Copenhagen

Prime Minister Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, a Social Democrat, managed to hold on to power by a single seat in Denmark's general elections. The victory by his two-party minority coalition--over the center-right opposition led by Liberal leader Uffe Ellemann-Jensen--confounded pre-election polls. In the 10-party parliament, Rasmussen's group holds 90 of the 179 seats, while the opposition controls 89. In a prosperous country uneasy with the E.U., Rasmussen now must rally support for a May 28 referendum on the Amsterdam treaty, which further integrates West European nations.

The Hague

In a surprising turn of events, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia rejected an indicted Bosnian Serb's guilty plea, saying the suspect did not fully understand the gravity of the charge against him. Former paramilitary commander Dragoljub Kunarac, 37, who turned himself over to the war-crimes tribunal on March 4, pleaded guilty to orchestrating sexual assaults on Muslim women and personally raping two of them in 1992--which constitutes a crime against humanity. If accepted, his plea would have carried an automatic conviction and a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Kunarac's trial will mark the first time that rape is prosecuted as a war crime before an international court.

Moscow

President Boris Yeltsin once again unnerved political and business circles in Russia when he canceled all appointments due to what was termed an "acute respiratory illness." This was later described as a cold. Aides said he was being treated with antibiotics and stressed that the latest ailment was not related to his heart condition. Anxiety was heightened by the fact that Yeltsin aides have often used a cold as a euphemism for other problems, some life-threatening. Recently, however, more concern has been expressed about Yeltsin's mental acuity.

Freetown

Following the intervention of a Nigerian-led West African military force that drove out Sierra Leone's ruling junta, the elected President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah returned in triumph. "We will make this a new beginning," Kabbah said at a ceremony attended by Nigeria's leader, General Sani Abacha, after ending 10 months of exile in Guinea. The West African force laid siege to Freetown for months before expelling the junta--led by Lieut. Colonel Johnny Paul Koroma--that seized power in May 1997.

Luanda

Following the UNITA movement's declaration that it has fully demobilized its rebel army and will move its southern headquarters to Luanda, the Angolan capital, by the end of this month, Angola's Council of Ministers legalized the one-time guerrilla movement. The action brings the long-delayed Angolan peace accord a step closer to completion by the current April 1 deadline. A 1994 pact officially ended Africa's longest civil war, which broke out in 1975, after Angola gained independence from Portugal.

Tarkumiya

In an apparent misunderstanding, Israeli soldiers manning a checkpoint in the West Bank fatally shot and killed three Palestinian laborers, prompting unrest that left another Palestinian dead and scores of others injured. The soldiers contended that they opened fire when they thought a van carrying laborers was trying to run them over. Israeli authorities said the vehicle's accelerator may have been stuck.

Baghdad

Iraq passed the first test of a new weapons inspection agreement by opening a previously secret Defense Ministry site to a U.N. team headed by Scott Ritter, an American whom the Iraqi authorities once denounced as a spy. The new U.N. arms commissioner, Jayantha Dhanapala, arrived in Baghdad to begin preparations for inspecting eight so-called presidential sites that had been barred to U.N. teams until the recent showdown in which the U.S. threatened retaliatory strikes against Iraq.

Lahore

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif's campaign against terrorism looked increasingly ineffectual, as 21 people were killed in two train bombing incidents in Pakistan. The first explosion killed 11 people just outside Lahore, while the second, a day later, took 10 lives as a train entered the city just before the morning rush hour. Senior government officials blamed "foreign elements" for the blasts, hinting at its neighbor India.

New Delhi

A small political party led by a former Indian film star has thrown its support to the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party in its attempt to form a government. Jayaram Jayalalitha, the ex-actor, and allies of her southern regional All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, pledged their 27 parliamentary seats to BJP. Meanwhile Sonia Gandhi, the widow of assassinated Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, was named president of the rival Congress party which failed to gain enough support to form a government.

Seoul

A former prisoner himself, President Kim Dae Jung freed 74 people jailed for their beliefs. His action was part of a general South Korean amnesty that benefited 5.5 million people, most of whom had committed traffic offenses or petty crimes. Human rights groups were quick to express their disappointment, contending that about 500 "prisoners of conscience" remained incarcerated--among them Woo Yong Gak, 69, considered the world's longest-serving political prisoner. He has been in solitary confinement for 40 years for espionage.

Rokkasho

A ship laden with up to 30 tons of nuclear waste was permitted to dock at Rokkasho in northern Japan after anchoring offshore for three days as local officials sought assurances from the Japanese government that a permanent waste-disposal site would be found. The British-registered Pacific Swan arrived from France, where its cargo of spent fuel had been sent by Japan for processing before disposal.

Asuncion

A Paraguayan military tribunal jailed Lino Oviedo, the governing Colorado Party's presidential candidate, for 10 years for rebellion and insubordination. The charges stemmed from Oviedo's refusal in April 1996--when he was the army chief of staff--to follow President Juan Carlos Wasmosy's order that he resign. For now at least, the former general continues to be the Colorado candidate (though opposed by the party leadership) in the May 10 election--and is narrowly ahead in opinion polls.

Bogota

A shift in allegiances--as well as a substantial increase in the number of voters--marked Colombia's congressional elections. Although the governing, scandal-plagued Liberals still control 52.6% of Congress--down from 57.5% in the last election--independents were the big winners. Old-guard Liberal Party bosses, notably former Senator Heyne Mogollon, lost out to candidates who lacked party-machinery backing. The election of these independents, among them journalists, actors and indigenous leaders, signals a change in traditional voting patterns and forecasts a tight presidential race on May 31. More than 9 million voters cast ballots, up from 5.5 million in 1994--a development analysts attribute to the wider field of candidates.

Mexico City

In the latest controversy involving the Mexican military, a general who has publicly criticized the armed forces for human rights abuses was sentenced to nearly 15 years in prison on corruption charges. The military accused General Jose Francisco Gallardo Rodriguez of corruption while he was commander of a military stable during the 1980s. But human rights groups, insisting that the evidence against Gallardo was flimsy at best, contend that he was really being tried for the 1993 publication of an article critical of the military.

Miami

A Florida appeals court has reinstated Joe Carollo as mayor of Miami, ruling that Carollo was the real winner of a fraud-ridden 1997 election that gave victory to Xavier Suarez in a flurry of questionable absentee ballots. No special election for mayor is necessary, the court decided. Suarez, who was removed as mayor when a lower court threw out the results of a close runoff vote held nine days after the election, plans to carry on the legal battle.

Washington

The conservative reporter David Brock--whose 1993 article contending that Bill Clinton had used the assistance of Arkansas state employees in conducting affairs with several women while he was Governor opened a season of speculation on Clinton's personal life--said he wrote the piece for ideological reasons and apologized to the President. With the help of sworn enemies of Clinton, wrote Brock in the April issue of Esquire magazine, "I conspired to damage you and your presidency." His article in the American Spectator led directly to Paula Jones' sexual harassment complaint against Clinton.