WASHINGTON IN BRIEF
Friday, January 13, 2006; Page A06
World Bank Funding Will Fight Bird Flu
World Bank member countries yesterday endorsed $500 million in aid to help countries deal with bird flu, ahead of next week's meeting in Beijing where additional funds will be sought, a senior bank official said.
Jim Adams, the bank's vice president for operations policy and country services, told Reuters that Kyrgyzstan is the first country to benefit from the new funding and will get $5 million to prepare for bird flu.
"We have flexibility now to go out and negotiate with individual countries to provide money," Adams said, adding that he was "cautiously optimistic" that donor countries will be able to fill a $1 billion financing gap for a global war chest for bird flu at the Beijing meeting.
At least three children have died in Turkey from the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus; another 18 have been infected. The virus has been found in large parts of the country.
NSA Watchdog Reviewed Domestic Surveillance
The National Security Agency's independent watchdog reviewed its controversial domestic surveillance program over several years, a longer period than previously known, according to an agency official.
The inspector general, Joel Brenner, has looked into all aspects of the program's operations to ensure they complied with orders signed by President Bush, according to an NSA official familiar with the inspector general. The official spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the program.
Bush has acknowledged he authorized the NSA to eavesdrop -- without warrants -- on international calls and e-mails of Americans and others inside the United States with suspected ties to al Qaeda.
Taxpayer Group Assails Road Through Smokies
A Washington-based taxpayer watchdog group has joined opposition to a proposed road through one of the largest undeveloped tracts in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Taxpayers for Common Sense said it urged the federal government to pay a $52 million settlement to Swain County, the proposed site of the road, instead of building the "Road to Nowhere" at a cost of as much as $600 million.
-- From News Services
