World Watch

AN class="wwatchheads">NORTH KOREA
North Korea Scares Itself
North Korea, which has been demanding that the U.S. enter into a nonaggression pact, last week added a curious "or else." Sign, or this place is toast. "If the U.S. moves to bolster aggression, the whole land of Korea will be reduced to ashes and the Koreans will not escape horrible nuclear disasters," said the peculiarly named Committee for the Peaceful Reunification of the Fatherland, the government agency that oversees relations with South Korea.

To drive home the point, North Korea announced it had reactivated its Yongbyon nuclear reactor. Pyongyang said that it would use the reactor to generate much-needed electricity "at the present stage." The problem, according to experts, is that the reactor, which was decommissioned in 1994, is too small to make electricity in useful amounts — but certainly big enough to produce weapons materials.

The Bush Administration, preoccupied with Iraq, was determined not to get too excited. Spokesman Ari Fleischer said the White House had "heard much talk from North Korea before." However, Fleischer noted that "the United States is prepared with robust plans for any contingencies." Washington has put 24 bombers on alert for deployment to the region. Yet Secretary of State Colin Powell told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee "we have no intention of attacking North Korea."

The U.S. continued to pursue a multilateral approach to the crisis, working with allies South Korea and Japan, as well as Russia and China. But Pyongyang, which pulled out of a nuclear non-proliferation treaty in January, insisted that only direct talks with Washington will do — and seemed intent on persuading its people that a U.S. attack was imminent. Air-raid drills are conducted daily, and conditions steadily worsen in the impoverished nation, which is under an oil embargo imposed by the U.S. and its allies. A severe winter hasn't helped. The energy shortage is apparent in classrooms, where students wear coats and gloves; in apartment buildings, where elevators are grounded; and in the dimly lit public buildings. Food rations have been cut as appeals by the U.N. have been ignored. Officials say children now receive 300 g a day, down from 500 g. The hope is that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is merely posturing to get more food and fuel. Yet for ordinary North Koreans, the bluffing may be indistinguishable from reality.

TURKEY
Virtue of Necessity
With war looming on its eastern border, Turkey gave in to U.S. demands — and inducements — to open up its bases for use by American troops in an invasion of Iraq. Parliament approved a key measure to upgrade ports and bases. Most of the yes votes came from the ruling Justice and Development party (AK), which until now has been an outspoken opponent of the war. "When there is no chance left to block a war, it means participating in re-establishing peace as soon as possible," AK leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan told deputies. To sweeten the pot, the U.S. promised up to $15 billion in grants and backing for loans. It also agreed to let Turkey send its own troops into northern Iraq once the war started; not to occupy territory or engage in combat, but to contain Kurdish militants along the Turkish border and set up refugee camps to prevent an influx of Kurds into Turkey's unstable southeast. The vote brought no joy for most Turks, though, who remain against the war. "Turkey had no real choice," says analyst Mehmet Ali Birand. "It could not have refused this request from the U.S." — By Andrew Purvis and Pelin Turgut/Istanbul

THE GULF
Czech Mates
If U.S. troops go into battle in Iraq, they will be grateful for a small force of Czechs behind them. Why? Because the Czechs are experts in detecting and defending against chemical and biological attacks, skills picked up during the cold war. But the biggest dangers might not come from missiles bearing nerve agent or VX gas. "Saddam may use nonmilitary chemicals and rig up booby traps that detonate when you open a door or step on something," says Lieut. Colonel Ivo Musil, chief of operations for around 390 Kuwait-based Czech soldiers, part of a "consequence-management team" tasked with detecting and cleaning up after a chemical or biological assault. The vapors of many industrial chemicals — including phosgene, chlorine and simple ammonia — can burn, corrode equipment or even kill. Here's the scary part: detection of such chemicals will be next to impossible, even for the Czechs. The small tabs of test paper that G.I.'s carry will not pick them up either. U.S. soldiers in Kuwait's northern desert are training in full bio-hazard suits. While that protective gear may stop military chemical and biological agents, "it has not been designed to deal with every type of chemical that can harm a human being," says Keith McGonigle, who teaches biological and chemical-awareness training. — By Simon Robinson/Kuwait City

SERBIA AND MONTENEGRO
Goodbye, Yugoslavia
Seventy-four years after its foundation, Yugoslavia was formally dissolved. Politicians of the federation's two remaining republics voted to create a looser union, which will have one army but two currencies, and which will be given a three-year trial run. Last year the European Union urged separatist-leaning Montenegrins to shelve their desire for independence from larger Serbia. The E.U. feared that a move toward independence by Montenegro would encourage other secessionist movements, notably in neighboring Kosovo.

