Worldwatch

Weaker Resolution
The United Nations Security Council passed a resolution demanding that Sudan rein in Arab militiamen accused of ethnic cleansing against non-Arabs. The U.N. gave Khartoum 30 days to stop the bloodshed or the Security Council will consider economic sanctions against Sudan. The draft resolution had demanded automatic sanctions for noncompliance, but that was softened after several Security Council members, including China and Russia, objected. As many as 50,000 people have been killed in fighting and attacks by the militia, known as the Janjaweed, in the Darfur region of western Sudan. More than a million have been forced to flee their homes.

The Sudanese, who deny they are backing the militias, say they will do everything they can to comply. "Because should we fail to do so, we know our enemies would not hesitate to take other measures against our country," said Osman al Sayed, Sudan's ambassador to the African Union. But aid groups say that the watered-down resolution has let Khartoum off the hook. Relief workers in Darfur say 2.2 million people need food or medical treatment. Rains have turned overcrowded camps into muddy open sewers, increased the threat of disease, and complicated the distribution of emergency food in the region and in neighboring Chad, where 200,000 people have taken refuge. "We need to stop the attacks," says Lynn Heinisch, of U.S. aid group CARE, "and get them food, medicines and shelter before it's too late."

Getting Closure
SPAIN A judge investigating the Madrid train bombings charged a Lebanese man in connection with the attacks. Mahmoud Slimane Aoun was detained on suspicion of involvement with other suspects accused over the bombings. And an Italian court approved the extradition to Spain of Rabei Osman Sayed Ahmed, an alleged mastermind of the attacks that killed 191 in March.

Washed Away BANGLADESH United Nations officials arrived in the partially submerged capital, Dhaka, to assess the damage caused by the monsoon floods that have claimed almost 1,300 lives across South Asia. The government has put the cost of flood damage at almost $7 billion. PAVEL RAHMAN/AP Children swim through flood waters in the Gaibandha district