Worldwatch

Slow Going In Darfur
To ratchet up the pressure on the Sudanese government — which has promised to disarm Arab militiamen accused of killing 30,000 and forcing more than 1.4 million from their homes — United Nations special representative Jan Pronk and British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw made separate visits to the country's western Darfur region. Pronk will give a report to the Security Council this week. If Khartoum has not made progress it could face international sanctions. Pronk said that Khartoum had taken some positive steps — setting aside safe areas, for instance — but that violence continues.

After touring the Abu Shouk refugee camp in northern Darfur, Straw called on Khartoum to make the area secure so that people could return to their villages, saying that the situation demanded "a real effort by the government of Sudan to provide for [the refugees'] safety and ensure progress in peace talks." In an effort to end the violence in Africa's largest country, Sudanese government officials met with leaders of two Darfurian rebel groups, who want a greater say in their rule, in the Nigerian capital of Abuja. The talks, sponsored by the African Union,

MEANWHILE IN BRITAIN ... Trashing Modern Art London's Tate Britain art gallery admitted that a cleaning woman threw out one of its exhibits, thinking it was trash. That was understandable, since the artwork in question was a transparent garbage bag filled with waste paper and cardboard — part of an installation by artist Gustav Metzger. JEREMY SELWYN

broke up briefly with rebels staging a 24-hour boycott at week's end: rebel leaders accused Khartoum of a hand in the deaths of dozens of civilians even as negotiations took place. Khartoum remained confident that it would not face sanctions. — By Simon Robinson

By a Whistle
CZECH REPUBLIC The coalition government of new Prime Minister Stanislav Gross survived a mandatory vote of confidence in parliament, winning by just 101 votes to 99. Gross replaced fellow Social Democrat Vladimír Spidla, who resigned in June following the party's poor performance in European elections. Gross, at 34, is Europe 's youngest premier.

Stemming the Tide
LIBYA Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi met with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for talks on ways to stop illegal immigrants from Africa using Libya as a launch pad to reach Italy . A day earlier, a boat believed to have departed from Libya and carrying 275 migrants was intercepted off the coast of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa .

Polio Resurgent
AFRICA The World Health Organization warned of the threat of a polio epidemic as the virus returned to two countries where it had previously been eradicated. Guinea and Mali brought to 12 the total of formerly polio-free nations that have seen new cases of the disease since January 2003. The outbreak dealt a blow to the WHO's goal of eradicating polio worldwide by the end of 2004.

Stormy Season
TAIWAN Rescuers searched for survivors and evacuated residents threatened by mudslides in the wake of Typhoon Aere, which reportedly killed 30 people as it swept across the island. The storm had earlier contributed to heavy flooding in the Philippines that left at least 21 dead. The storm went on to hit China 's southeastern coast — from where officials had evacuated 1 million people — causing heavy damage but just two fatalities.

Mean Streets
BRAZIL A series of coordinated attacks in São Paulo left six homeless people dead and nine others hospitalized. All 15 were beaten with metal piping as they slept on downtown pavements. Police believe the attacks were carried out by a member of a hate group seeking to rid the streets of unwanted elements. The assaults evoked dark memories of a similar case in Rio de Janeiro in 1993 in which off-duty policemen shot dead eight street children.