There is a long history of the CIA briefing presidents-elect on foreign policy. Donald Trump has rebuffed the agency’s advice. Tim Weiner asks why

ANTI-WAR activist Cindy Sheehan was arrested and removed from the gallery on Tuesday night just before US President George W Bush’s State of the Union address, a police spokeswoman said.

THE US House of Representatives has overwhelmingly approved a $491 billion (€392bn) defence bill that contains new funds for the war in Iraq, but it rejected an attempt to force on the Bush administration a timetable for withdrawing troops from the country.

An exiled Iraqi opposition group that wants to increase its intelligence activities inside the country said it had held meetings with an ex-CIA chief and US State Department officials in London.