Lawmakers will debate Islamic head scarf ban

Lawmakers will begin debating a bill today that would ban Islamic head scarves and other religious dress in public schools. To show how important the legislation is to the government, Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin will open debate on the bill banning "conspicuous" religious symbols from classrooms. The measure also bans Jewish skullcaps and large Christian crosses from public schools, but French authorities have made clear it is aimed at Muslim head coverings. Proponents say the ban would guarantee respect for France's secular foundations, which ensure a strict separation of church and state. (AP)

SOUTH AFRICA

De Klerk asks his party to join ANC in alliance

STELLENBOSCH -- Former president F.W. de Klerk urged his onetime apartheid party yesterday to back a coalition with the African National Congress, saying it was the only way to heal racial divisions. Speaking on the 14th anniversary of a historic speech in which he effectively ended white rule, de Klerk said the New National Party must work with South Africa's black leaders in this year's general elections. "It was through negotiations that we in this country averted a catastrophe, and it will only be through negotiation and dialogue that we will develop a communal vision of transformation," de Klerk said. An ANC-NNP coalition has his "full and enthusiastic support," he added. (Reuters)

Debtor held in release of snakes in bank lobby

JOHANNESBURG -- Bail was set at $700 yesterday for a man charged with releasing deadly puff adder snakes in the lobby of a bank that had repossessed his car. Abel Manamela, 52, was charged with attempted murder after a bank cleaner was bitten on the finger while trying to contain the snakes Thursday at a downtown branch of the ABSA Bank. The snakebite victim underwent surgery and was out of danger yesterday. (AP)

AUSTRIA

Diplomat to brief UN on Libya's weapons

VIENNA -- The head of the UN atomic agency will brief the agency's board on the progress of dismantling Libya's nuclear weapons program after some board members complained that the news media are better informed than they are, diplomats said yesterday. The diplomats, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they did not know which members of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors had asked for next Thursday's meeting. The board formally meets next month to consider separate reports by IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei on Libya and Iran. (AP)

ECUADOR

US plans to withhold $15m in military aid

QUITO -- The United States will withhold $15 million in military aid to Ecuador for not signing an agreement granting US military members immunity from an international court, the US ambassador said. The move comes after Washington decided in July to freeze military aid to nations that refuse to guarantee that members of the US military would not be handed over to the new International Criminal Court in Belgium. "The United States has the democratic right to deny help to nations with which we do not have protection for our military," Ambassador Kristie Kenney told daily newspaper El Universo in an interview published yesterday. (AP)

KENYA

Trial begins for four accused in '02 blast

NAIROBI -- The November 2002 car bombing of a resort hotel on the Kenyan coast was part of an elaborate Al Qaeda plot, a prosecutor said as four suspects went on trial for murder yesterday. Al Qaeda has twice struck Kenya, and yesterday trial, along with another trial of three Al Qaeda suspects on lesser charges are the first attempts by authorities in the East African country to seek convictions against alleged terrorists. (AP)