World Watch

Now The Danes Have A WMD Problem Too
The controversy over Iraq's weapons of mass destruction has finally come to Denmark. The country's center-right government is reeling from charges that it knew there were no WMD in Iraq before joining the U.S-led war last year. The charges come from a Danish intelligence officer, Major Frank Söholm Grevil, who lost his job last month after leaking intelligence assessments to a newspaper. Grevil maintains that Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen received at least 10 reports before the start of the war suggesting the coalition was unlikely to discover WMD.

Fogh Rasmussen later informed parliament that he was convinced Iraq had the weapons. Grevil told Time that his doubts were raised by three reports, "one American and two British, [which] did not agree in their assessments." Grevil says the Danish reports were prefaced by abstracts from intelligence officers and probably simplified by Defense Ministry officials and the Prime Minister's advisers: "So what you may end up with are much too clear-cut conclusions that lose the nuances." Fogh Rasmussen admitted the controversy raised doubts about his credibility, and ordered excerpts from the Danish intelligence to be released this week. But the rumpus won't stop there. "We must have an inquiry to disclose the foundation for the Prime Minister's statement that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction," says former Defense Minister Jan Trøjborg of the opposition Social Democrats party. Grevil is not out of trouble either — he faces criminal charges for breaching the country's official information law. — By Ulla Plon and Charles P. Wallace

Spotlight on Silvio
ITALY Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's corruption trial resumed 10 months after being shelved, following a January decision by Italy's highest court to overturn a controversial immunity law that protected Berlusconi from prosecution. The Prime Minister, who is accused of bribery, was not in court.

UNCOVERED TOBIAS SCHWARZ/REUTERS First it was a lawsuit to prevent speculation on whether he dyes his hair. Now German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder has won a court case forcing a publisher to remove a photograph from the cover of a fictional thriller. Why? Because Schröder thinks it looks too much like him. Publisher Betzel Verlag says it has recalled copies of The End of the Chancellor — The Final Shot. In the tale, the pharmacist hero shoots a German Chancellor he blames for his business bankruptcy. A spokeswoman for Betzel says Schröder is never mentioned in the novel; at issue was a small keyhole-type photo on the cover showing just an ear, an eye and some hair. Despite all the fuss, so far only 30 copies have been ordered by bookstores. — By Charles P. Wallace

He denies the charges, saying he is the victim of leftist magistrates. Berlusconi's lawyer said he will seek a one-month suspension of the trial during the walk-up to June's European Parliament elections.

Nosing Ahead
MACEDONIA Social Democrat Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski took the lead in the first round of the presidential election, winning 42.5% of the vote. He faces a runoff on April 28 against opposition candidate Sasko Kedev, who placed second with 34.1%. The election was held following President Boris Trajkovski's death in a plane crash in February.

Clampdown on Dissent
ARMENIA Using batons and water cannons, police broke up a rally of thousands of demonstrators in Yerevan calling for the resignation of President Robert Kocharian, seriously injuring 30 people and detaining 115. Opposition leaders, who claim Kocharian rigged his re-election last year, launched another rally at the end of the week, in defiance of a ban on further public protests.

Going Public on Abuse
SAUDI ARABIA Popular television presenter Rania al-Baz, above, who said she was beaten unconscious by her husband, allowed pictures of her bruised and battered face to be published in what she described as a bid to draw attention to the plight of women in the deeply conservative country.

A Clean Sweep
SOUTH AFRICA The African National Congress Party of President Thabo Mbeki won 70% of the votes in national elections. The two-thirds majority gives the A.N.C. the power to change the constitution, though it says it will not do so. The white-led Democratic Alliance won 12%, while its coalition partner, the Zulu-dominated Inkatha Freedom Party, got 7%. Support for the New National Party, the reconstituted former apartheid ruling party, collapsed, falling from 7% to less than 2%.

MEANWHILE IN CANADA ...
Drive Softly, Safely
Researchers in Newfoundland have found that listening to loud, up-tempo music while driving slows motorists' reaction time by up to 20%. British motoring organization the RAC Foundation released a list of the most dangerous tunes to drive to. The worst: Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries. For safety behind the wheel, the group recommends easy-listening tunes like Gary Jules' Mad World.