by MONITOR
AN hitherto secret report on the CIA's performance before the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Centre said that the agency's various anti-terrorism units had failed to work together and had let al-Qaeda's mastermind in the US evade detection and arrest
President Bush continued to resist pressure from Congress to announce plans for a withdrawal of US forces from Iraq; within 48 hours he first said he was frustrated by prime minister Maliki's very disappointing progress in bringing Shias and Sunnis together in government and then said Maliki was a good man with a difficult job.
In Pakistan the Supreme Court ruled that former prime minister Nawaz Sharif could return to the country after being exiled in 1999; President Musharraf's prospects in the forthcoming elections seemed increasingly threatened.
Venezuela's National Assembly approved President Chavez's proposal to abolish the country's presidential term limits; the idea will be put to a national referendum later in 2007.
Bulletin Headlines of the Week l SUNDAY/MONDAY: Palma Street Violence Fears (Two plainclothes policemen were among those injured in another outbreak of fighting between South American youths). l TUESDAY: Balearics Sets Up Peru Quake Aid Operation (The first shipment of aid for Peru and the first group of emergency volunteers had left Palma airport). l WEDNESDAY: Summer Flooding (A heavy summer storm caused serious flooding in many parts of Majorca and brought the island's new metro service to a halt). l THURSDAY: Balearics Back To Normal (The Alcudia area had been the worst hit by two days of storms and rain). l FRIDAY: Britain Gripped By Gun Crime (The murder of an 11-year-old boy in Liverpool was the latest in a series of gun and knife assaults). l SATURDAY: Palma Metro Hits the Buffers (Flooding at stations and on the line had brought Palma's new Metro to a temporary halt).