President Bush proposed a plan to allow Medicare beneficiaries to qualify for prescription drug benefits by switching out of Medicare and into subsidized private insurance plans. (NYT)

Officials at the U.S. Department of Defense told the L.A. Times that the department would create its own network of military spies operating outside the United States. The spies would collaborate with CIA agents, but focus on intelligence for possible military operations. (LAT)

The U.S. said it would send 24 long-range bombers to Guam. Officials said the move was non-aggressive, and intended to deter North Korea from any aggressive acts during a possible war between the U.S. and Iraq. (Reuters)

New York and New York City officials announced that a new building complex to be built on the World Trade Center site will be based on a design by Berlin-based Studio Daniel Libeskind. (NYT)

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that tactics employed by anti-abortion groups to block access to abortion clinics or discourage their use did not meet legal criteria for extortion. The ruling stated that extortion only applies when coercion is used to acquire property. Interfering with a person's access to an abortion clinic is now prohibited by the U.S. Freedom of Access to Clinic Entrances Act, however. (Reuters)

The White House said President Bush didn't believe Saddam Hussein would respond to diplomatic efforts to convince him to disarm. (Reuters)

Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said the U.S. economy did not need short-term stimulus and that the budget deficits that would be created by Bush's tax-cut proposals could cause inflation and would be difficult to control. (NYT, WaPost)

A U.S. appeals court ruled that the state of Arkansas can legally force a mentally ill prisoner to take antipsychotic medication for his condition even though he is on death row. Because a previous U.S. Supreme Court decision prohibits the execution of the insane, the ruling clears the way for the state to execute the prisoner. The man's lawyers had asked that his sentence be reduced to life in prison. (NYT, WaPost/AP)

Several large businesses, as well as educational institutions, former military officials and others, plan to express their support to the U.S. Supreme Court for the University of Michigan's use of racial criteria in its admissions policy, lawyers involved with the case said. The support seems to stem both from the pragmatic advantages of expressing it and from the view that integration has economic benefits as well. (WaPost)

Enaam Arnaout, the director of the Benevolence International Foundation, pleaded guilty to illegally transferring donations to rebel fighters in Bosnia and Chechnya in the 1990s. Arnaout had also been accused of sending funds to al Qaeda, but his plea agreement did not require him to admit to any support for terrorist activities. (NYT, WaPost)

U.S. officials said that a manager at an Immigration and Naturalization Service data processing center had addressed a backlog of some 90,000 documents by illegally ordering to have them destroyed. (NYT)

The U.S. Department of State's database of visa applications, describing some 50 million applicants and containing some 20 million photographs, will be linked to a computer system accessible to the FBI, other intelligence agencies and local police departments, officials said. The database contains non-classified information, but will make it easier for law enforcement officials to access it. (NYT)

Bush administration officials said President Bush would propose new retirement savings plans, to replace some existing plans, possibly allowing Americans to save up to $15,000 each year and later withdraw funds tax free. (NYT)

The four-person crew of a U.S. military helicopter died when the helicopter crashed on a routine training mission near the Bagram air base in Afghanistan. (MSNBC/AP)

Richard Reid, who confessed to attempting to blow up an airliner with explosives concealed in his shoes, was sentenced to life in prison. (Fox News)

The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service announced a $37 million computer system designed to track recipients of student visas in the United States. There are nearly 1 million foreign students in the country. (WaPost)

Bush administration officials said the administration's plans to disclose intelligence data concerning banned Iraqi weapons programs were intended to demonstrate that war with Iraq is necessary — not to facilitate inspections. The White House indicated it was looking toward a Feb. 14 date, when U.N. weapons inspectors will file another report, for a U.N. Security Council decision on Iraq. (WaPost, NYT)