Bangladesh
DHAKA — At least 17 people were killed and 20 injured when a truck crashed near Sherpur town north of here, state television reported. It said the victims were aboard the truck carrying cement.
DHAKA — Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina vowed not to give in to opposition pressure for an early election unless her opponents call off a three-day strike planned for next week.
Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO — Pharmaceutical giant Merck & Co., which is based in the United States, has reduced the price of two of its AIDS drugs sold in Brazil, Brazilian media reported.
China
BEIJING — The government added its voice to the global chorus criticizing the U.S. rejection of a treaty on global warning, calling President Bush's decision "irresponsible."
BEIJING — Construction workers digging in an ancient graveyard in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing have found the well-preserved body of a 60-year-old, apparently a scholar buried about 500 years ago, state media said.
El Salvador
SAN SALVADOR — A strong earthquake rattled El Salvador on Thursday, causing people to flee into the streets. But there were no reports of injuries or serious damage.
England
LONDON — Searchers recovered a second body near the wreckage of two U.S. Air Force F-15s that crashed on a Scottish mountain peak, police said. The body was found close to the summit of Ben Macdhui in the Cairngorm Mountains, where the two jets crashed Monday.
LONDON — Anthony Steel, a British actor who starred in films of adventure and heroism during the 1950s, died March 21 in London. He was 80. After a small role in 1951's "The Mudlark," Steel went on to star in a series of adventure films.
Ivory Coast
ABIDJAN — Outbreaks of meningitis have claimed 1,606 lives across sub-Saharan Africa since the beginning of the year and will likely kill more people in coming weeks, a U.N. health official said.
New Zealand
WELLINGTON — The government is considering buying anti-ship missiles for its air force and navy, a spokesman said. But no decision had been made on the purchase of Boeing Harpoon and Kongsberg Gruppen ASA Penguin missiles for deployment on Orion aircraft and Seasprite helicopters, the spokesman for Prime Minister Helen Clark said.
Russia
MOSCOW — A methane explosion struck a Siberian coal mine, killing at least four people and injuring six who were pulled out during an overnight rescue operation in the collapsed shaft, emergency officials said. More than 200 other miners in the shaft at the time of the blast were safely evacuated.
Somalia
NAIROBI, Kenya — Two U.N. aid workers flew out of Somalia after being released by kidnappers, but two others remain in captivity, a United Nations spokeswoman said.
Sri Lanka
COLOMBO — A Tamil journalist working in war-torn northern Sri Lanka was released after being detained without charges for three months by the country's anti-terrorism police, court officials said.
Thailand
BANGKOK — The government said Thailand's population grew by 0.35 percent, or 217,045, last year to 61.88 million.
Turkey
ANKARA — Turkey's military-dominated National Security Council said speculation that the government could fall to make way for an "interim regime" was damaging to the EU-candidate country.
Yugoslavia
BELGRADE — Serb citizens doubt their new reformist rulers will arrest former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic before a U.S.-imposed Saturday deadline, but few appeared concerned.