EUROPE
GERMANY: PARTY BACKS MERKEL Angela Merkel, who is trying to become the next chancellor despite a disappointing election result on Sunday, received a boost from her party, the Christian Democratic Union, which reaffirmed her as its parliamentary leader by a nearly unanimous vote. There has been criticism of her campaign, and she could still suffer a loss of support in the party in the weeks ahead, especially if she proves unable to put together a coalition to form a new government. Richard Bernstein (NYT)
CROATIA: ARREST IN BLAST AT BRITISH EMBASSY A Croatian security guard who was the only person wounded Monday in an explosion at the British Embassy in Zagreb, the capital, was arrested after admitting that he had planted the bomb. Interior Minister Ivica Kirin said the police had ruled out any involvement by a terrorist group but gave no explanation for a motive.
Nicholas Wood (NYT)
FRANCE: CASH INCENTIVES TO HAVE THIRD BABIES France, which has a birthrate of 1.9 children per couple, among the highest in Europe, plans to announce benefits this week to encourage families to have children, including an increased monthly grant for women who take time off from work to have a third child. John Tagliabue (NYT)
AFRICA
SUDAN: UNITY CABINET President Omar el-Bashir announced a new power-sharing cabinet, another step forward in a peace deal signed with southern rebels in January. Awad Ahmed Al-Jaz of the governing National Congress Party will remain in the important post of minister of energy and mining, but after tough negotiations the government agreed to give another influential position, that of minister of foreign affairs, to Lam Akol of the former rebel group the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement. Marc Lacey (NYT)
MIDDLE EAST
HARIRI INQUIRY MOVES TO SYRIA In a heavily guarded motorcade with helicopters overhead, Detlev Mehlis, the head of a United Nations inquiry into the Beirut car bombing that killed former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri in February, crossed the Lebanon-Syria border to begin interrogating Syrian officials. He is expected to interview Ghazi Kanaan, the interior minister who until 2002 was the chief of Syrian military intelligence in Lebanon, and Rustum Ghazali, his successor. Hassan M. Fattah (NYT)
ASIA
JAPAN ACCUSES CHINA OF DRILLING IN DISPUTED WATERS In an escalation of their long-running dispute over maritime energy resources, Japan accused China of beginning gas production in a field near their disputed sea border in the East China Sea. Without directly answering the charge, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said China was producing gas in an area that was not in dispute. Japan is concerned that China may draw resources from the Japanese side of the disputed boundary and has criticized China for recently sending warships into the area. Howard W. French (NYT)
INDIA: SEPARATIST REBELS GUN DOWN 11 SOLDIERS In the deadliest such incident in recent months in the country’s troubled northeast, at least 11 Indian soldiers were killed and 5 wounded in a rebel ambush in Manipur State, the army said. The soldiers were returning to their base when guerrillas began firing at them from a hilltop about 20 miles from the state capital, Imphal. An ethnic separatist group claimed responsibility. Hari Kumar (NYT)
UNITED NATIONS
ISRAELI ENVOY LEADS ASSEMBLY SESSION Dan Gillerman, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, became the first Israeli since Abba Eban 52 years ago to preside over the General Assembly when he took the president’s chair to introduce the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom. Mr. Gillerman was elected one of the Assembly’s 21 vice presidents this year as a delegate from the regional bloc that Israel belongs to, the West European and other states group, which also includes Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States. Warren Hoge (NYT)
