Strasbourg

In two test-case actions, the European Court of Human Rights dismissed compensation claims by British military veterans and their families who said they suffered serious health problems from exposure to nuclear tests on Christmas Island in the Pacific in 1957 and 1958. The court found that Kenneth McGinley and Edward Egan had not exhausted "domestic remedies" in seeking compensation from the British government, and also ruled against Lorraine Burns, who argued that she developed leukemia four years after her birth in 1966 because her father had witnessed five of the tests.

Luxembourg

European Fisheries ministers agreed on a total ban on the use of drift nets by E.U. fishing fleets by Dec. 31, 2001. Although European Com mission officials had hoped to secure the ban by the end of 1999, the French pushed for the extension, arguing that there is no scientific basis that drift net fishing for tuna endangers the dolphin population--despite the fact that hundreds of them are trapped in the huge nets each year. The French also were motivated by the fact that roughly half of their fleet of 77 drift net boats is based on the Ile d'Yeu, off the coast of Brittany, where such fishing is a major part of the local economy.

Bern

With a 66.6% majority, Swiss voters rejected a proposal to virtually outlaw genetic "manipulation" of humans, animals and plants. The government, pharmaceutical and chemical industries and most medical researchers opposed the initiative, arguing that it would cost Switzerland 45,000 jobs, undermine the country's leadership in biotechnology and threaten medical research. The initiative--backed by the Green Party and environmental and consumer organizations--called for a ban on the production, sale and acquisition of genetically modified animals, barred tests of genetically altered plants and blocked patents for modified organisms. Moscow

Russian law enforcement authorities detained the head of the national statistics agency, Yuri Yurkov, and his two top lieutenants on suspicion of selling confidential information and, by distorting data, helping major companies to avoid taxes. The arrests of the State Statistical Committee (Goskomstat) officials coincide with the latest government attempts to curb bureaucratic corruption and cajole major firms and wealthy Russians to pay their taxes. Insufficient revenues have been cited as one reason why millions of workers have not received their wages for several months.

Assab

The escalating war between Ethiopia and Eritrea spread to just 80 km from Assab, Eritrea's strategic Red Sea port, at week's end. Ethiopian Foreign Minister Seyoum Seyoum Mesfin, in Cairo to brief President Hosni Mubarak on the situation, ruled out direct negotiations as long as Eritrea occupies Ethiopian territory in the border dispute. Mubarak's mediation efforts suffered a setback when the Eritrean Air Force bombed the northern Ethiopian town of Adigrat.

Kabarole

The massacre of more than 50 technical college students by Allied Democratic Front rebels in Kichwamba, western Uganda, brought a warning of massive retaliation from President Yoweri Museveni. Previous attacks by the Lord's Resistance Army have occurred in Uganda's northern districts of Kitgum and Gulu, but western Uganda is Museveni's home region. The students, buried in a mass grave, were burned to death when the rebels set fire to their dormitories.

Bissau

Tens of thousands of people in Guinea-Bissau were fleeing the former Portuguese colony in fear of renewed fighting between government forces and rebel troops who attempted a coup against President Joao Bernardo Vieira. The rebels--holed up at a garrison outside the capital, Bissau--are led by the former armed forces chief, Ansumane Mane, who was discharged from the army after being accused of supplying arms to Senegalese guerrillas.

Cape Town

South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission heard chilling testimony in another chapter of past covert operations aimed at opponents of the former National Party government. Several scientists--dubbed "apartheid's witch doctors"--described some of their work: producing anthrax-tainted chocolates, brewing botulism into beer, developing umbrellas that fired lethal pellets, planning to give a brain-damaging drug to Nelson Mandela on his release from prison and seeking bacteria that would harm only blacks.

Faizabad

Helicopters dispatched by the U.N. and the International Committee of the Red Cross brought food and water to 56 Afghan villages among those worst hit by the massive May 30 earthquake that claimed an estimated 5,000 lives. Many people who survived the disaster say, however, that food, water and cooking supplies are still desperately needed in the rugged, remote mountainous area near the Tajik border.

Islamabad

Although still refusing, like India, to sign a global nuclear nonproliferation treaty, Pakistan announced a moratorium on nuclear testing and called for talks with its arch rival over the disputed territory of Kashmir and other issues. India had previously announced its own test moratorium. Tensions have been particularly high in the subcontinent since last month, when India conducted five nuclear tests, which were quickly matched by Pakistan.

Bhubaneswar

The start of seasonal monsoon rain in southern India brought the first signs of relief from a severe heat wave in which nearly 3,000 people died nationwide, nearly half of them in the eastern state of Orissa. As temperatures began to fall, a cyclone ripped along India's west coast, killing more than 700 people. Hardest hit was the state of Gujarat, where the storm swung in from the Arabian Sea with 100 km/h winds. More than 400 salt collectors were among the dead.

Taipei

Triggering fears of a viral epidemic, a flu-like illness has claimed the lives of 32 children in Taiwan in recent weeks, while infecting about 7,500 people. Unlike the "bird flu" that caused six deaths in Hong Kong late last year, enterovirus type 71 appears annually in warm, wet Taiwan. However, experts suspect that a newly discovered strain of the virus --to which children are especially vulnerable--and the severity of this year's outbreak will seriously complicate efforts to halt further contagion.

Dili

Released on the order of Indonesia's President B.J. Habibie, 12 political prisoners left a jail in East Timor, pledging to continue their fight for independence. In Dili, the provincial capital, thousands of people protested Indonesian rule of East Timor, while in Jakarta 1,000 massed at the Foreign Ministry, calling for a referendum on independence. Breaking with the policy of his ousted predecessor Suharto, Habibie offered to grant the province special status, but separatists want nothing short of full self-determination.

Buenos Aires

Argentina's former military leader, Jorge Rafael Videla, was detained as part of an investigation into the kidnapping of children during the "dirty war" in the 1970s. Videla was held after relatives of missing children filed complaints accusing the former general of having ordered the abductions and then offering the children for adoption by military families. He served several years of a life sentence for human rights abuses before being pardoned in a 1990 amnesty.

Chavajeval

At least nine people died in clashes between Mexican government forces and supporters of the guerrilla Zapatista National Liberation Army as the government retook control of the El Bosque municipality in the state of Chiapas, arresting officials of a parallel local government set up two and a half years ago. Most of the violence occurred in the villages of Chavajeval and Union Progreso. Blaming the government earlier for the stalled peace process, Bishop Samuel Ruiz stepped down as head of the Catholic Church's mediation panel, and the unit disbanded.

Vancouver

The largest forestry company in British Columbia announced plans to halt clear cutting of old-growth forests. Macmillan Bloedel Ltd. said it would now cut only 30% of the trees in old-growth areas. MacMillan Bloedel has been under pressure since 1993 to stop cutting down all trees on large tracts of land. The company, which has been hard hit by a slump in Japan's lumber market, expressed hope that its policy change would help it expand into markets where consumers are concerned about clear cutting.

Houston

The shuttle Discovery retrieved Andrew Thomas, the last U.S. astronaut aboard the Russian space station Mir, and returned to Earth. Plans call for Mir to be abandoned and allowed to burn up in the atmosphere in 1999.