World Watch

MIDDLE EAST
Arafat Emerges, Defiant, amid the Rubble
Israel lifted its siege of Yasser Arafat's headquarters in Ramallah, but tensions remained high outside Bethlehem's Church of the Nativity. Playing down the damage to his compound, Arafat angrily denounced the Israelis for a "big crime" against a "sacred place" after fighting and fire broke out at the church, where Israel was demanding the surrender of dozens of Palestinian fighters. He also condemned Israel's assault on the Jenin refugee camp, the deaths of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza and infrastructure damage. The Palestinian leader later toured Ramallah, smiling and waving. Israel lifted its siege after he acquiesced in the jailing of six wanted men. As Israeli troops entered Nablus in a crackdown on "terrorism," diplomatic efforts went on. But the U.N., citing Israeli noncooperation, abandoned plans to conduct a Jenin inquiry.

SPAIN
ETA STRIKES AGAIN
A caller claiming to represent the separatist group ETA gave advance warning of a car bomb that exploded near a Madrid stadium shortly before a European Champions' League football match. The attack came a day after police said they had dismantled ETA's international financial network with the arrest of 11 Batasuna Party activists. Fifteen people were slightly injured in the blast, but the match kicked off on schedule, allowing Real Madrid to qualify over Barcelona.

GERMANY
After the Grief
As friends, relatives and sympathizers mourned the deaths of 16 people in a school shooting, authorities sought measures to help prevent similar incidents. Interior Minister Otto Schily proposed raising the legal age for gun ownership from 18 to 21. Bavarian premier Edmund Stoiber suggested a ban on violent video and computer games. Youth groups said such proposals were an overreaction and would not have prevented 19-year-old Robert Steinhäuser from carrying out his deadly mission at the Gutenberg High School in Erfurt, which investigators said had been planned for at least six months.

FRANCE
Peaceful Protests
In a Fierce Campaign May Day marchers had their eyes on election day as an estimated 1.3 million people took to the streets across the country to protest the presidential candidacy of the far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. As center-right President Jacques Chirac appeared to be heading for a landslide victory in the second round of voting, Le Pen addressed about 10,000 of his supporters in Paris. In contrast to the peaceful gatherings in France, May Day clashes between police and a minority of demonstrators occurred in Berlin, Zurich and London.

GEORGIA
Strategic Presence
The first contingent of U.S. special forces arrived to assist local troops in counterterrorism operations. Some 200 military instructors will be involved in the mission to train and equip Georgian soldiers to tackle Muslim extremists in areas like the remote Pankisi Gorge. The Pentagon has said the $64 million program will last six months, but others say the troops will stay on to protect U.S. regional interests.

MADAGASCAR
Divided Rule
The power struggle for the island's presidency took another twist when a vote recount established former opposition leader Marc Ravalomanana as the winner of December's elections. Presidential incumbent Didier Ratsiraka said he would not accept the result, and four of the island's six provinces said they would secede from the opposition-controlled capital. After intervention from the Organization of African Unity, Ravolomanana agreed to form a government of national reconciliation and prepare for another vote to decide the country's future.

ZIMBABWE
Disastrous State
The government declared a state of disaster to deal with critical food shortages, authorizing emergency measures to assist food distribution. The proclamation blamed the "prevalent drought," but relief officials said that agricultural disruption caused by government-sanctioned farm invasions had worsened the problem. The country was once a net grain exporter, but now more than half the population of 13 million urgently needs food aid.

AFGHANISTAN
Allied Offensive
British troops backed by U.S. fighter jets began their biggest combat operation since the Gulf War, launching a sweep through southeastern Afghanistan that some said would be the last major offensive against al-Qaeda forces. About 1,000 British commandos scoured the mountainous regions of Paktia province in what was dubbed Operation Snipe. But U.S. officials said there were several operations under way, with allied troops also preparing to strike in areas across the Pakistan border.

PAKISTAN
Tainted Win
President Pervez Musharraf claimed an overwhelming mandate to govern the country for another five years after results of a referendum gave him 95% of the vote. But the independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that polling irregularities, including multiple voting, "exceeded our worst fears." Musharraf seized power in a military coup in October 1999.

THE NETHERLANDS
"Belgrade Decided to Destroy Kosovo"
In dramatic testimony at Slobodan Milosevic's war-crimes trial in the Hague, President Ibrahim Rugova of Kosovo said, "Belgrade clearly decided to destroy Kosovo through violence and war" by "a calmly done cleansing of the population." Rugova, who sparred verbally with the former Yugoslav leader, is the highest-ranking prosecution witness so far. The charges against Milosevic include responsibility for the deaths of more than 900 Kosovars and the expulsion of 80,000 in a crackdown that drew in NATO forces in 1999.

NORTH KOREA
Talks Offer
Pyongyang surprised U.S. officials by offering to resume security talks for the first time in 18 months. The move came a day after Red Cross officials, meeting in Beijing, persuaded North Korea to allow Japanese citizens living there to visit their home country. The White House said it would accept the offer to send a State Department official to the North Korean capital.

PHILIPPINES
Hostages in Peril
Police said they arrested two senior members of the al-Qaeda-linked Abu Sayyaf rebel group accused of kidnapping, murder and connections to bomb blasts in the city of General Santos last month. Officals said Salih Abdullah was an intelligence officer for the group, while Satar Yacub had been based on Basilan Island, where rebels are holding two U.S. citizens hostage. Earlier in the week, the group threatened to kill the couple, saying negotiations were closed.

UNITED STATES
Continental Shelf
E.U. leaders smoothed over their differences with the U.S. on trade issues, the Middle East and Iraq at a summit meeting that most observers described as "disappointing." Trade delegations met for a second day to address the most contentious issue between them — U.S. tariffs on steel imports — but officials said more success was achieved in the area of foreign policy. U.S. President George W. Bush said "important progress" had been made on the Middle East. "The United States and the E.U. share a common vision of two states, Palestine and Israel, living side by side," he said.