MIDDLE EAST
Talking, Shooting
Violence flared as Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon negotiated to form a coalition government and had his first meeting with a senior Palestinian official in more than a year. In the West Bank, two Palestinian militants were shot dead after they ambushed and killed two Israeli soldiers. Meanwhile, Palestinians reported that an Israeli helicopter opened fire with machine guns, killing two medical workers in Gaza. But the Israeli military said it was unaware of any casualties.

IVORY COAST
Last Chance Treaty
President Laurent Gbagbo went on national television to endorse a French-brokered peace accord that he signed with rebel forces. His speech may pave the way for the end of the four-month-old civil war. Earlier, the French government sent 450 more troops to bring its forces in the country up to about 3,000. Most are likely to protect the pro-government commercial capital, Abidjan, and the 12,000 French citizens still in the country.

NIGERIA
Mystery Blast
A massive explosion in the commercial capital, Lagos, destroyed two apartment buildings and a bank, killing at least 46 people and wounding dozens more. The blast, the cause of which is unknown, also sparked looting. Police said debris from explosive devices was found at the scene, which may indicate an illegal cache of explosives caught fire by accident. Police arrested eight men, including two bank guards.

CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Chaos, Continued
Embattled President Ange-Felix Patasse called on 1,000 soldiers from the Movement for the Liberation of Congo, a notorious foreign militia, to smash a rebel advance on Bouar, the C.A.R.'s second-largest military base. Since October, rebels loyal to ex-army chief François Bozize have seized 70% of the country, cutting food supplies to the capital. The fighting is the latest in a series of mutinies and coups that began in 1996. Patasse accused France, the former colonial power, of "discrimination" for not sending troops to help the government, as it has in the Ivory Coast.

COLOMBIA
I.R.A. in Court
The trial of three Irish men accused of training Marxist guerrillas resumed as prosecution witnesses testified amid heavy security. Niall Connolly, Martin McCauley and James Monaghan, all allegedly linked to the I.R.A., refused to appear in court, claiming they would not get a fair trial.

DEVELOPING WORLD
Shopping for War
A U.S. State Department report said developing countries had increased spending on armaments by 18% to $245 billion in the 10 years to 1999. India and Pakistan's spending grew fastest, at an annual average of 5%.

FOR THE RECORD
Berlin
Sri Lanka's government and Tamil Tiger rebels made progress at peace talks in Germany, even as monitors caught Tigers smuggling arms into northern Sri Lanka.

Cuvette West
Congolese officials said 16 people died of the incurable disease Ebola. The victims apparently contracted the virus from eating infected gorillas.

Moscow
President Pervez Musharraf became the first Pakistani leader in 33 years to travel to the Russian capital, where he held talks with President Vladimir Putin.

Bogota
A bomb ripped through a social club in the Colombian capital, killing at least 30 people and raising fears that leftist rebels were fulfilling a pledge to attack the country's élite.

Mecca
Saudi officials vowed to use "an iron fist" against any terrorists who try to disrupt the hajj, the annual five-day pilgrimage to Islam's holiest city, below.

MEANWHILE
Ghost Busted
Every night for three months, just before 2 a.m., a mysterious voice awoke Alfred Mansbridge from his sleep. "I won't take the lift down," intoned the voice. The 69-year-old milkman searched his house for the source — without luck. But instead of turning to exorcists, Mansbridge called in the environmental health experts. What they found under the stairs was no disembodied spirit, but a novelty Spider-Man watch.