Argentina
BUENOS AIRES — Key officials said Saturday they expected Congress to grant new Economy Minister Domingo Cavallo's request for special powers to rush passage of economic reforms, the linchpin of his strategy to halt a crisis in confidence that is rocking markets.
Benin
COTONOU — President Mathieu Kerekou easily won re-election in a runoff boycotted by his top rivals, getting 84 percent of the vote in final, official results.
China
BEIJING — The captured suspect behind a string of explosions that killed 108 people in Shijiazhuang acted alone and was driven by personal hatreds, Xinhua news said.
Colombia
BOGOTA — Five American lawmakers have arrived in to tour the front lines of a U.S.-backed drug war and lend support to human-rights workers.
Cuba
HAVANA — Cuba replaced its fishing minister in the wake of a corruption probe that netted several middle-level officials, though the former minister was cleared of wrongdoing.
France
PARIS — The Louvre museum was shut for the second day running on Saturday because of a strike over the introduction of a shorter working week from 39 to 35 hours, a spokeswoman said.
Georgia
TBILISI — Followers of a defrocked priest beat eight visiting American Baptists in this former Soviet republic on Saturday and stole camera equipment, Baptist leaders said.
Germany
LUENEBURG — About 10,000 opponents of nuclear power rallied Saturday against a shipment of radioactive waste to Germany, criticizing the government for approving the transport and calling for blockades to stop it.
BERLIN — A group of politicians will visit North Korea in late April or early May for the first time since diplomatic relations were resumed earlier this month, a parliamentary spokesman said.
Greece
ATHENS — Prime Minister Tony Blair on Saturday rejected demands by Greece for the return of ancient sculptures removed from the Parthenon 200 years ago.
Hungary
BUDAPEST— The first baby of the former ruling Habsburg family to be born in Hungary in half a century was baptized in the Matthias Church in Budapest.
Italy
ROME — Italy will transfer a battalion to the Macedonian border by Saturday from its present posting in Pec in western Yugoslavia, Italy's joint chief of staff said.
Jordan
AMMAN — Arab foreign ministers worked to patch up differences between Iraq and its Gulf foes over U.N. sanctions on Baghdad as they hammered out an agenda for a leaders summit later this week.
Mexico
MEXICO CITY — The leader of the Zapatista rebels said his group is moving away from armed struggle and acknowledged that further fighting "would be a failure," in an interview published Saturday.
Pakistan
ISLAMABAD — Pakistan voiced concern on over Quran burnings in India and urged its neighbor and rival to take steps to prevent such acts.
Panama
PANAMA CITY —The Panama Truth Commission on Saturday published the names of 132 people who were killed or disappeared during the country's 21-year military dictatorship.
Ukraine
KIEV — Up to 5,000 opposition protesters rallied to condemn President Leonid Kuchma and honor the memory of those they call the victims of his regime.
Venezuela
PUERTO ORDAZ — President Hugo Chavez insisted during talks with Colombia's president that the controversial handling of a Colombian hijack suspect hasn't damaged relations with its neighbor.