President Bush won NATO’s endorsement Thursday for his plan to build a missile defense system in Europe despite Russian objections. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called it a “breakthrough agreement” for the military alliance. “Now it is clearly understood in the alliance that the challenges of the 21st century, the threats of the 21st century, make it necessary to have missile defense that can defend the countries of Europe,” Rice told reporters at the NATO summit.
Sen. Barack Obama, second to none in the race for campaign cash, raised more than $40 million in March and boosted his vast network of donors to nearly 1.3 million, the campaign announced Thursday. The amount is less than the record $55 million he raised in February, but still a sizable amount that sustains his place as the fundraising leader among all presidential candidates. Sen. Hilary Clinton is expected to have raised about $20 million in March, but her campaign has not announced any totals. Details of their March fundraising will be made public in official reports filed with the Federal Election Commission on April 20.
A U.S. fighter jet destroyed a house in the Shiite southern city of Basra, killing two militants after American and Iraqi ground forces came under fire, the military said Thursday. Iraqi witnesses and officials said at least three civilians were among the dead. The American military said separately that it was looking into reports that civilians were killed in a second airstrike in Basra but it could provide no further details. The strikes in Basra underscored the high tensions as the Iraqi government continues a crackdown against Shiite militias four days after radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr ordered his Mahdi Army fighters to stand down.
China plans to put rioters on trial and reopen Tibet to tourism by May, underscoring the government’s drive to close the book on recent unrest well ahead of this summer’s Beijing Olympics. Other Tibetan regions might remain off-limits considerably longer, however, with police in western Sichuan province blocking access to foreigners on Thursday. One officer said the area, the scene of widespread protests last month, could remain closed through the end of the games. Chinese propaganda continues to blame the Dalai Lama, the exiled leader of Tibet’s Buddhists, for a bloody March 14 riot.
