World Watch

Building Bridges The fabled Stari Most (Old Bridge) at Mostar reopened last week — more than four centuries after it was first erected, and a decade after it was deliberately destroyed by Croat tank shells during the Bosnian war. The white stone span, built under orders from Suleiman the Magnificent, weathered centuries of turmoil and was a meeting place of East and West, Islam and Christianity, before being obliterated in 1993. As that loss became a symbol of the brutality and pointlessness of the Bosnian conflict, the bridge's reconstruction — funded by the U.S., Turkish, Italian, Dutch and Croat governments, among others — is a rare positive step toward reconciliation. "As with this bridge, so with Bosnia and Herzegovina," the United Nations' High Representative for the country, Paddy Ashdown, said at the opening ceremony, attended by delegations from 52 countries. With the return of refugees and the still-awaited arrest of former Bosnian Serb leader and accused war criminal Radovan Karadzic, the reconstruction is one of "three great acts of closure" for Bosnia, Ashdown told TIME. Locals have been celebrating, diving again from the high span into the Neretva river. But the communities that live on either side — Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat — still lead largely separate

Performance of the Week FRANCE After five consecutive wins in the Tour de France, American LANCE ARMSTRONG faced daunting challenges this year, including the tenacity of Italy's Ivan Basso. But on the race's Alpine stretch, Armstrong claimed the lead; widened it as the race wound back toward Paris; and seemed headed for an unprecedented sixth straight victory in the Tour de France, leaving everyone to marvel at his latest tour de force. PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/GETTY

lives, attending their own schools and hospitals, even throwing their garbage in separate dumps. The bridge has taken a decade to rebuild. Spanning the human divide will take longer still.

On the Wrong Track
TURKEY A recently introduced high-speed train running from Istanbul to Ankara derailed near the northwestern town of Pamukova, killing 37 people. Two drivers and a crew chief of the train were charged with negligence, but the media and unions criticized the government for allowing its showcase high-speed rail service to start operating in June, despite warnings from experts that the existing track was not good enough.

Going Down RUSSIA Not even a bailout offer from a consortium led by ex-Yukos official Konstantin Kagalovsky could reverse a slide in the oil giant's stock. As court bailiffs threatened to sell its core asset, Yuganskneftegaz, to recoup $3.4 billion in back taxes, the prospect of bankruptcy loomed too large.

Never Mind
SAUDI ARABIA A grand total of six Islamic militants surrendered under a month-long amnesty offered to al-Qaeda supporters. Officials had expected a greater number to turn themselves in, but said they were still negotiating with several high-level militants.

Risky Business
IRAQ Insurgents continued their kidnapping campaign. One group seized the chief of an Iraqi construction firm; another, the Lions of Allah, said it took a senior Egyptian diplomat hostage because Egypt had offered security aid to the Iraqi government. Seven truckers, an Egyptian and six men from Kenya and India, were taken by insurgents who demanded their employer, Kuwait and Gulf Link Transport, close its operations in Iraq. The company said it was negotiating with the kidnappers.

His Own Private Army
AFGHANISTAN The U.S. denied claims by Jonathan Idema, a former U.S. special forces member on trial in Kabul for running a private jail, that he was acting with the approval of the Pentagon. However, the U.S. military confirmed that it took custody in May of an Afghan prisoner handed over by Idema.

meanwhile in germany ...
Busy Signal Economy Minister Wolfgang Clement invited anyone who found the new 16-page welfare benefit claims forms too complicated to give him a ring. Days later, he admitted that his office was "completely paralyzed" by phone callers who were referred to a government hotline. Maybe Clement's staff was having problems completing the forms, too.