Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern, who helped broker peace in Northern Ireland but couldn’t survive a scandal over his collection of cash from businessmen, announced Wednesday he will resign. Ahern said at a surprise news conference he would step down May 6 after 11 years as Ireland’s leader. He denied ever receiving a corrupt payment but conceded that 18 months of growing criticism of his financial ethics had taken a toll on the effectiveness of his government.
President Bush expressed confidence Wednesday that NATO will bolster its combat forces in Afghanistan and endorse a missile defense system for Europe that Russia has opposed. “I’m optimistic that this is going to be a very successful summit,” Bush said, sitting alongside NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer hours before the 26-nation military alliance opened three days of meetings with a leaders’ dinner.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Wednesday a recession is possible and policymakers are “fighting against the wind” in trying to steady a shaky economy. He would not say if further interest rate cuts are planned. Bernanke’s testimony before the Joint Economic Committee of Congress was a more pessimistic assessment of the economy’s immediate prospects than a report he delivered earlier this year. His appearance on Capitol Hill came amid a trio of economic slumps in the housing, credit and financial areas.
The Pentagon on Tuesday made public a now-defunct legal memo that approved the use of harsh interrogation techniques against terror suspects, saying that President Bush’s wartime authority trumps any international ban on torture. The Justice Department memo, dated March 14, 2003, outlines legal justification for military interrogators to use harsh tactics against al-Qaida and Taliban detainees overseas –so long as they did not specifically intend to torture their captives.
