The US trade deficit widened to a new all-time high of $60.3 billion in November 2004, exceeding the previous record high of $56 billion reached in the previous month. The US Treasury Secretary, John Snow, late Wednesday urged the European countries and Japan to accelerate their economic growth to ease the growing global trade imbalances. The US dollar depreciated significantly versus several major foreign currencies, with the November trade deficit figures exhibiting a limited impact of the US dollar weakness -newratings.com

This may be the best indicator to date as to just how far around the bend the current crop of Pentagonistas has gone in their bid to check the insurgency they never thought could happen. There may be some optimists in the US executive - as well as Democratic enablers in Congress - who think that the Salvador model can be deployed in a way that also applies lessons learned from Salvador without repeating them in Iraq -Jason Vest/Asia Times

The latest instance of the "engage Iran" school is a US advocacy group dominated by prominent figures of the Republican Party, the Committee on the Present Danger (CPD), which, in a paper titled "Iran: A New Approach" calls for the re-opening of diplomatic relations with Tehran, bringing to an end the 25-year estrangement in US-Iran relations following the hostage crisis in the American embassy in Tehran in 1979, shortly after the Islamic revolution of that year.But Iran seems to be seeking some transparency over the Bush administration's intentions.Washington's reaction to the media "leak" in Tehran two days back will be keenly watched -M K Bhadrakumar /Asia Times

Both Rice and Zoellick are non-ideological foreign policy operatives who are not idealists or true believers. Rather, they are realists who accept the neo-conservative premise of US global supremacy but want to wisely manage that power to further their notions of US national security and interests. At first glance, Zoellick could be mistaken for an ideologue, as an evangelist for free trade and a member of the neo-conservative vanguard. But when his political trajectory is more closely observed, Zoellick is better understood as a "can-do" member of the Republican foreign policy elite - a diplomat who always keeps his eye on the prize, namely the interests of Corporate America and US global hegemony -Tom Barry/Asia Times

A new FBI computer program designed to help agents share information to ward off terrorist attacks may have to be scrapped, the agency has concluded, forcing a further delay in a four-year, half-billion-dollar overhaul of its antiquated computer system. The bureau is so convinced that the software, known as Virtual Case File, will not work as planned that it has taken steps to begin soliciting proposals from outside contractors for new software, officials said -LA Times

Facing foreign competition in 2007, China's banks are expanding loan options.

Just seven per cent Americans now believe that the thrust of US foreign policy should be on democracy building - what the US is attempting in Iraq at present.

President Bush on Wednesday proposed a $1.5 billion plan to raise educational standards for high school students who are increasingly falling behind their counterparts in other countries. "We're leaving the old attitude that it's OK for some students just to be shuffled through the system. That's not OK," Bush told students and teachers at the once-struggling J.E.B. Stuart High School in Falls Church outside Washington

"Somebody has been reading too many spy novels." That reaction came today from Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to reports, published on Newsweek's Web site, that suggest military planners are mulling a so-called "Salvador option" for use against Iraqi insurgents -WRIC TV VA

I wouldn't go calling anyone a liar, but as we say in our quaint Texas fashion, this administration is stuffed with people who are on a first-name basis with the bottom of the deck.Not that I'm accusing anyone of lying, of course, but these people are slicker than bus station chili -Molly Ivins/WorkingForChange

In response to President Bush's remarks in The Washington Times, Rabbi David Saperstein, Director of the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, issued the following statement:I urge the President to clarify his remarks given in an interview with the Washington Times, January 11, 2005, in which he stated that: "...I don't see how you can be President at least from my perspective, how you can be President, without a relationship to the Lord."

A group of billionaire philanthropists are to donate tens of millions more dollars to develop progressive political ideas in the US in an effort to counter the conservative ascendancy.George Soros, who made his fortune in the hedge fund industry; Herb and Marion Sandler, the California couple who own a multi-billion-dollar savings and loan business; and Peter Lewis, the chairman of an Ohio insurance company, donated more than $63m (£34m) in the 2004 election cycle to organizations seeking to defeat George W. Bush.At a meeting in San Francisco last month, the left-leaning billionaires agreed to commit an even larger sum over a longer period to building institutions to foster progressive ideas and people.

At the urging of the White House, Congressional leaders scrapped a legislative measure last month that would have imposed new restrictions on the use of extreme interrogation measures by American intelligence officers, Congressional officials say -NY Times

The United States and Russia are close to completing an agreement designed to limit trafficking in portable air-defense missiles, which some security experts fear terrorists could use against commercial airliners, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Tuesday. At a joint news conference with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, Ivanov provided few details but said the proposed accord reflected a common interest between the United States and Russia in constraining the unauthorized movement of these weapons around the world.

The United States warned Russia against selling missiles to Syria amid reports that Moscow was ready to provide Damascus with a sophisticated weapon that could hit any target in Israel. But Russia denied it had any such plans.

SIR MARK THATCHER will escape the prospect of a 15-year jail term today by striking a deal with the South African authorities over his alleged involvement in a coup to topple the dictator of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea -London Times

In recent interviews, the 51-year-old complained that no-one would do business with him any more. He felt "like a corpse that's going down the Colorado river and there's nothing I can do about it".But today's plea bargain has, to a certain extent, got him off the hook. His rescue comes, however, at the price of acquiring a criminal conviction(Mark Thatcher has just plead quilty to a lesser charge to avoid prison) -Guardian UK

If you're ticketed by Green Bay police, you'll get more than a fine. You'll get fingerprinted, too.It's a new way police are cracking down on crime.If you're caught speeding or playing your music too loud, or other crimes for which you might receive a citation, Green Bay police officers will ask for your drivers license and your finger.You'll be fingerprinted right there on the spot.The fingerprint appears right next to the amount of the fine.Police say it's meant to protect you -- in case the person they're citing isn't who they claim to be -WBAY TV WI

A British Airways flight from London to New York was forced to turn back Wednesday after U.S. authorities refused to allow one of the passengers to land, saying he posed a terrorist threat, the airline said

Outgoing Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Wednesday the United States should put the fingerprints of citizens traveling abroad on their passports.

Indonesia told foreign troops helping tsunami victims to get out of the country soon and defended tough new restrictions on aid workers, while rich nations prepared to freeze Jakarta's debt repayments.