belt wrapped around her neck. Iran Helped Al Qaeda and Taliban Flee, Rumsfeld Says In pointed remarks that raised questions Sunday about future relations between the elected Iranian regime and the United States, Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld accused the government in Tehran of helping Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters flee Afghanistan. Queries on Islam? In Egypt, Just Call 1-900 Dial-a-Sheik With all the confusion and controversy these days over Islam, Sheik Khalid Gendy thinks he has hit on the perfect way to set the record straight, emphasize his religion's message of peace--and make a tidy profit. Israeli Cabinet Backs Palestinian Talks Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon won backing Sunday from nearly all his Cabinet ministers for having initiated his first talks with Palestinian officials since his election, and he said he will hold more such meetings.