■ United States
`Doonesbury' lists US dead
Cartoonist Garry Trudeau, the man behind the Doonesbury cartoon, will devote one of his strips to listing the US military war dead in Iraq. The strip, to be published this Sunday, will list the more than 700 US military personnel who have been killed in Iraq since the start of the US-led campaign over a year ago. The final panel of the six-strip cartoon will include a note that reads: "List as of April 23, 2004." The cartoon, which is syndicated to thousands of newspapers in the US and around the world, has been notably critical of the war in Iraq.
A strip published last month depicted one of the cartoon's characters, BD, a media officer with the US army, losing a leg in Fallujah.
■ Iraq
Speculation over Sanchez
The Pentagon late on Monday dismissed as "speculation" reports that Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez would be relieved from top command of US troops in Iraq. ABC broadcast news reported earlier in the evening that Sanchez would be replaced by General George Casey, vice chief of staff of the Army. "If we had something like that we would announce it," said a Pentagon spokesman. "Any speculation would be irresponsible." Sanchez testified recently before the US Congress on the scandal over mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison. He accepted responsibility for the abuses, and vowed to punish those responsible. He said the investigation would examine the entire military chain of command, "and that includes me."
■ France
Airport woes continue
Ominous cracking sounds were heard on Monday inside a futuristic new terminal at Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris, a day after four people were killed when a 30m section of its glass, steel and concrete roof collapsed. Investigators and workers inside terminal 2E, which opened only 11 months ago, were evacuated. Similar cracking noises had been reported in the minutes before a section of the long, tube-like structure collapsed just before 7am on Sunday. Airport chairman Pierre Graff told the Le Parisien newspaper that no risks would be taken with safety.
■ African Union
Security Council launched
The pan-continental African Union (AU) yesterday launched a new Peace and Security Council which it hopes will become a robust guarantor of stability in Africa, much like the
UN Security Council. The establishment of the council was formally proclaimed by Mozambican President Joaquim Chissano, the current chairman of the AU, at a ceremony at its headquarters in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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