Today's Story Line

Youths in Belgrade boast of purloining tens of thousands of dollars in goods over the Internet. It's unfortunately common in many countries, but Serbia has little incentive to take notice.

As the rebel Tamil Tigers take more ground in Sri Lanka, many worry that India may get dragged in .

Student street protests over the recent presidential election may herald the rebirth of student activism in Peru.

Native American culture is one of the main attractions of Radebeul, a small town in southeastern Germany.

Several survivors of Turkey's earthquakes live in tent cities, and are too poor to qualify for rebuilding aid.

Faye Bowers Deputy world editor

REPORTERS ON THE JOB

*HAIL TO THE CHIEF: When Monitor reporter Lucian Kim discovered that movie star Gojko Mitic, who lives in Berlin, was going down to a tourism fair in Radebeul, he knew he had to ride with him.

"From the moment I got into his car, we were engrossed in lively conversation ranging from native Americans to NATO's bombing of Mitic's native Yugoslavia," Lucian says.

Suddenly they noticed that they had missed their exit and were hurtling toward the Polish border. Flustered, Mitic crossed lanes without signalling - and a police patrol promptly pulled them over.

"At first, the officer barked at Mitic," Lucian says. But when he saw the name on the driver's license, his tone changed completely. "Shall we let the Great Chief ride on?" the cop asked his colleagues. They nodded, and Lucian and Mitic sped off in a cloud of dust.

CULTURAL SNAPSHOT

* SURF'S UP: Sunny Garcia, currently No. 1 in the Association of Surfing Professionals, rides a wave at the Gotcha Pro Tahiti in Teahupoo May 14. The Gotcha Pro, considered one of the world's ultimate surf events, is staged on an isolated Tahitian reef that receives some of the world's most powerful, deep barreling waves. It is the third event of the 2000 ASP World Championship Tour, and attracts the top 44 surfers in the world with $135,000 in prize money.

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