Russia appears to be widening the conflict in Chechnya as thousands
of
frightened civilians flee their homes.
Moscow has launched a large-scale offensive in Chechnya following
a series
of devastating bomb attacks across Russia and incursions by Islamic
militants into Dagestan.
Skirmishes were reported by military officials on both sides as
thousands of
Russian troops marched into Chechnya supported by tanks and armoured
cars.
Overhead, warplanes have continued to bomb suspected rebel bases
for the
10th day in succession.
Russia blames Chechen rebels for a series of bombings in Russian
cities and
incursions into the southern republic of Dagestan.
Serbian riot police formed a cordon in downtown Belgrade to block
an
anti-government march of around 10,000 people on Saturday, but there
was no
violence, eyewitnesses said.
Eight Kurdish rebels surrendered to Turkish troops on Friday in hopes
of
showing the sincerity of a guerrilla offer to end 15 years of war.
Gunmen shot dead two Shiite Muslims in an early-morning attack in
Pakistan's Punjab province on Saturday, raising the death toll in
a two-day
wave of sectarian violence to 20, police said.
Communist North Korea would likely use bio-chemical weapons if war
ever
erupted on the highly militarized Korean peninsula, South Korean
President Kim Dae-jung said on Friday.
Ragged, unshaven guerrilla fighters the likely leaders of an independent
East Timor descended from the mountains Thursday seeking a role
in the
emerging nation, as the United States pressured Indonesia to help
refugees
return home.
MAZIZINI, South Africa Police fired live ammunition and tear gas
during the funeral of a black army lieutenant that drew 2,000 mourners
Saturday, wounding at least three.
Angola is carrying out a military buildup in the north, east and
central
highlands as its troops battle to seize the headquarters of the
UNITA rebel
movement in the central highlands, witnesses said on Friday.
Congolese rebels accused government troops of breaking a month-old
cease-fire deal by attacking a key rebel position on Saturday, and
warned they might respond with a new offensive.
A giant iceberg, 40 miles (66 km) long and 11 miles (18 km) wide,
floated on
Saturday toward the tip of South America, causing Chilean authorities
to
warn of possible danger to ships rounding Cape Horn.
Police are on high alert as Indians vote on the fifth and final day
of their
month-long general election.
About 133 million people, mostly living in the north and east, are
eligible
to vote in Sunday's ballot and officials are keen to discourage
the violence
and corruption that has marred previous polls.
An agreement brokered by the United Nations K-For peacekeepers in
Kosovo has
failed to end an ongoing standoff between Serbs and ethnic Albanians
who are
blocking a main provincial highway in the town of Kosovo Polje.
A political row has erupted in Belgium over the detention by police
of fifty
gypsies who were due to be deported home to Slovakia after they
were refused
refugee status.
A leading candidate in the Ukrainian presidential election, Natalya
Vitrenko, has been injured in an explosion at a rally in the east
of the
country.
Thank You
Tia