World
A 30-day extension for completion of Iraq's proposed constitution will be requested Monday by the committee drafting it, reports said. Such a move would be a blow to US hopes that the draft would be completed by Aug. 15, since it then must be approved in a national referendum before elections for a permanent government can be held in December. The Bush administration does not want momentum to be lost in bringing democracy to the troubled nation. But the Shiites, Sunnis, and Kurds writing the draft remain divided on such issues as regional autonomy and whether Islam should be the exclusive source of law.
With the four main suspects in custody, British police investigating the July 21 terrorist attacks in London widened their search to southern England, arresting six more people Sunday. But as they did, The Sunday Times (London) said it had learned of yet another "Islamist terror cell" that is planning multiple bomb attacks on subway trains and other "soft" targets. A set of attacks was was to have taken place last Thursday, the Times said, citing senior security sources, but may have been postponed because of an unprecedentedly heavy deployment of police.
Delegates to the six-sided negotiations on North Korea's nuclear weapons program planned to meet again Monday after failing to agree on the language of a statement "containing all the key points that have been discussed so far." Chief US negotiator Christopher Hill acknowledged that translating the statement into six languages takes "a lot of work." A South Korean representative said the talks so far had succeeded only in establishing a framework for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. But the sides were described as far apart on how and when the North's weapons program should be dismantled.
Saying, "This would be an unnecessary and damaging step," the British government warned Iran not to resume enrichment of uranium that could be used in nuclear weapons. The process was suspended in November due to pressure from the US and other Western governments worried that Iran is building such weapons. But a spokesman for the Supreme National Security Council in Tehran said it would begin Monday unless Britain, France, and Germany delivered by Sunday night a proposal to make the suspension permanent in return for economic and political incentives. The three governments had requested a delay until Aug. 7.
Relentless heavy rains fell on already waterlogged Bombay and Maharashtra State in India, pushing the number of deaths to 910. Authorities urged residents not to venture out of doors unless travel was essential and pleaded for patience until heavy equipment and personnel arrive from other areas to help open storm drains and clear roads.