World
Despite still-mounting opposition to military action against Iraq, British Prime Minister Tony Blair returned from a weekend strategy meeting with President Bush on the subject saying they shared "total determination" to deal with Saddam Hussein. "This is not simply an American preoccupation; it is our preoccupation," Blair said. Meanwhile, Russia, whose support Bush also has courted, said through Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov that an attack on Iraq "can inflict irreparable damage on the unity" of the antiterrorism coalition. Bush is expected to plead his case further in a speech later this week to the UN General Assembly.
A return to a state of emergency appeared likely in Nepal after communist rebels killed 48 men and wounded 10 others in an attack on a rural police outpost. The government's Home Ministry said the dead were lined up and shot, execution-style. Emergency rule because of the insurgency was imposed last November and was extended twice. But Prime Minister She Bahadur Deuba allowed it to expire last month because of impending national elections.
More white farm families in Zimbabwe reported being harassed as a new deadline approached for leaving their land and property behind. At least four farmers were arrested Saturday, and others were pressured to leave by noon Sunday despite court rulings that more than 70 government eviction notices are invalid. Returning from last week's Earth Summit, President Robert Mugabe said whites "belong to Britain" and should go there. But "If they want to stay here, we will say: Your place is in jail."
By an 8-3 vote, the year-old law on Indian rights that angers Mexico's Zapatista rebels was upheld by the Supreme Court. Officials in Chiapas state, where the rebels are based, were urging them and their sympathizers to vent their disappointment peacefully. No protests were reported yet, but a Zapatista spokesman called the Friday ruling "a tragedy" and said "our communities are not pleased." Opponents say the law, which expands Indian autonomy in local government and in land use, still doesn't meet minimum international standards for protecting indigenous people.
