World
A member of Hamas died in the explosion of a bomb he was either building or planting in the Gaza Strip, one day after Israel and the Palestinian Authority agreed to a mutual cease-fire. Not far away, a second Palestinian was seriously wounded, allegedly by gunfire from a Jewish settlement. Still, the good- will from Tuesday's summit appeared to prevail, and Israeli officials confirmed that restrictions on travel by Palestinians in five West Bank cities will be lifted in the weeks ahead.
Echoing the tough talk of other senior Iranian leaders, President Mohamad Khatami said no Tehran government - current or future - would abandon the pursuit of nuclear technology. His remarks came as new Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was warning Iran that the option of referring its nuclear program to the UN Security Council for sanctions "looms" unless there's acceptance of a deal with European governments to halt the enrichment of uranium in exchange for favorable trade concessions.
The worst terrorist attack in Spain since the train bombings of last March, wounded 43 people, although none of their injuries were life-threatening, authorities said. A car bomb exploded near Madrid's convention center Wednesday morning, minutes after a telephoned warning by ETA, the Basque separatist group. King Juan Carlos and his guest, Mexican President Vicente Fox, were to open an art fair at the facility later in the day.
Confronting threatened sanctions by neighboring countries, the new president installed by Togo's military promised a national election "as early as possible." But Faure Gnassingbe didn't say whether the voting would cover the presidency. The sanctions were threatened by the 53-nation African Union because Togo's military, in taking its action, ignored the Constitution, which calls for the speaker of parliament to assume power for 60 days while an election for a new president is organized. Gnassingbe's father, who had been Africa's longest-serving leader, died last Saturday.
With vote-counting after Tuesday's election 99 percent complete, the governing coalition in Denmark easily won a second four-year term. Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said an early priority would be a referendum asking Danes to vote on the proposed new constitution of the European Union, which requires adoption by all 25 member states if it is to take effect.
Despite protests by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators and stalling tactics by opposition Socialist legislators, France's lower house of parliament voted 370 to 180 for a bill that would extend the mandatory 35-hour workweek. The measure now goes to the Senate for debate next month. If, as expected, it passes there, too, private-sector employees could stay on the job up to 48 hours a week, earning more pay.
