Europe's foot-and-mouth crisis went global as the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and other countries in the Middle East and Asia imposed limits on imports of meat and dairy products from the European Union. E.U. health commissioner David Byrne called the moves excessive and threatened to take the case to the World Trade Organization. In Britain, officials planned "preemptive" killing of up to 1 million animals to contain the infection, which grew to more than 260 confirmed cases since the first outbreak in February.
Brussels
E.U. governments, led by Britain and Italy, agreed to send 30 police and immigration officers to the Balkans to help local officials contain the flow of would-be migrants. The former Yugoslavia is thought to house around 200,000 Chinese waiting to be smuggled into the European Union. At present, Chinese nationals do not need visas to enter the country.
Geneva
The United Nations Environment Program issued its final report on the impact of depleted uranium used during the 1999 Kosovo conflict. unep said an analysis of 11 sites across the province showed that contamination levels were low, but the threat of radiation in the water supply remained. The study rated the danger to passers-by as "insignificant," but did not include cases in which people, including soldiers, had direct contact with D.U. particles.
Sofia
The Bulgarian capital was brought to a standstill by thousands of cab drivers protesting the abduction and killing of a taxi driver's three-year-old son. Interior Minister Emanuil Yordanov said he would resign if police did not find the boy's killer within days. The discovery of the child's body in a city park only hours after his street abduction provoked widespread anger among citizens who say authorities do little to curb violent crime. Prime Minister Ivan Kostov said parliament would hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the crisis, amid opposition calls for the government's resignation.
Jerusalem
Israel tightened its closure around Palestinian towns early last week, blockading Ramallah, the "intifadeh capital" of the West Bank, because it said it had uncovered a terrorist cell planning further attacks on Israelis. But E.U. ministers warned that they might suspend a key agreement with Israel if the economic stranglehold of Palestinian areas was not relaxed. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon gave military officials discretion to ease restrictions, but many roads to Palestinian villages throughout the West Bank remained blocked by trenches or piles of rubble set up by the Israeli army.
Medina
Saudi commanders stormed a Russian airliner hijacked by Chechen rebels, freeing more than 100 passengers and crew. Saudi authorities said three people were killed in the rescue operation, which was authorized after hijackers threatened to blow up the plane. The Interior Ministry said a flight attendant was stabbed to death by the hijackers during the siege. Gunfire killed a hijacker and a Turkish passenger. Three hijackers seized control of the Moscow-bound Tuplov 154 jet as it left Istanbul airport, issuing a list of demands including an end to Russia's military campaign in Chechnya. The Saudis said they decided to storm the plane after 18 hours of negotiation at Medina airport proved fruitless.
Udairi
A U.S. team began investigating the cause of a bombing accident at a military training range in the Kuwaiti desert. Three 227-kg bombs killed five American servicemen and one New Zealander when a U.S. fighter jet missed its target in a training exercise. The F-18 navy plane dropped its load on an observation post and parked cars more than 2 km from its intended target. Investigations will focus on the role of the pilot and the air controller in directing the strike, which wounded up to a dozen others, including Kuwaitis.
Kampala
Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni won re-election with 69% of the vote against 28% for his main rival Kizza Besigye. Besigye, who once served as Museveni's doctor and was part of the "movement" that brought Museveni to power 15 years ago, accused his former ally's camp of ballot-rigging and intimidation. Besigye said he would petition the Supreme Court to overturn the result. Museveni said Besigye had also rigged some balloting. Opinion polls had predicted a much closer result in a campaign marked by increasing outbreaks of violence, including a bomb in the capital that killed a woman and injured several others.
Kabul
The Taliban government claimed it had completed the destruction of two giant statues of Buddha and closed the BBC's Afghanistan office because of the organization's coverage of the action. Photographs confirmed that a third Buddha statue had been demolished, but authorities denied access to the site of the two largest figures. Later in the week, Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar ordered the slaughter of 100 cows to "atone for the delay" in destroying the statues. In an unrelated development, the U.N. suspended aid to Afghans encamped near the Tajik border because of the presence of armed men among the displaced population.
New Delhi
A widening defense scandal threatened to topple Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and his ruling coalition government. By week's end, six Indian ministers, including Defense Minster George Fernandes, had left the government; an important coalition partner had withdrawn its support and all business in parliament had come to a halt. The scandal broke after a media company, Tehelka.com, screened videotape evidence of a widespread network of bribery, corruption and influence peddling among top politicians. In an attempt to quell the crisis, Vajpayee announced in a television address that he had set up a judicial enquiry and appealed to his political opponents to allow parliament to resume so that the issue could be discussed and reforms put in place.
Saint Martin
At least 15 people drowned and 20 more were missing after a 12-m motorized wooden boat smashed against rocks and broke apart 11 km from the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. The victims were believed to be illegal migrants from the Dominican Republic. Two survivors, rescued by a fishing boat, told how the Esperanza foundered after it was hit by a huge wave.
Ottawa
In an attempt to control child pornography in cyberspace, the Canadian government proposed new laws that would make it illegal to access child pornography on the Internet. The Criminal Law Amendment Act would also make it illegal to post such material on a website or transmit it by e-mail. People convicted of transmitting child pornography could face 10-year jail sentences while those caught intentionally accessing porn sites could receive five-year sentences.
Washington
In a letter sent to four powerful Republican Senators, U.S. President George W. Bush declared that he no longer favored putting limits on carbon dioxide emissions from power plants. The announcement reversed a position Bush had taken during his campaign, but the President later explained that he was "responding to reality. We need more energy. We need more power plants."
Mexico City
The leader of the Zapatista rebels rejected a proposal for preliminary talks with selected government legislators, saying he wanted an audience with the entire congress. Subcomandante Marcos and his followers are pressing for constitutional recognition of the country's 10 million indigenous people. Earlier in the week, balaclava-clad Zapatista supporters made a triumphal entrance into the capital city after a 15-day motorcade through Mexico from their base in Chiapas. President Vicente Fox has raised hopes for peace but the Zapatistas say they will not leave Mexico City until a bill of rights is in place.
Campos
Three explosions rocked the biggest offshore oil platform in the world, killing 10 workers. More than 160 people were rescued from the Petrobras rig, which threatened to sink about 200 km north of Rio de Janeiro. The accident was expected to delay Brazil's plan to achieve energy self-sufficiency by 2005. The wells from the 40-story-high platform pumped 80,000 barrels a day, about 5% of Brazil's petroleum production. The rig, the pride of Brazil's petroleum industry, was listing at 30 degrees after the explosion. If it sinks, it could release 1.5 million liters of diesel and oil into the South Atlantic.