Today's Story Line

Almost any war flows in unexpected ways, sending ripples of change far beyond the battlefield.

For Europe, the war against Yugoslavia has escalated beyond the original aims and may now end a long history of attempts to create empires on the Continent along ethnic lines. Serb leaders could be denied a "Greater Serbia." Quote of note: "I fear that Serbia will be lost for 20 or 30 years. It will be a wasteland in Europe." - Srjda Popovic, a Serb migr in America.

A Monitor survey of world reaction to the war finds strong reaction to one historic event: NATO, without UN permission, violated a nation's sovereignty.

As this war evolves, so do its solutions. Analysts and diplomats are offering new ideas. Some talk, Solomon-like, of cutting Kosovo in half. The US now proposes non-NATO troops as the postwar peacekeepers.

History may record a greater event than the war this week: the US denied China entry into the World Trade Organization. Opening a market of 1.2 billion people may mean more than another war in the Balkans. Quote of note: "The government fears that by losing its control over the economy, it will also lose its hold over ... part of its political power." - a former Beijing who now runs his own company.

- Clayton Jones World editor

PRESS CLIPPINGS *THE BRITISH AREN'T COMING: BBC correspondents may no longer use the word "British" to "describe the generality of people living in the British Isles because it might give offense among the Scots and Welsh," said The Sunday Times of London. Yes, BBC still means the British Broadcasting Corporation, and "British" can still be used in such contexts. But "British hooligans," for example, is out - as is "welsh" in the sense of welshing on an agreement. The new instructions respond to the political "devolution" under which Scotland has its own Parliament. Thus BBC news presenters are urged to use "United Kingdom" instead of "nation."

*TOURING SECRET LABS: Both China and America have secret research centers for making atomic bombs. But, reports the Chinese newspaper Wenhui Daily, China will soon open its center in Sichuan province to tourists, complete with a real atomic bomb on display. Also on exhibit will be bombers, all to promote an understanding of science and technology. At the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, an already tight security has been further tightened in light of allegations that a worker there slipped nuclear secrets to China. According to the Los Angeles Times, the center usually gets about 3,000 visitors a year, but that will likely be curtailed to prevent possible leaks.

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