Because the Senate approved the House-passed measure without changing a word, it now goes directly to Bush for his signature.Mr Bush, who has claimed he has made no decision on launching a military strike against Baghdad, has in recent days urged Congress to stand with him as he presses the UN Security Council to approve a new resolution demanding that Iraq abide by comprehensive inspections and disarmament or face the consequences.The bipartisan agreemen gives the President most of the powers he initially asked for, allowing him to act against Iraq even without the backing of the UN. In a concession to Democratic concerns, however, the resolution does commit the President to exhaust all diplomatic means first. The resolution states: “The President is authorised to use the armed forces of the United States as he determines to be necessary and appropriate in order to defend the national security of the United States against the continuing threat posed by Iraq, and enforce all relevant UN Security Council resolutions regarding Iraq.”Earlier in the day, both houses had given an indication of their likely decision when they brushed aside efforts to weaken the war resolution. By a 66-31 vote, the Senate rejected an amendment that would have ended the authorisation for Mr Bush after two years. Minutes later, the House also voted 355-72 against an amendment that would have committed the US to the UN inspections process but would not have authorised unilateral force.In Baghdad, Iraqi officials invited America to inspect its alleged weapons sites, but Washington immediately dismissed the offer.* A French inspector said yesterday that debris from what could be an attacking boat had been found in the French tanker holed and gutted by an explosion off Yemen on Sunday. After insisting for days that the explosion was an accident, the Yemeni government yesterday refused to rule out terrorism..

A man was shot and killed at a petrol station near Washington today, and police searching for a sniper closed down a nearby highway after reports that a white van had been in the area at the time. A man died after being shot at a petrol station in the Washington area today, as police searching for a sniper surrounded a white van after reports one had been in the area at the time.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the shooting near Fredericksburg was linked to nine other attacks that have left seven people dead in and around the Amerrican capital.On Wednesday night, the sniper fatally shot a man at a filling station in Manassas, 30 miles north of Fredericksburg.The man was shot and seriously wounded today at about 9,30am at an Exxon station, just off a busy highway in Spotsylvania County, Virginia state police spokeswoman Lucy Caldwell said. The victim died soon after.A white Chevy Astro van with ladder racks on top was seen near the station about the time of the shooting, she said.Spotsylvania County Sheriff Ronald Knight said authorities had pulled over several white vans on Interstate 95 after the shooting and had reports of a white van bumping other vehicles, apparently trying to get out of the area.Authorities had one van surrounded near Alexandria, about 40 miles away. “We’re being very cautious at this time,” Alexandria police Lt John Crawford said. He said police had stopped a “white panel truck” and were waiting for help from Fairfax County police before approaching it.Bruce Bingham, who works at a gas station across the street from the station, said he heard a single gunshot and saw an unmarked white van at the scene.A white van or box truck also was spotted near the scenes of two other shootings linked to the sniper. A van was pulled over shortly after a fatal shooting Wednesday night but the occupants had a reasonable explanation for being in the area, Prince William County Police Chief Charlie Deane said.There have been no known witnesses to the attacks; however, police have been reviewing video surveillance tapes from the shooting scenes, all public places.. An Israeli woman was killed in a suicide bombing yesterday, after a bus driver and a passenger pinned the bomber to the ground and almost certainly saved several other lives.

The number killed in the Gaza Strip this week rose to 20, with Israeli raids continuing despite international condemnation.Sixteen people were injured in the suicide bombing yesterday morning in Bnei Brak, a suburb of Tel Aviv. The driver of a bus, Baruch Neuman, was hailed as a hero by Israelis who believed his actions had prevented a much greater toll of casualties.”I opened the door to let people on and off, and before I closed the back door I noticed a man trying to sneak on to the bus,” Mr Neuman said.”I shut the door, and apparently the man fell on to the road and hurt himself.” Mr Neuman said he quickly got up and went to help the man. A passenger, reported to be a doctor, and a woman paramedic also went to help.”We opened his shirt and saw an explosives belt strapped on to his body,” Mr Neuman said “I was in shock. The man who was with me shouted that we should each grab one of the bomber’s hands and not let him move so he couldn’t detonate himself.”Meanwhile, the bomber, who was conscious, began fighting us, and we yelled for all of the passengers on the bus, as well as those close by, to clear the area.”Mr Neuman and the male passenger held the bomber’s hands pinned to the ground while the other passengers ran. Then, Mr Neuman said, the other passenger suggested they both let go at once and run for it. When they did, the bomber got up, ran towards a group of people at a bus stop near by and detonated his bomb.