International:
• Afghan elders and military commanders met the former king of Afghanistan on as momentum appeared to build behind the monarch's call for a traditional grand assembly to resolve his country's woes.
• Afghanistan's Taliban rulers are getting ready for possible U.S. military strikes. Kabul Radio says Taliban officials held meetings around Afghanistan today to prepare the public to defend the country in case of a U.S. attack. The Taliban-run station said the meetings were held in at least eight provinces.
• Separatist Muslim rebels fighting in Kashmir do not appear to be leaving the region to help defend Afghanistan's Taliban government against a possible U.S. military attack, police say.
• Representatives of the world's 1.2 billion Muslims will hold an emergency meeting in Qatar next month to forge a united stand on possible U.S. military action against Muslim Afghanistan, Qatari officials said.
• The United Nations refugee agency said its first emergency airlift to the Pakistan city of Quetta had arrived, delivering supplies for a possible influx of hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees.
• Mullah Mohammad Omar, the reclusive spiritual leader of Afghanistan's ruling Taliban movement, was quoted in a rare interview as saying that former King Zahir Shah had no role to play in the country.
• Afghanistan's exiled king said in remarks published that Afghans needed foreign help to oust the Taliban but they should be allowed to pick a new leader without outside interference.
• Taliban leaders stood firm in defense of Usama bin Laden, unmoved by appeals from revered Islamic clerics or reports that U.S. special forces may already be inside their borders.
• Sudan has welcomed the lifting of largely symbolic United Nations sanctions against it, saying it proved the Sudanese people were against terrorism, newspapers reported.
• Niger has disbanded two Islamic associations whose leaders were reported to have said they approved of the Sept. 11 attacks against the United States.
• Italy's opposition considers calling for a referendum to try to overturn newly passed corporate legislation seen to favor billionaire Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
• Northern Alliance Foreign Minister Dr Abdullah said he strongly doubted that any British or U.S. special forces were operating in Taliban-held territory in Afghanistan.
• The trial of two Americans and six other western aid workers accused of preaching Christianity is continuing today in Afghanistan.
• Pursuant to the U.N. resolution obligating countries to fight terrorism, Pakistan shuts down the Harakat ul-Mujahedeen, or Movement of the Holy Warriors. The group been fighting Indian soldiers in the disputed Kashmir region.
The Investigation:
• The FBI is pursuing more than 100,000 leads as agents narrowed their overseas search for masterminds of the Sept. 11 attacks. In the U.S., more than 100 investigations were under way into alleged hate crimes against Arab-Americans, the FBI said Saturday.
• U.S. investigators have traced travel tickets, money and communications linked to the September 11 attacks to one small group of men. They've narrowed in on Usama bin Laden sympathizers in England, Germany and the United Arab Emirates.
• The FBI is looking into a report that three Middle Eastern men demanded rushed training for hauling hazardous materials -- on the same day that planes plowed into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
• Germany announced the arrest of three Arab nationals on suspicion of planning future attacks on Germany, as Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said military action alone could not stem the threat of terrorism.
• An Arizona flight instructor says an Algerian pilot suspected of teaching four terrorists made several late-night visits to a flight simulator with his students.
The Victims:
• At least 16 funerals or memorial services for victims of the World Trade Center attack are planned today in the New York City area. So far, 309 bodies have been recovered from the rubble and the number of missing was lowered to 5,641. Death toll at Pentagon remains 189, Pennsylvania crash 44.
• Former President Bill Clinton and former Sen. Bob Dole are teaming up to help raise $100,000,000 in scholarships for the children and spouses of victims.
• Dogs are searching a spot in the World Trade Center rubble where crews found an oxygen tank like those used by firefighters.
Markets/Economy:
• President Bush is looking at a variety of ways to help workers and the economy in the wake of the terrorist attacks. Senior White House officials say Bush told aides to come up with an economic stimulus package that includes tax cuts for individuals or businesses and possibly for both.
The Home Front:
• President George W. Bush vowed on to crush terrorism as American forces built up around Afghanistan amid unconfirmed reports that U.S. elite troops were already operating in the land-locked nation.
• The Anti-Capitalist Convergence, an anarchist group based in the capital, rallied hundreds near Capitol Hill to march to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank headquarters in downtown Washington. Activists and anarchists chanted "no war" as they took to the streets, their cause transformed by the terrorist attacks into a call for peace.
• The State Department has issued a "worldwide caution" to Americans overseas — citing threatening rhetoric from extremist groups and the potential for further terrorist action. It's the first time the department has issued such an advisory since the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
• President Bush said in his weekly radio address his administration is moving "aggressively and methodically" to disrupt and destroy terrorism. Bush also condemned the Taliban militia for giving safe haven to Usama bin Laden, but he said the United States respects the people of Afghanistan.
• The Pentagon's initial estimate for the number of reservists called to active duty is likely to rise. The Air Force now estimates it will need 20,000 reservists. That's about 7,000 more than its initial estimate. Also, the Coast Guard had called more than 2,700 to active duty. That's about 700 more than the service first estimated.
• The price tag of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center will be nearly $40 billion, an early estimate of what it will cost to remove debris, pay overtime and rebuild subways and skyscrapers, officials say.
• The observation deck of the Empire State Building has re-opened, another sign that New York City is slowly returning to normal after the devastating terror.Hundreds stood in line this morning for a view from what is now the city's tallest skyscraper.
• Crews are demolishing World Trade Center Four, part of the Trade Center complex that partially collapsed under the rubble that fell after the terror attacks.
• Former President Clinton and former Senator Bob Dole announce a scholarship fund for the children of those killed.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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