New World Blogger

Rwanda --In a police report reproduced in French newspaper Le Monde, evidence is claimed to have emerged surrounding the plane crash that killed then-Rwandan President Juvenal Habyarimana and Burundian President Cyprien Ntaryamira, triggering the civil war that saw over 800,000 dead. The report concludes that current Rwandan president Kagame is responsible for the plane crash. It also mentions that the UN received a copy of the blackbox soon after the incident, but that it blocked an inquiry into the incident. UN secretary general Kofi Annan said he had no knowledge of the flight recorder. An internal UN investigation is to take place regarding why this key piece of evidence was not reported to senior peacekeeping officials. From BBC News.

South Africa -- President Mbeki and opposition leader Leon argue over the constitutionality of weapons sent in aid to Aristide before the latter left Haiti. From BBC News

Argentina -- Kirchner agrees to pay the $3.1 billion owed to the IMF, averting one of the largest defaults in history. Part of the reason may have been Horst Koehler's stepdown from his position as manager of the IMF after being nominated for president of Germany alongside Chancellour Schroeder. From The Economist

China -- France and Chinese navies engage in joint naval drills. France, who is also lobbying the EU to drop arms sales sanctions against China, provides a country likely to be helpful to China, according to a Shanghai based publication. "China wants to co-operate with traditional European powers, and France, as a stringent critic of the US, and a fervent advocate of lifting the arms embargo, was the country likely to take the initiative." The five-day drills are the 12th such initiative from the French navy towards China. Full story here.

China -- By a majority vote yesterday, private property declared an "inviolable" constitutional right. Full story

Brazil -- This is an interesting article on Brazilian favelas -- for those unfamiliar with the term, favelas refers the shantytowns recently depicted in the movie Cidade de Deus (City of God).