World
Despite their graphic content, TV networks around the world broadcast photos of Saddam Hussein's dead sons as soon as they were released by the US military in Iraq. But early reports didn't say whether the pictures were convincing skeptical Iraqis that Uday and Qusay Hussein had been killed in a raid Tuesday on the villa in the city of Mosul, where they were in hiding. Hopes that the brothers' deaths would bring an early end to attacks on US personnel in Iraq also appeared unfulfilled. Three more Americans were killed Thursday near Mosul.
Rebels seeking the ouster of Liberian President Charles Taylor insisted the truce they declared earlier this week still applied, but, "It takes a couple of days for the fighting to calm down." A rebel spokesman said his forces sought a negotiated settlement to the conflict because "a military takeover isn't in anyone's interest." Meanwhile, there still was no sign of a promised force of peacekeepers from Nigeria, although their arrival would take place "within a week," the Economic Community of West African States insisted.
An appeal for emergency donations of food by Zimbabwe's government that "certainly has been a while in coming" was received by the UN, a spokesman said. He said the World Food Program had urged two weeks ago that the request be made because 5.5 million Zimbabweans were at risk of starvation, and no plans to import significant quantities of grain had been indicated. Available stockpiles are considered likely to run out late next month.
Heavy rains and high winds from typhoon Imbudo were complicating plans for Sunday's national election in Cambodia, washing out roads and soaking ballots en route to remote polling places. Officials said there was a possibility that voting would have to be postponed, especially in coastal areas. Despite its checkered performance in power, Prime Minister Hun Sen's People's Party is expected to win without difficulty.
The first face-to-face meeting between the returning president of São Tome and Principe and the military leaders who ousted him produced a deal for a new government. Fradique de Menezes, who was in Nigeria when disaffected soldiers struck July 16, will remain as head of state. But one coup leader hinted at another revolt if de Menezes fails to respect the separation of powers. In the past two years, de Menezes has dissolved parliament and fired four prime ministers.
By cargo plane and amphibious landing craft, international peacekeepers began arriving in the volatile Solomon Islands to try to stave off anarchy. The force of 2,000 troops and 300 police from Australia, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Papua New Guinea, and Samoa has a mandate to use deadly force if necessary to control armed gangs and rival islanders whose drawn-out ethnic dispute has killed hundreds of people.
