Iran said it was mining uranium and planning to build two plants to process uranium for fuel for power plants. Officials said the additional fuel is necessary for it to raise electricity production over the next two decades, and invited U.N. inspections later this month. Iran also has large oil and gas reserves. (NYT)

France, Germany and Belgium blocked a request from Turkey for defensive weapons to protect against possible attacks from Iraq. The three countries said such a move would indicate that a war effort had begun. U.S. officials said the failure to defend a member called the NATO alliance itself into doubt. (NYT, WaPost)

Intelligence officials in the U.S. and Europe said that while Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi, the man Colin Powell last week said ties Saddam Hussein to al Qaeda, is a known terrorist leader, his connections to al Qaeda are not clear. (NYT)

Scientists reported that they had successfully removed individual genes from embryonic human stem cells and replaced them with different genes. The process could be helpful in creating techniques to regenerate parts of the human body. (WaPost)