Troops to the Rescue

IVORY COAST International peacekeepers arrived in the western town of Zouan-Hounien to enforce a cease-fire agreed by government and rebel forces at the beginning of May. The French and West African troops were greeted by children — some wearing women’s wigs — firing AK-47s into the air. The western region has seen brutal fighting since an armed rebellion split the country in two eight months ago. Ivorian rebels, many of them children, have engaged in recent weeks in pitched battles with mercenaries from neighboring Liberia. — By Kate Davenport/Zouan-Hounien

Caught on Camera
BRITAIN An 18-year-old British soldier on leave from his unit in Iraq was arrested for allegedly taking photos of other soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners of war. Workers at a Tamworth photo shop called police when the soldier took the film to be developed. The Sun newspaper said the pictures showed a bound and gagged Iraqi POW dangling from a forklift truck. The army has launched an inquiry into the incident which,

THE PRESS
Editing Out Criticism
Like canaries in a coal mine, newspaper editors help gauge a nation’s political health. When two abruptly left their jobs last week — one in Italy, one in Saudi Arabia — people in each country started holding their breath. Ferruccio De Bortoli cited personal reasons when he stepped down from Corriere della Sera, Italy’s newspaper of record. But many detected the hand of Silvio Berlusconi. It was no secret the Prime Minister wanted a change at Corriere, which has exhaustively covered the criminal bribery case against him. There’s no direct evidence linking Berlusconi to the ouster, but the left-leaning daily La Repubblica said it must be viewed as part of a “climate of siege” Berlusconi created in the media world. In Saudi Arabia, the ouster of Jamal Khashoggi as editor of the Arabic daily Al Watan signaled the end of “Riyadh Spring” — the new willingness to criticize the kingdom’s powerful religious establishment in the wake of last month’s al-Qaeda attacks. Khashoggi was the loudest of the critics. “We used to say that we are a good society, that the bad ideas come from abroad,” he told Time before his dismissal. “Now we are talking about local thoughts that inflame hatred and fanaticism. We are saying, ‘Let’s look inside ourselves.'” The government, it seems, is saying, “Let’s not.” — By Jeff Israely and Scott Macleod

if proved, would be a breach of the Geneva Convention. The arrest was an embarrassment for Tony Blair, who traveled to Iraq to visit British troops.

Tracking the Terrorists
SAUDI ARABIA Police investigating the suicide bombing attacks in Riyadh last month arrested 11 people in Medina. Interior Minister Prince Nayed said the detainees included three clerics thought to be al-Qaeda sympathizers. Authorities believe al-Qaeda was responsible for the attacks, which killed 34. The arrests bring to 21 the total number of suspects in custody, but U.S. officials said there was still a risk of further terrorist attacks in the kingdom.

Violence Resumes
SPAIN Two policemen died and a third was critically injured when a bomb exploded under their car in the small town of Sanguesa in Navarra province, which borders the northern Basque region. Authorities blamed the Basque separatist group ETA for the attack, which came days after municipal elections from which the separatist party Batasuna was barred on the grounds it was linked to ETA.

French to the Rescue
DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO The U.N. authorized a French-led peacekeeping force to go to the eastern Ituri region, where brutal tribal warfare has resulted in the killing of more than 400 people in recent weeks. The French troops have a mandate to protect civilians and to secure a regional airport.

Democracy Beckons
RWANDA Voters overwhelmingly approved a new constitution, paving the way for the first multiparty elections in four decades, to be held later this year. The text bans the formation of political parties that identify themselves along ethnic lines, in an attempt to avoid a repeat of the 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people — mostly ethnic minority Tutsis — were slaughtered.

Emergency Measures
PERU A student was killed and 70 people were injured when police opened fire and used tear gas on protesters outside a university in the southern town of Puno. President Alejandro Toledo declared a nationwide state of emergency — granting police the authority to arrest protesters — in response to strikes for pay increases and job security. Protesters say the strikes will continue until their demands are met.

MEANWHILE IN ITALY …
Fast Food Insults
McDonald’s sued influential food critic Edoardo Raspelli for saying that its fries tasted like cardboard and its burgers like rubber. The food chain said his comments were “clearly offensive and defamatory.” Raspelli, who writes a regular column for La Stampa, refused to back down from his statements and said the food giant was seeking €21 million — the amount it spent on advertising in Italy last year. last year.