Ring in the new

Get ready for war, says BlairLONDON: In a gloomy New Year message, British PM Tony Blair today said Britain is going to face ‘‘dif...

Get ready for war, says Blair

LONDON: In a gloomy New Year message, British PM Tony Blair today said Britain is going to face ‘‘difficult and dangerous’’ problems in 2003, including a US-led war on Iraq, possible terror attacks home and an economic downturn. In the most depressing New Year’s message of his five-year premiership, Blair said he has already warned cabinet colleagues about the dangers.

Public says deport Cherie

LONDON: Cherie Blair is the person Britons most want kicked out of the country after her links to a convicted conman were exposed in the recent ‘‘Cheriegate’’ affair, according to a poll on Wednesday. In a tongue-in-cheek BBC survey drawing 15,000 votes, Cherie Blair topped the hall of shame with 31 percent.

Business as usual in Iraq

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BAGHDAD: United Nations weapons experts visited more suspect sites in Iraq on Wednesday, taking no break for the New Year Day holiday. Teams from the UN Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) drove to at least two sites near Baghdad.

Stability main focus in ’03: Hu

BEIJING: China must keep a grip on social stability, uphold economic growth and push for reunification with rival Taiwan in the new year, Communist Party Chief Hu Jintao said on Wednesday. But in his first New Year’s Day address as secretary of the ruling Communist Party, Hu offered few fresh remarks and steered clear of international worries like Iraq and North Korea.

Pope urges end to tensions

VATICAN CITY: Pope John Paul called for an end to the ‘‘fratricidal and senseless’’ violence in West Asia and peaceful solutions to all tensions menacing the world in his first message of 2003. The Pope made no specific reference to the situation in Iraq.

‘Madness in Times Square’

NEW YORK: In New York City, as many as 1 million people, screened for alcohol, drugs and weapons by police using metal detectors, shed their backpacks and baggage and screamed and sang as the traditional crystal ball dropped at One Times Square. Thousands of extra police were on duty; mailboxes and trash cans were removed and manhole covers were welded shut. The US Coast Guard closed New York harbour, and the police increased harbour patrols in response to ‘‘uncorroborated’’ terror threat.