World
Another suicide bomber killed himself and injured as many as 20 other people in the second such attack inside an Israeli cafe in three days. The blast took place in a suburb of Haifa. Meanwhile, Palestinians were planning a "day of rage" today against Israel's closure of Orient House (above), their headquarters in Jerusalem. At the same time, Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said there was "no chance" of reviving a cease-fire with the Palestinians unless his government reversed its refusal to meet with their leader, Yasser Arafat. (Story, page 1.)
While restoring self-rule powers to Northern Ireland, the British government gave the province's Protestant and Catholic political parties six weeks to end their differences over the surrender of weapons by the Irish Republican Army. But Sinn Fein, the political ally of the IRA, said the 24-hour "technical suspension" of home rule might have jeopardized the latter's offer to put its weapons beyond use. Britain's secretary for Northern Ireland called lasting peace "tantalizingly close," but analysts said the six-week deadline meant all sides to the dispute would have to work "flat out" to achieve a breakthrough. (Story, page 7.)
Clashes between government forces and ethnic Albanian insurgents were reported only three miles from the capital of Macedonia, plunging today's planned signing of a landmark peace treaty into doubt. The ceremony is scheduled to be attended by senior NATO and European Union representatives. But as the Monitor went to press there was no confirmation that they'd travel to Skopje, and diplomats said the treaty would mean little if the fighting continued. Macedonia's interior minister was calling for "the fiercest offensive yet" against the insurgents because they were threatening the capital. (Story, page 6.)
"Tens of thousands" of ground, naval, and air force personnel using China's most advanced weaponry and space satellites practiced a simulated invasion of Taiwan that also assumed US intervention, a Hong Kong newspaper reported. The exercise, described as the largest in Chinese history, was held opposite Taiwan and was the culmination of drills that began in April.
At least 93 people died and more than 140 others were hurt in the ambush of a train carrying refugees from a combat zone in Angola's civil war, first reports said. The attack apparently took place Friday about 80 miles southeast of the capital, Luanda, although news did not filter out until yesterday. It was being blamed on suspected UNITA rebels using a combination of gunfire and land mines. The train had no armed escort.
Concerns over the health of Cuban leader Fidel Castro grew as he had to be steadied by aides on an official visit to Venezuela and kept his public remarks relatively brief because "it's very hot." The trip, coinciding with his 75th birthday, was his first outside Cuba since he collapsed during a speech June 23. It also came amid an angry reaction by US officials to Venezuela's expulsion of the American military mission in Caracas from offices it had used rent-free for 40 years.
