World
Hopes rose for a lasting peace in Northern Ireland as the British government set Nov. 26 for elections to choose a new power-sharing government of Protestants and Catholics. Five hours later, the Irish Republican Army announced it had "decommissioned" more of its weapons, although it offered no details. Under the 1998 peace accord, the IRA was to have destroyed all of its weapons - estimated to be more than 100 tons - within two years. The self-rule government collapsed and the election was called off after IRA spying was uncovered last October. Left, Gerry Adams of the IRA's political ally, Sinn Fein, prepares for a news conference in Belfast to discuss the day's developments.
Yasser Arafat demanded immediate international intervention after at least 10 more Palestinians were killed in additional airstrikes by Israeli forces against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip. Witnesses claimed about 100 civilians were hurt in the attacks, but Israel's government said there would be no letup in targeting militants as long as Arafat's Palestinian Authority failed to crack down on them.
An agreement to sign and ratify UN terms for strict inspections of its nuclear facilities was announced by Iran's government. But it said the signing wouldn't take place until after the Oct. 31 deadline set by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and that compliance could last for as little as "one day," adding: "Whenever we don't want it, we will end it." No timetable was announced for the steps involved: suspending Iran's uranium-enrichment program and allowing spot checks of its facilities by the IAEA.
Saying, "No fast action can be expected from us," Serbia's prime minister scorned the indictments of four senior officials by the UN war crimes tribunal for the Balkans. The tribunal said Serbia had no choice but to hand over its deputy interior minister, police chief in Kosovo, former armed forces chief of staff, and another ex-general. They're charged with crimes against humanity in the 1999 campaign to crush Albanian separatists in Kosovo. Many Serbians consider them heroes.
Army commanders displayed for the news media the remains of one of the most senior chiefs of Colombia's largest communist rebel movement. They said Edgar Gustavo Navarro, who led an elite unit of the Revolutionary Armed Forces, died in a gunfight Sunday, and called his loss "a major blow for this terrorist group." His unit is blamed for car bombings, assassinations, airplane hijackings, and kidnapings.
