The European Union agreed to sustain sanctions against Zimbabwe for another year but to allow President Robert Mugabe an exception to travel to Paris for an African summit next week. (CNN/AP)

U.N. weapons inspectors said that weapons data disclosed by Iraq confirmed that it had developed missiles whose range exceeded agreed upon limits. Experts do not believe the missiles' range represents an added threat to the region. (NYT, WaPost)

India tested a cruise missile with a range of up to 280 km (174 miles). Officials told the Indian press the tests were successful. Tensions betwen India and Pakistan have been rising in recent months, with each country expelling diplomats representing the other. (BBC)

A satellite measuring cosmic microwave radiation left over from the big bang produced a highly detailed picture of the universe's early beginnings that answered many questions about how it evolved, scientists said. (NASA, WaPost, NYT)

The U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency said North Korea's nuclear energy program was in violation of U.N. restrictions and referred the matter to the U.N. Security Council. (BBC)

France proposed a plan to increase the number of U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq, which the chief inspector, Hans Blix, said would be limited in its effectiveness and contained proposals the U.S. had previously suggested in November. The translation of a letter from Iraqi officials disclosed demands that Iraq be given timely advance notification of inspections from spy planes, including time and point of entry. (NYT, WaPost)

An audio recording that experts said was of Osama bin Laden urged Muslims to help defend Iraq against an American attack. U.S. officials said they had strong evidence linking Iraq and al Qaeda, and expressed concerns about possible terrorist attacks in the coming weeks. (NYT, WaPost)

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. economy did not need short-term stimulus and that the budget deficits that would be created by Bush's tax-cut proposals could cause inflation and would be difficult to control. (NYT, WaPost)

Some half-dozen new TV news stations plan to begin broadcasting in the Middle East in the coming year, seeking to capture some of the audience Qatar-based al-Jazeera has created. Al-Jazeera has benefited from broadcasting from Qatar, which has not censored or restricted its news content; it is not clear if its competitors will enjoy the same freedom. Al-Jazeera also has plans to begin broadcasting in English in 2004. (WaPost)

A U.S. appeals court ruled that the state of Arkansas can legally force a mentally ill prisoner to take antipsychotic medication for his condition even though he is on death row. Because a previous U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibits the execution of the insane, the ruling clears the way for the state to execute the prisoner. The man's lawyers had asked that his sentence be reduced to life in prison. (NYT, WaPost/AP)

Several large businesses, as well as educational institutions, former military officials and others, plan to express their support to the U.S. Supreme Court for the University of Michigan's use of racial criteria in its admissions policy, lawyers involved with the case said. The support seems to stem both from the pragmatic advantages of expressing it and from the view that integration has economic benefits as well. (WaPost)

Enaam Arnaout, the director of the Benevolence International Foundation, pleaded guilty to illegally transferring donations to rebel fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya in the 1990s. Arnaout had also been accused of sending funds to al Qaeda, but his plea agreement did not require him to admit to any support for terrorist activities. (NYT, WaPost)

Distrust and ill will toward the United States is increasingly widespread in Europe, some experts said. (WaPost)

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)

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)

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)