President Bush yesterday signed into law the third tax cut in three years. Bush signed the bill in the East Room of the White House among gilded mirrors and chandeliers and in front of dozens of cameras and hundreds of lobbyists, aides and taxpayers. He claimed the measure will create jobs and give money back to working people. But The New York Times reports on its front page today that a last-minute revision in the bill will prevent millions of minimum-wage families from receiving the increased child credit that is in the measure. The bill raises the child tax credit by $400, so this summer most taxpayers will receive a check in the mail for $400 per child. But after studying the bill approved on Friday, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and child advocacy groups discovered that families who make just above the minimum wage will not receive the kickback. Senate and House leaders dropped these families who make only $10,000 to $26,000 a year from the bill at the last minute. The Washington Post reports Bush avoided any mention of the federal deficit in his 20-minute speech and three-pen signing ceremony. But the tax cut he signed was made possible by legislation he privately signed a day earlier that increased the federal government’s debt ceiling by nearly $1 trillion.

The New York Times reports today U.S. military commanders now plan to keep a larger force in Iraq than had been expected. War-hardened units will also be deployed to hot spots outside Baghdad. This is to quell unrest and extend U.S. control. The news emerges as four U.S. soldiers were killed during armed Iraqi resistance this week. Earlier this month, military officials said they were hoping to reduce U.S. troops, reducing the U.S. presence to less than two divisions by the fall.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair has landed in Basra. He’s become the first Western leader to visit post-invasion Iraq. Blair’s arrival comes amid a mounting controversy over the 50-page dossier on Saddam Hussein’s weapons, which Blair used to try to make the case for an invasion. An unnamed senior British official told BBC Radio 4 that the Blair government doctored the dossier to make it “sexier.” The official said most people in intelligence “weren’t happy with the dossier, because it didn’t reflect the considered view they were putting forward.” He said the classic example of this was the claim that Iraq had chemical and biological weapons which were ready for use within 45 minutes. He said that information was not in the original draft, because it wasn’t reliable. It came from a single source intelligence officials believed was wrong. According to the BBC, the parliamentary Intelligence and Security Committee is set to conduct an inquiry into the issue.

The BBC refused yesterday to remove footage of two British soldiers killed in Iraq from a documentary, this despite pressure from the prime minister, the minister of defense and the soldiers’ families. A BBC spokesperson said it’s in the public interest to show a seven-second clip of the bodies as part of a film about the Arab TV station Al Jazeera. The program deals with the differences in coverage of the war between the Arab world and the West. Tony Blair stepped in after the BBC declined to accept calls from the Defense Department and the families of the two men.

Al Jazeera said Tuesday it will replace its general manager Mohammed Jasim al-Ali. Al-Ali has managed the station since it was founded seven years ago. The broadcaster did not give a reason for his removal. But the announcement comes just days after Secretary of State General Colin Powell criticized Al Jazeera for airing a purported al-Qaeda tape. Al Jazeera’s board of directors is responsible for its editorial policy. It’s chaired by Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer Al Thani, a member of Qatar’s royal family. Last week, the station aired an audiotape attributed to bin Laden’s top lieutenant, Ayman al-Zawahiri. After speaking with Qatar’s former foreign minister, Powell said he believed the Gulf state was taking some action.

France said yesterday it will begin deploying a French-led multinational force in the Democratic Republic of Congo next week to halt a surge in violence. The French commitment to lead a force of over 1,000 troops comes after U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed to French President Jacques Chirac to intervene. A U.N. spokeswoman in the town of Bunia told CNN today the death toll from recent clashes has risen to 415. Tens of thousands of people have fled from their homes.

Pakistani police arrested dozens of opposition lawmakers from a provincial assembly yesterday. The lawmakers were protesting Pakistani President General Pervez Musharraf’s unilateral constitutional changes.

The family of a Spanish journalist killed when a U.S. tank fired on the Palestine Hotel in Baghdad has filed suit against three U.S. soldiers, accusing them of war crimes and murder. Spanish television cameraman José Couso was killed when a U.S. tank fired on the hotel, housing almost all the unembedded international journalists in Baghdad.

This news from Peru: Soldiers and police are cracking down violently on striking farmers, teachers and other protesters after President Alejandro Toledo imposed a 30-day state of emergency, banning strikers from the streets and giving the military and police more powers to use force. Hospital officials have told Reuters that more than 20 people have been hurt from gunshot wounds after soldiers fired into the air in clashes across Peru. Toledo is a U.S.-trained former World Bank adviser. Many Peruvians say he has failed to fulfill his promises to create jobs, prosperity and a return to true democracy.

Under the White House’s much-touted $15 billion AIDS bill, the U.S. government is urging developing countries’ programs to accept food aid from the United States, including genetically engineered crops. According to The Washington Post, the AIDS bill that became law this week includes a little-noticed provision that urges 14 African and Caribbean countries to accept the food. This comes just days after President Bush charged that Europe’s position on genetically modified foods is perpetuating hunger in Africa.