Weapons inspector says no WMD found\nWASHINGTON -- Chief weapons searcher David Kay said Thursday he has found no weapons of mass destruction in Iraq so far, but he cautioned his team was still in the middle of an intensive hunt.\nOn the issue of whether Saddam Hussein had been in the process of reviving efforts to develop a nuclear weapons program, Kay said investigators had found no evidence beyond a possible tentative restart "at the very most rudimentary level."\n"It clearly does not look like a massive resurgent program," Kay said on Capitol Hill after briefing lawmakers in private.\nKay said his team had, however, found "dozens of WMD-related program activities and significant amounts of equipment that Iraq concealed from the United Nations during the inspections that began in late 2002."
Austrian cardinal says Pope is dying\nVATICAN CITY -- One of Europe's top cardinals said Thursday that Pope John Paul II was nearing "the last days and months of his life," the first ranking prelate to say the 83-year-old pontiff is dying.\nWith John Paul visibly weaker in recent weeks, concern over his health has been growing. Austrian Cardinal Christoph Schoenborn was the second leading prelate this week to express alarm over the pope's health.\nSchoenborn is considered a possible candidate for the papacy. His spokesman, Erich Leitenberger, later told The Associated Press the comments were "to be interpreted philosophically."\nThe Vatican announced Tuesday the pope will also preside over the ceremony elevating the 31 new cardinals he named Sunday, saying it will be held Oct. 21 on the steps of St. Peter's Basilica.
Nuclear weapons in North Korea being built from fuel rods\nSEOUL, South Korea -- North Korea said Thursday it was using plutonium extracted from some 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods to make atomic bombs, alarming South Korea and other Asian countries that feared the assertion would jeopardize efforts to resolve the nuclear dispute peacefully.\nAmerican intelligence analysts believe North Korea already has at least one or two nuclear bombs. When reprocessed with chemicals, 8,000 rods can yield enough plutonium to make five or six more, according to experts.\nNorth Korea has claimed before to have reprocessed its pool of 8,000 spent rods, but Thursday marked the first it said the plutonium has been used to make nuclear weapons.
Leak probe likely to expand, officials say\nWASHINGTON -- The investigation into the leak of a CIA officer's name is likely to expand to other Bush administration agencies, including the Departments of State and Defense, officials said Thursday.\nA senior Justice Department official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said those agencies, and possibly others, could get letters urging officials to preserve documents such as phone logs and not to delete e-mails. Similar letters have already gone to the White House and CIA.\nDepartment of Defense officials confirmed Thursday they were told to expect such a letter. Department of State spokeswoman Susan Pittman said the agency "would cooperate fully" if asked.
