World
Saying, "We have issued a warning to Al-Arabiya and we will sue," Iraq's interim Governing Council shut down the satellite TV news broadcaster for inciting violence. The Dubai-based Arab-language service, along with rival Al Jazeera, repeatedly has aired audio tapes purportedly made by Saddam Hussein that call for attacks against - and the driving out of - coalition forces in Iraq. Two months ago, the Governing Council said it would limit the two broadcasters' operations because they were "encouraging terrorism."
In a TV address, Georgia's interim president promised an election for all national government offices by mid-January and called on security forces to restore order after the tumultuous developments of last weekend. Nino Burdzhanadze said the parliament that was to have been replaced in voting early this month would resume its duties because that election was rigged. Her ousted predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze, apparently remained in Georgia, despite reports that he'd sought exile in Germany.
The offer by Pakistan of an immediate cease-fire along the Kashmir frontier was welcomed by India's government. But the latter said "enduring peace" depends on Pakistan stopping the infiltration across the Line of Control between them of Muslim militants. The rivals have fought three wars over Kashmir since 1947, and their forces trade gunfire across the dividing line almost daily. The Pakistani offer didn't specify how long a truce might last. Pakistan denies arming the militants but says it supports their fight for Kashmiri autonomy.
The political party that led the ex-Yugoslav republic of Croatia to independence 12 years ago claimed victory in Sunday's election for a new parliament and set about trying to form a coalition government with smaller allies. But skeptics questioned whether the Croatian Democratic Union was sincere in asserting that it has abandoned its former ultra- nationalist ways and now wants to lead the country into membership in the European Union.
In a slap at China's communist regime, Hong Kong voters gave a landslide victory to the political party that has led the movement for political reform there. The Democrats won 144 of 206 seats at stake in district council elections Sunday, even though the councils wield little power. Analysts said the outcome sent an unmistakable message to the Beijing government that residents of Hong Kong want the right to elect their own leaders.
Thirty-three foreign students died in a fire that gutted a dormitory at Moscow's Patrice Lumumba University. More than 130 others were hurt, many after jumping from upper-story windows. The blaze may have been caused by faulty wiring, officials said. The school, named for the late Congolese anticolonial leader, opened in 1960 to teach strict Marxism to students from developing nations.
