World

More traces of weapons-grade uranium have been found by UN inspectors in Iran - and at a different facility than was involved in the first discovery - diplomats said. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said the substance turned up at an electric utility; the earlier find came at an uranium-enrichment plant. The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency has given Iran until Oct. 31 to prove its nuclear program is peaceful, and failure to do so could result in economic sanctions. The new revelation came one day after Iran's foreign minister said his government was prepared to work with the Bush administration on the nuclear issue if the latter "bring[s] in a new environment for cooperation." He repeated denials that Iran has the technology to develop nuclear weapons.

The target of last weekend's assassination attempt in Iraq died of her wounds, and, perhaps for the first time, a terrorist attack appeared aimed at the news media there. Akila al-Hashimi, who was shot by unknown assailants, was one of three women on the interim Governing Council and was widely expected to be appointed Iraq's ambassador to the UN. Meanwhile, a bomb exploded at the Baghdad hotel housing NBC-TV personnel, killing a security guard.

The year-long ordeal of a single woman ordered to be stoned to death for bearing a child out of wedlock in Nigeria appeared to be over. Amina Lawal's 2002 conviction by an Islamic court was overturned by a five-judge panel, which ruled she hadn't been caught in the act of adultery, was not given adequate time to understand the charge against her, and that the handling of her case was undercut by procedural errors. The matter attracted worldwide attention and brought intense criticism from human rights groups.

Bracing for new criticism, the French government released a report that raises the number of deaths from last month's blistering heat to almost 15,000 - more than 3,000 higher than the last previous estimate. National Institute of Health researchers arrived at their conclusion by comparing the spike in the death rate to the range that is statistically standard for the month. The heat wave hit during the traditional vacation season, and a still-unfinished study is expected to report on whether victims - many of them elderly and without air conditioning - were let down by a healthcare system whose doctors and hospital staffs were not at their posts.