Today's Story Line

Is the world witnessing the birth of a nation in Kosovo? With Serbs no longer in charge, the province is in a revolution as the United Nations, NATO, and ethnic Albanians create order out of chaos. Groups are even jockeying for elections. NATO troops serve as both enforcers and nursemaids as they try to be fair in tackling a range of tasks, from protecting Serbs to repairing roads.

If those who have known war are good at making peace, then Israel's new prime minister has mustered a savvy team of diplomats. The much-bemedaled Ehud Barak has surrounded himself with former top brass. Quote of note: "Barak is ... much more aware nowadays that military thinking and organizational methods are not always good for solving problems that are very complex." - Yossi Melman, author.

Women teachers in secular-run Turkey are torn over whether their female, Islamic students should be be banned from wearing head scarves.

- Clayton Jones, World editor

REPORTERS ON THE JOB *KOSOVO JOY RIDES: How does reporter Lucian Kim get around in Kosovo without a car? Easy. He has hired drivers and hitched rides. One day he was being whisked to KLA headquarters near Pristina in a spanking-new BMW. The next day he was squeezed into the bucket seat of a tractor with a KLA fighter to reach an isolated village, with his interpreter hanging on the back for dear life. Another time he hitched a ride in the back of a KFOR Land Rover because his Serbian driver was too scared to leave Pristina. But this doesn't compare to a photographer-friend who buzzes around Kosovo on a scooter. The best vehicle that Lucian has seen so far is a three-wheeler with very big tires parked in front of the Grand Hotel. He hopes to find the owner and rent it.

MILESTONES *PANDA-MONIUM: Chinese scientists have cloned an embryo of a giant panda, in a development hailed as a possible breakthrough in efforts to save the endangered species, the state-run Xinhua News Agency said Monday. Only about 1,000 pandas live in the wild, with another 100 in zoos. Experts have warned that the animal could become extinct in a few decades.

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