President Barack Obama sternly proclaimed ratification of the US-Russia nuclear arms treaty “a national security imperative” today.

CALLING him a “murderer” and a “monster”, more than 100 victims of Wall Street swindler Bernard Madoff have asked the judge, who will sentence him on June 29 for the maximum sentence.

The US is changing its policy on cluster bombs and plans to reduce the danger of unexploded munitions in the deadly explosives.

Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush failed to act on intelligence and eliminate key al Qaida terrorists by force in the years before the September 11 attacks, according to a probe in the US.