Worldwatch

In The Eye Of Ivan
After skirting the western coasts of Cuba and the Cayman Islands, Hurricane Ivan dialed up its ferocity for two heart-stopping days last week, squeezing through the narrow channel that separates the Caribbean Sea from the Gulf of Mexico as a monstrous Category 5 storm with winds approaching 260 km/h. Fortunately, by the time Ivan made landfall in the U.S. state of Alabama, its winds had gentled to 210 km/h — but that was plenty bad enough. Those who rode out the storm told harrowing tales of cringing in the dark and hearing winds that screamed like jet engines. They emerged to a nightmare of destruction — yachts hurled into trees, houses and bridges swept from their pilings, and motels and condominiums smashed to smithereens.

In the Florida Panhandle tornadoes, spun off from Ivan's leading edge, uprooted pine trees and ripped the roofs off buildings. And across the southern U.S., in Georgia, Tennessee and North Carolina, Ivan's heavy rains turned creeks into rivers and rivers into inland seas. At least 40 people are thought to have died during Ivan's terrifying assault on the U.S., and more than 70 in the Caribbean . And it's not over; even as Ivan's tattered remnants saturated the southeastern U.S. with flooding rains, Tropical Storm Jeanne was menacing the Dominican Republic and Hurricane Karl — the seventh of the

MEANWHILE IN GERMANY ... Foul Play Suspected German officials bemused by the disappearance of the visiting Sri Lankan national handball team were left red-faced when it emerged that the island doesn't have one. The 23-strong squad persuaded the German embassy in Colombo to issue them with visas for a month-long tour, but vanished from their lodgings in the southern town of Wittislingen soon after their arrival. They did play in one local tournament — and lost all their matches.

year — was gathering force in the Atlantic . Respite from the big storms might not come until Nov. 30, when the all-too-memorable 2004 hurricane season finally recedes into history. — By J. Madeleine Nash

A Watchful Eye
UNITED NATIONS The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, called on Iran to immediately cease all uranium enrichment-related activities at a key meeting of the 35 nation group in Vienna . Iran, which denied U.S. claims that its enrichment activities were part of a weapons program and insisted that its program is for peaceful energy production, said it would consider the request. The IAEA will review Iran 's compliance again in November.

Slow Progress
BRITAIN All-party talks designed to revive the stalled Northern Ireland peace process and restore the province's power-sharing government broke up with no agreement. But the meeting's hosts, British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Irish counterpart Bertie Ahern, said that progress had been made. Talks continue this week.

Casting the Net Wide
FRANCE Antiterror officials arrested five suspected Islamic militants thought to be linked to a Moroccan man under investigation investigation in connection with the 9/11 attacks on the U.S. Four of the five, who were detained in the eastern Alsace region, were later reportedly released without charge.

No Amends Needed
POLAND The government said it would not be seeking reparations from Germany for losses suffered during World War II, despite a parliamentary resolution asking it do so. Prime Minister Marek Belka said the issue of compensation was "closed." The government did agree to set up a commission to evaluate the losses, to serve as a "reminder" of the war's consequences.

Sharon Resolute
MIDDLE EAST Israel's security cabinet approved a compensation package that would give up to $500,000 per family to settlers who voluntarily leave the Gaza Strip and West Bank as part of the planned pullout next year. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon rejected a call by Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the "disengagement" policy to be put to a referendum, arguing that it was a ploy to delay its implementation.