World

Prospects appeared uncertain for a new draft resolution being presented to the UN Security Council for recognition of Iraq's caretaker government. The draft, offered by the US and Britain, also was expected to address other legal issues. But Germany, a vocal opponent of the war, along with France and Russia, insists on a transfer of sovereignty in all areas, especially security and oil resources, Chancelor Gerhard Schröder said. Meanwhile, previously unseen video footage appeared to raise new questions about US claims that its predawn air-strike last week near the Syrian border - killing dozens of people - wasn't against a wedding party.

Bitter Palestinians buried their dead from Israel's offensive against the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip as the Army moved into other neighborhoods in search of militants and weapons-smuggling tunnels into Egypt. Reports said 42 Palestinians were killed in the six-day offensive, dozens of homes and businesses were bulldozed, and the areas now were without electricity and running water. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said he'd return to his cabinet with a revised plan to withdraw from Gaza, replacing the proposal rejected earlier by the ruling Likud Party.

Even if it has to forfeit the role of host for the 2008 Olympic Summer Games, China will pay "any cost" to prevent Taiwan from achieving independence, the Beijing government said. In its first public reaction to last week's inaugural speech by reelected Taiwan President Chen Shui-bian, who didn't mention statehood, it said, "The key is what he does - which road he would choose," adding, "We will thoroughly crush schemes for Taiwan independence."

Enough votes have been counted to determine that Philippines President Gloria Arroyo won the nation's May 10 election, commissioners said. Although ballots from two provinces remain to be tallied, her margin over runner-up Fernando Poe Jr. will be about 3 percent, or roughly 900,000 votes, one source said. But campaign staffers for Poe, a film star with no political experience, said their count shows he won decisively and that any official finding to the contrary would constitute massive fraud.

Further cracking noises were heard in the new passenger terminal that partially collapsed Sunday at Charles de Gaulle Airport outside Paris, and authorities said the entire facility may have to be razed. The accident killed four people; an unknown number of others were evacuated in time. The $890 million terminal, designed to handle 10 million passengers a year, opened 11 months ago.