Race May Be Factor In Attack By Black South African Soldier

JOHANNESBURG - A black soldier shot dead six white soldiers and a white civilian at a South African military base today in what police said could be a racially motivated attack.

"We are following up that (the racial) line of investigation, but we can't speculate on a motive at this point," a police spokeswoman said.

The attacker, who had served in the army for several years, was eventually shot dead by other members of the South African National Defense Force.

A major, a captain and four other soldiers died in the shooting, which took place at the Tempe military base in the central city of Bloemfontein, police said.

It was one of the first military bases in South Africa to integrate former African National Congress freedom fighters with the

white South Africa Defense Force after the end of white rule in 1994.

Despite working hard at integration, South Africa remains wracked by racial tension five years after all-race elections brought former president Nelson Mandela and the ANC to power.

S. Africa builds military might with big weapons purchases

JOHANNESBURG - South Africa again asserted its claim as sub-Saharan Africa's strongest military power, as the government yesterday gave final approval for new arms purchases worth $3.5 billion over the next eight years.

The deal - which involves purchases of submarines, aircraft and ships from England, Sweden, Italy and Germany - is the nation's first major acquisition of weapons since the end of apartheid in 1994.

Church and social activists have charged that there are more pressing social needs in South Africa. Unemployment is at 34 percent, and millions live in shacks without electricity and running water.

But the government said the deal will create thousands of jobs because in exchange for the contracts, the nations selling the arms have agreed to invest in South Africa.

British Myanmar protester sentenced to 7 years in prison

YANGON, Myanmar - A Myanmar court today sentenced British democracy activist Rachel Goldwyn to seven years' imprisonment with hard labor for a solo protest against Myanmar's military regime.

Goldwyn, 28, can appeal the sentence. She was arrested after chaining herself to a lamppost and shouting pro-democracy slogans in downtown Yangon on Sept. 7.

The ruling junta in Myanmar, formerly known as Burma, took power in 1988 after violently suppressing pro-democracy demonstrations. It held a general election in 1990 but refused to let Parliament convene after a landslide victory by the democratic opposition.

Nuclear-waste plant planned for Chernobyl cleanup work

KIEV, Ukraine - Ukraine and a consortium of Belgian, French and Italian firms signed a deal today to build a nuclear-waste-processing facility at the Chernobyl nuclear-power plant, site of the world's worst nuclear accident.

The $122 million contract, to be financed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, was signed in Kiev by Ukraine's state nuclear-energy company Energoatom and Belgium's Belgatom, France's SGN and Italy's Ansaldo.

The deal is a key part of the 1996 agreement between the former Soviet republic and the EBRD on improving safety at Chernobyl, where the No. 4 reactor exploded, spewing radiation over large parts of Europe in 1986.

The 1996 deal with the EBRD calls for $758 million in repairs on the concrete-and-steel shelter that covers the destroyed reactor.

German sub sunk by Britain in WWII found in Norway fjord

OSLO - A German submarine that was sunk by British warplanes during World War II has been discovered at the bottom of the deep fjord that leads to Oslo, the Norwegian military announced today.

The submarine U-735 sank on Dec. 28, 1944 off the town of Horton, 30 miles south of Oslo, during a British bombing raid, the Norwegian supreme defense command said.

2nd Colombian peace activist assassinated in over a month

BOGOTA, Colombia - For the second time in just over a month, war-weary Colombia has been shaken by the assassination of a prominent peace activist.

Jesus Bejarano, a former government envoy to peace talks with leftist rebels, was shot to death last night at the Bogota university where he taught.

The killing comes one month after Jaime Garzon, a journalist and the country's most beloved political satirist, was killed by motorcycle gunmen while on his way to work at a Bogota radio station.

Bejarano, an outspoken political commentator, had recently stepped down as head of the Colombian Farmers' Association. The war is pitting 1960s-style rebels against the military and right-wing death squads.

Algeria to vote on president's referendum to end violence

ALGIERS - Algerians began voting today in a referendum on a peace plan President Abdelaziz Bouteflika hopes will end more than seven years of violence.

Algeria's 17.5 million voters are asked one question: "Do you agree with the president's approach to restore peace and civilian concord?"

Bouteflika has promised to end civil strife, stamp out corruption and reform the economy if Algerians give him their trust.