U.S. Government

The U.S. State Department is warning Americans in Italy that "not all demonstrations" planned during George Bush's visit this weekend "are expected to be peaceful." Italian peace groups are organizing several demonstrations; one Rome-based activist explained: "We are going to disrupt this visit ...

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting funded two new right-leaning shows - "one hosted by Tucker Carlson, who speaks for conservatives on CNN's 'Crossfire'" and "one moderated by Paul Gigot, editorial page editor of The Wall Street Journal" - while cutting "NOW with Bill Moyers" from an hour to 30 minutes.

"Message discipline" seems to be breaking down within the Bush administration, notes David Sanger: "For months now, the same administration whose members once prided themselves on never contradicting one another in public has been riven by conflicting pronouncements. Senior officials keep missing opportunities to keep their signals straight, prompting cases of vicious backbiting that one senior member of Mr. Bush's national security staff said with disgust the other day 'make us sound like Democrats.' Reporters who spent the first two-thirds of Mr.

"The Homeland Security Department was surprised by the announcement Wednesday by Attorney General John Ashcroft and FBI Director Robert Mueller that a terrorist attack was increasingly likely in the coming months," reports Newsday.