World
US forces and Iraqi police made three major discoveries of hidden weapons over the weekend, among them one near Saddam Hussein's hometown that yielded a half-ton of plastic explosive, rockets, mortars and mortar rounds, grenades, grenade launchers, and dozens of Russian-made missiles. The latter cache was found after an informant's tip. But all three finds suggested that they were intended for use against American troops by Iraqi resisters and terrorists.
Defiant Palestinians rallied in the streets of Nablus and Gaza City to celebrate the third anniversary of the intifada and vow more violence against Israel. The uprising to date has killed more than 800 Israelis, but almost 2-1/2 times as many Palestinians. Meanwhile, a new slate of cabinet members loyal to Yasser Arafat won the approval of his Fatah movement. Among them: Nasser Yusef, chief of military forces, who'd become interior minister. He would assume the duties of Mohamad Dahlan, who had charge of security under former Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas. Final approval of the cabinet under new Prime Minister-designate Ahmed Qureia is expected by the legislature this week.
At least 10 people were killed and 48 others were hurt when a remote-controlled bomb exploded as patrons left a nightclub in Florencia, Colombia, late Saturday night. The attack was quickly blamed on the communist Revolutionary Armed Forces and came a day after an Army spokesman said four of its members died in a clash with troops who caught them trying to sow land mines.
Strong aftershocks were ratting the Japanese island of Hokkaido Sunday, and firefighters struggled to control a huge blaze at an oil refinery following the 8.0-magnitude earthquake that struck two days earlier. Hundreds of people were hurt and two fishermen remained missing from the initial temblor, the most powerful in quake-prone Japan in nine years. But since it was centered deep underground, property damage appeared light.
Electric power is expected back in service across all of Italy Monday after the world's fourth major blackout in two months. But no significant property damage was reported, and inconvenience generally appeared to be at a minimum because the outage occurred late Saturday night. The cause was not immediately clear, but sabotage was not suspected.
