Nigeria

President pledges to fight corruption

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo took the oath of office for a second term Thursday — pledging to heal the wounds of an election that was marred by fraud but was still considered a milestone for democracy in Africa’s most populous nation.

Obasanjo called his re-election “affirmation our leadership is trustworthy” — after a first term widely acknowledged to have failed at curbing rampant corruption and violence.

Obasanjo’s 1999 election to a first four-year term ended 15 years of brutal, corrupt military rule. He won re-election April 19, in a vote that opposition candidates rejected as fraudulent.

International observers reported many examples of fraud but did not question the victory of Obasanjo, a 66-year-old Christian from southern Nigeria, over top rival Muhammadu Buhari, a Muslim from the north.

Peru

Troops open fire on defiant protesters

Soldiers clashed with protesters Thursday, killing one and injuring 36, as Peruvians in several cities defied a 2-day-old state of emergency called by President Alejandro Toledo.

Defense Minister Aurelio Loret de Mola said the troops opened fire after a group of about 2,000 protesting university students surrounded their nine-man patrol near the city of Puno, 530 miles southeast of Lima.

One student died of gunshot wounds, Loret de Mola said. Thirty-six other protesters and 13 soldiers and police were wounded during clashes in Puno, he said.

The defense minister claimed that common criminals and remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla group were among the protesters.

The university students organized their protest in support of teachers, who went on strike May 12, police said.

Egypt

Magazine: Al-Qaida may target U.S. water

An Arabic-language magazine quotes a senior member of al-Qaida as raising the possibility that the group might poison U.S. water supplies.

The Saudi-owned al-Majalla weekly also reports in its latest edition that al-Qaida militants are in the ranks of Saddam Hussein loyalists attacking U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

The reports are based on e-mail correspondence that Al-Majalla conducted with Abu Mohammed al-Ablaj, whom the magazine identified as a senior member of al-Qaida.

“It is something that would be have to viewed seriously,” said a U.S. counterterrorism official in Washington, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The London-based Al-Majalla began receiving al-Ablaj’s e-mails earlier this month, and a U.S. counterterrorism official said previously that al-Ablaj was believed to be an al-Qaida operative.

Venezuela

Chavez, opponents reach election pact

Venezuela’s government and opposition signed an agreement Thursday that requires them not to seek changes to election laws as they prepare for a referendum on the rule of President Hugo Chavez.

The agreement ended six months of negotiations sponsored by the Organization of American States between rivals engaged in a power struggle that produced a short-lived coup and a crippling general strike.

Opposition leaders feared pro-Chavez lawmakers would amend election laws to put obstacles in way of the referendum.

Chavez said he hoped the agreement would compel “those who have taken the path of violence and coups” to abide by the constitution.

France

G-8 summit protesters stage first march

Thousands of brightly clad protesters marched peacefully Thursday through Annemasse in the first day of demonstrations against the Group of Eight summit this weekend.

Shouting “Police are fascists, assassins” or carrying red and black communist flags, the anti-globalization protesters beat drums to a samba rhythm in hopes of proving to worried locals that the demonstrators mean no harm.

Police estimated about 4,000 people marched in Annemasse, just across the Swiss border from Geneva. The town is France’s designated hub of protest for the G-8 summit that starts Sunday in nearby Evian.

A similar number of protesters turned out in the Swiss town of Lausanne, which lies opposite Lake Geneva from Evian. Presidents from developing countries who are not part of the G-8 group will be staying in Lausanne. The Swiss protest also passed virtually without incident.

United Nations

Nobel prize money slated for education

The General Assembly agreed Thursday to use the $1 million award from the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize to educate the children of U.N. staff members who lost their lives in the service of peace.

The United Nations and Secretary General Kofi Annan shared the award. In October Annan proposed that the money be donated to a new United Nations Nobel Peace Prize Memorial Fund earmarked for educating children who had lost a parent.

“The fund would be a way of ensuring both a living memorial to staff who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and a practical way of helping families left behind,” said U.N. deputy spokeswoman Hua Jiang.

Hua also announced Thursday that funds from the 1988 Nobel Peace Prize, which was awarded to U.N. peacekeeping forces, would be used for a memorial at U.N. headquarters.