Russian officials said yesterday they’re deeply disappointed by the latest Iraq U.N. Security Council resolution put forward by the United States. French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte added there appear to be no hopes for a quick resolution. France and Russia have been insisting on a two-step approach in which a first resolution would set out guidelines for the weapons inspections, and a second, authorizing force, be considered only if Iraq is found to be in violation of the first. The revised U.S. resolution will allow, but not require, the Security Council to revisit the idea of using force if the U.N. weapons inspectors report Baghdad is not in compliance.

The British government has also expressed concern with the Bush administration over a possible U.S. plan for a long occupation of Iraq under a military administration after Saddam Hussein is ousted. British officials say toppling Hussein’s regime would have to be followed by imposition of an interim administration under a U.N. flag. Ten days ago, The New York Times reported the Bush administration plans to install a U.S. military commander to govern Iraq and control the nation’s oil resources.

Yesterday, the United Nations police arrested 19 members of the newly formed group No Blood for Oil. They were protesting the Bush administration’s push toward war.

At least 14 people were killed, over 40 injured, when a car bomb blew up next to a bus near the Israeli coastal city of Hadera. Police said a jeep carrying more than 130 pounds of explosives pulled up next to the bus as it was waiting at a bus stop. The military wing of Islamic Jihad, al-Quds Brigade, claimed responsibility for the blast. In response, Israeli troops demolished the West Bank homes of two Palestinians the Israeli military says were involved in other bombings.

An Israeli army commander has been relieved of his post after being charged with torturing a young Palestinian boy in Bethlehem in April while interrogating him as to the whereabouts of his father. Lieutenant Colonel Geva Saguy is awaiting a court-martial on several charges, including ordering the boy to strip naked, holding a burning paper under his testicles, threatening to ram a bottle into his anus and threatening to shoot him. The boy’s name and age haven’t been revealed. The commander was relieved of his post on the orders of the military court after it turned down a request for the charges to be thrown out. The army had resisted the move for several months.

Dozens of multinational corporations, including Barclays Bank, De Beers and Anglo American, have been accused of plundering the Democratic Republic of Congo’s wealth, this according to a scathing U.N. report. An independent panel of experts reported to the U.N. Security Council that 85 multinational companies, based in Europe, the U.S. and South Africa, had violated ethical guidelines in dealing with criminal networks which have pillaged gold, diamonds, cobalt and copper from the war-torn Central African country.

A Manhattan judge yesterday gave prosecutors until December 5 to declare whether they believe the convictions of five young men in the 1989 Central Park jogger attack should be overturned. Relatives of the young men said they’re outraged and disappointed by the judge’s ruling. They want the prosecutor to vindicate the young men immediately.