WORLD IN BRIEF
Monday, April 3, 2006; Page A20
Iran Tests Missile It Says No Ship Could Escape
TEHRAN -- Iran conducted its second major test of a new missile within several days on Sunday, firing a high-speed torpedo it said no submarine or warship could escape. The tests came during war games that the elite Revolutionary Guards have been holding in the Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea.
On Friday, Iran said it successfully tested the Fajr-3 missile, which can avoid radar and hit several targets simultaneously using multiple warheads.
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The new torpedo, called the "Hoot," or whale, could raise concerns over Iran's power in the Gulf, a vital corridor for oil supplies and where the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is based. During the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s, Iranian ships attacked oil tankers in the Gulf, and Iran and the U.S. military engaged in clashes.
Iran's state television stopped its normal programs to break news of the torpedo test. Gen. Ali Fadavi, deputy head of the Revolutionary Guards' navy, said that the ships that fire the Iranian-made Hoot had radar-evading technology and that the torpedo -- moving at 223 mph -- was too fast to elude.
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EUROPE
· VATICAN CITY -- Tens of thousands of people from around the world flocked to a candlelight service at the Vatican to mark the first anniversary of the death of Pope John Paul II and pray that he be made a saint soon.
Pope Benedict XVI spoke at about 9:37 p.m., the time at which John Paul died a year ago. "He continues to be present in our minds and in our hearts," Benedict told the crowd from his window overlooking St. Peter's Square. He said John Paul had taught the world the value of life even in its final stages.
A sea of Polish flags filled the square as dusk settled and some of the late pope's countrymen held up a huge banner from his home town of Wadowice in southern Poland. Benedict read part of his address in Polish. Dozens of banners bore the name of Solidarity, the union that John Paul supported in the early 1980s.
· PARIS -- President Jacques Chirac signed into law a contested measure reducing job protections for young people even though he has said it would be replaced by a modified version to defuse a crisis that has led to massive demonstrations.
Unions hoped that another round of strikes and demonstrations Tuesday would provide a more powerful push to get the measure withdrawn.