ROME

Armed bandits tied up three guards after closing time at the National Gallery of Modern Art in Rome and stole two paintings by Vincent van Gogh and another by Paul Cezanne. The value of the works was estimated at more than $30 million, although the paintings are so well known they could not be sold on the normal art market. The stolen works are van Gogh's Le Jardinier and L'Arlesienne, and Cezanne's Le Cabanon de Jourdan. Investigators believe the thieves, who left other particularly valuable pieces untouched, were working for a private collector.

BONN

The German government suspended nuclear waste shipments within and out of the country after revelations of radiation leaks in several train convoys transporting spent fuel rods to the La Hague reprocessing plant in France and the Sellafield plant in Britain. The Environment Ministry said all transports would be halted until appropriate safeguards were in place. German officials said that while the radiation seepages were above acceptable levels, there was no spillage into the environment, and no one was hurt. Reactor operators knew of contamination incidents since the mid-1980s, Environment Minister Angela Merkel said, but Bonn was first informed by the French authorities in April.

PODGORICA

Political tensions between Yugoslavia's remaining two republics, Serbia and Montenegro, increased as the federal parliament rubber-stamped an ally of President Slobodan Milosevic as the country's Prime Minister. The parliament of Montenegro, dominated by supporters of Milo Djukanovic, the anti-Milosevic Montenegrin President, rejected the federal move, saying the appointment of Djukanovic's nemesis Momir Bulatovic was unconstitutional. Observers fear bloodshed may erupt in the wake of Montenegrin elections on May 31 as Milosevic and his supporters try to rein in the republic.

KRASNOYARSK

In a landslide victory that has worried Kremlin aides, the retired general and presidential aspirant Alexander Lebed won a runoff for the governership of Krasnoyarsk Krai, a Siberian province four times the size of France. Lebed defeated the incumbent governor, Valery Zubov, by a 3-2 margin. Meanwhile, during a week of turmoil in Russia's financial markets, a wave of social protests rocked neighboring Siberian regions before spreading across Russia, as miners, teachers, students and scientists blocked critical railways and highways, demanding several months' back pay.

DHAHRAN

King Fahd of Saudi Arabia commuted the sentences of two British nurses convicted of the murder of an Australian colleague to the 17 months they have already spent in prison. Deborah Parry had faced possible execution for Yvonne Gilford's murder, but was spared when her brother accepted "blood money," which has not yet been paid. Lucille McLauchlan was sentenced to eight years and 500 lashes as an accessory. The women, who insist they are innocent, said after arriving in Britain that they had confessed only after being tortured and abused by Saudi police. McLauchlan faces charges in Scotland of fraudulently using a terminally ill patient's credit card.

NAIROBI

Three men were arrested for the murder of Seth Sendashonga, a Rwandan opposition leader and former Interior Minister. Sendashonga, who lived in exile in Nairobi, was killed in a hail of gunfire on May 16. Police said the three included a businessman who allegedly ordered the killing and the two men who allegedly carried it out. Sendashonga was a moderate Hutu member of the Rwandan Patriotic Front, which ousted the Hutu government responsible for three months of genocide in 1994. He and several other officials were dismissed from their posts in 1995, when they protested Tutsi reprisal killings of Hutu civilians.

KABUL

Prospects in U.N.-monitored peace talks between Afghanistan's warring Islamic factions were damaged severely when the Taliban government retracted its agreement that a commission of religious scholars should help rule the country. The formula was widely considered to be Afghanistan's best chance for peace in years. Since the accord was reached in early May, the two sides have argued over the details.

JAFFNA

The first woman to be elected Mayor of Jaffna was shot and killed, setting back peace efforts in Sri Lanka after 15 years of conflict between minority Tamils and the dominant ethnic Sinhalese. A previously unknown group calling itself the Sangilian Force--which the government maintains is a front for the guerrilla Tamil Tigers--claimed responsibility for the killing of Sarojini Yogeswaran, a popular moderate. She was gunned down within four months of local elections held as a first step in the restoration of civil autonomy to the northern region.

BOGOTA

Colombia's top military officials announced the disbanding of the army's Brigada XX, its main intelligence-gathering unit, following pressure from the U.S., human rights groups and prosecutors. Announcement of the disbanding came on a day of national protest against the latest spate of violence. At least 11 civilians were massacred in the northern town of Barrancabermeja, accused by their paramilitary attackers of complicity with leftist guerrillas. In Cali, the television journalist Bernabe Cortes--who reported on police and military affairs--was murdered. The violence is part of a paramilitary campaign to sow terror before the first round of voting in presidential elections on May 31.

AIQUILE

At least 60 people were killed when earthquakes rolled through remote mountain towns in central Bolivia, destroying hundreds of adobe houses. The town of Aiquile and nearby Totora were reported to have been particularly hard hit. As landslides blocked access to many roads in the region, complicating rescue efforts, army paratroopers dropped from military helicopters to provide initial assistance.

MEXICO CITY

Authorities in Mexico, Central America and the United States rallied to fight fires that have burned nearly 500,000 hectares of land and severely affected air quality and visibility from Costa Rica to the U.S. Midwest. Parched conditions and low winds have caused agricultural fires to whip up out of control, spreading a smoky haze. The U.S. has agreed to provide equipment as part of a $5 million program to help douse the wildfires.

LOS ANGELES

The U.S. Justice Department accused three of Mexico's biggest banks of knowingly aiding drug traffickers by laundering hundreds of millions of dollars in proceeds. Indictments unsealed in Los Angeles followed a three-year sting operation involving U.S. Customs agents who helped the Mexican bankers to move funds around, making their origin appear legitimate. In addition to charging Mexico's Bancomer, Banca Serfin and Banca Confia with knowingly aiding traffickers for the Juarez cartel in Mexico and the Cali syndicate in Colombia, the U.S. accused officials from 12 of the 19 largest banks in Mexico of involvement in money laundering. At least 160 people were arrested and roughly $52 million has been seized.

NASSAU

The Bahamas sent 126 Cuban boat people home, despite a Nicaraguan offer of temporary asylum. The group included three baseball players who had been courted by U.S. sports agents. Deported in groups of 65 and 61, they were rejected for political asylum after U.N. personnel determined that they were economic refugees and had not been persecuted in Cuba.

SANTO DOMINGO

The leftist opposition Revolutionary Party won a sweeping victory in congressional and municipal elections in the Dominican Republic, positioning itself to aim for the presidency in two years. Despite the May 10 death of its charismatic leader, Jose Francisco Pena Gomez, the Revolutionary Party galvanized its followers, capturing 24 of 30 Senate seats, as well as a comfortable plurality in the lower house. The congressional results are seen as certain to further impede plans of President Leonel Fernandez and his Dominican Liberation Party to privatize some state enterprises, raise sales taxes and reduce import tariffs.

VANCOUVER

Canada banned fishing for coho salmon on its west coast in a bid to prevent extinction of the species. The ban comes amid Canada's ongoing battle with the U.S. over Pacific salmon fishing rights--in which Canada has accused Alaskan fishermen of catching too many fish returning to British Colombian rivers to spawn and Alaskans have accused Canada of poor management. Fishermen will still be able to catch several other salmon species, but the ban on coho will likely have serious repercussions for both British Colombia's $525 million sports fishery and its $315 million commercial fishery.