26/08/2007 00:00
TW
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by MONITOR
AN hitherto secret report on the CIA's performance before the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre said that the agency's various anti-terrorism units had failed to work together and had let al-Qaeda's mastermind in the US evade detection and arrest
President Bush continued to resist pressure from Congress to announce plans for a withdrawal of US forces from Iraq; within 48 hours he first said he was frustrated by prime minister Maliki's “very disappointing” progress in bringing Shias and Sunnis together in government and then said Maliki was “a good man with a difficult job”.

In Pakistan the Supreme Court ruled that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif could return to the country after being exiled in 1999; President Musharraf's prospects in the forthcoming elections seemed increasingly threatened.

Venezuela's National Assembly approved President Chavez's proposal to abolish the country's presidential term limits; the idea will be put to a national referendum later in 2007.

Bulletin Headlines of the Week l SUNDAY/MONDAY: Palma Street Violence Fears (Two plainclothes policemen were among those injured in another outbreak of fighting between South American youths). l TUESDAY: Balearics Sets Up Peru Quake Aid Operation (The first shipment of aid for Peru and the first group of emergency volunteers had left Palma airport). l WEDNESDAY: Summer Flooding (A heavy summer storm caused serious flooding in many parts of Majorca and brought the island's new metro service to a halt). l THURSDAY: Balearics Back To Normal (The Alcudia area had been the worst hit by two days of storms and rain). l FRIDAY: Britain Gripped By Gun Crime (The murder of an 11-year-old boy in Liverpool was the latest in a series of gun and knife assaults). l SATURDAY: Palma Metro Hits the Buffers (Flooding at stations and on the line had brought Palma's new Metro to a temporary halt).