Northern Ireland: IRA peace gesture reports dismissed

Sinn Fein leaders on Saturday denied British media reports that the Irish Republican Army was about to make a series of peace gestures designed to revive Northern Ireland’s Catholic-Protestant administration.

“These unfounded stories from anonymous sources not only have no basis in fact, but actively undermine the talks taking place,” said Martin McGuinness, the Sinn Fein deputy leader and former IRA commander. Sinn Fein is the political arm of the IRA.

Reports in two London newspapers, The Guardian and The Times, claimed that the IRA planned to declare its “war” against Britain was over, get rid of its network of arms dumps and cease all aggressive activities.

Ivory Coast: Foreigners evacuated from rebel-held city

French troops in the Ivory Coast began evacuating about 100 foreigners Saturday from a rebel-held city in the west as loyalist troops headed toward the area with orders to oust the insurgents.

French soldiers said they got into gunbattles with the rebels in the city of Man while trying to secure the airport for the evacuation. One French soldier was wounded and at least five rebels were killed.

The rebels are a little-known group who call themselves the Ivorian Popular Movement for the Greater West.

Their motives aren’t clear, but in a statement Saturday, they called the clashes with the French a “misunderstanding” and said there was no need for the evacuation.

South Korea: American GIs focus of protesters’ wrath

At least 3,000 activists marched with candles and burned an U.S. flag Saturday to protest the acquittals of two U.S. soldiers in a traffic accident that killed two Korean girls.

In separate military trials this month, Sgt. Fernando Nino and Sgt. Mark Walker were acquitted of negligent homicide charges in the deaths of two 13-year-old girls.