United Nations

Resolution adopted to keep WMDs from terrorists

The Security Council unanimously approved a resolution Wednesday requiring all 191 U.N. states to pass laws to keep weapons of mass destruction out of the hands of terrorists.

President Bush urged the council in September to close a loophole that could allow terror groups to obtain nuclear, chemical and biological weapons.

International treaties target weapons proliferation by governments, but there are no laws to prevent “nonstate actors” such as corrupt scientists, black marketeers and terrorists from obtaining such weapons.

The measure, adopted under a U.N. rule known as Chapter VII, allows for military enforcement if necessary.

Washington, D.C.

Gore giving $6 million from campaign to Democrats

Al Gore, drawing from his 2000 campaign accounts, said Wednesday he would donate more than $6 million to five Democratic Party groups and help John Kerry fight President Bush’s “outrageous and misleading” re-election bid.

The former vice president pledged to donate $4 million to the Democratic National Committee. The party’s Senate and House committees each will get $1 million, and the party from Gore’s home state of Tennessee will receive $250,000.

The Democratic Party in Florida, site of the divisive 2000 election recount, will get $240,000 from a separate Gore campaign account. Republican campaign committees still have a fund-raising advantage over Democrats.

“The outcome of this election is extremely important for the future of our country and for all that America stands for,” Gore said. “I want to help John Kerry become president, and I want to help Democrats retake control of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives.”

Washington, D.C.

House passes tax cuts for married couples

The House voted Wednesday to lower taxes for some married couples, part of an election-year push to lock in some of President Bush’s most popular tax cuts.

The bill, passed 323-95, would permanently change three parts of tax law that cause some married couples to pay higher taxes than they would as single individuals and reduce their taxes $105 billion over the next decade. Some married couples face a tax increase next year if the changes expire as scheduled.

The Bush administration praised the bill and asked lawmakers to make more tax cuts permanent.

“Tax relief has greatly helped the economy weather the storms of recent years and fueled the economic recovery under way today,” the administration said in a statement.

The vote sent the tax cut for married couples to the Senate, which must pass it before it becomes law. No debate has been scheduled in the Senate.