British Prime Minister Tony Blair says London will launch an inquiry to investigate the intelligence used to justify the U-S - led war in Iraq. Mr. Blair told British lawmakers today (Tuesday) that he now believes there are issues about the pre-war intelligence that need to be looked at.
U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan is to meet with President Bush and top administration officials in Washington today to discuss the situation in Iraq. Mr. Annan is to hold talks first with Secretary of State Colin Powell and then join President Bush and his national security advisor, Condoleezza Rice, for lunch at the White House.
The first group of Japanese troops to be deployed to a combat zone since World War Two has left for a humanitarian mission in Iraq. About 80 soldiers took part in a send off ceremony on the northern island of Hokkaido before departing today (Tuesday).
The troops will first arrive for training in Kuwait and then continue to the southern Iraqi town of Samawa, where they will purify water and perform other humanitarian tasks. They follow an advance team of about three dozen Japanese soldiers who went to southern Iraq in January.
Hear details of these stories and more in today's World News.