Argentina
BUENOS AIRES — Lawmakers have given preliminary approval to an economic recovery plan that President Eduardo Duhalde hopes will attract billions of dollars in international aid.
Bosnia-Herzegovina
SARAJEVO — A pre-dawn NATO raid in remote eastern Bosnia today again failed to find a former Bosnian Serb leader who is the U.N. war crimes tribunal's most-wanted suspect. This was the second such operation in 24 hours chasing Radovan Karadzic, a past ally of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, now being tried by the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands.
Cuba
GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE — A quarter of captives from the Afghan war being held in Cuba refused to eat for a third day today, and two were given intravenous drips for dehydration, military officials said. Out of the 300 detainees being held at Camp X-ray, Guantanamo's makeshift detention facility, 73 declined their morning meal but appeared to be drinking water, a spokesman for the detention mission said.
France
EVRY — An Ariane-5 rocket blasted into space early today from its base in South America, successfully releasing an environment-monitoring satellite into orbit, officials said.
Italy
ROME — Police detained six men today suspected of links to militant groups, including Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida network, a source said.
Kyrgyzstan
BISHKEK — A group of drunken hunters cut off electric power to a third of the population in this capital city when they used ceramic insulators on high-voltage lines for target practice. One building that suffered the 30-minute blackout today was a hotel hosting a conference — on alcohol abuse.
Madagascar
ANTANANARIVO — The nation's opposition movement named an alternative cabinet today, stepping up its campaign to remove veteran President Didier Ratsiraka despite his declaration of martial law in the capital.
Pakistan
KARACHI — The suspected mastermind of the abduction and slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl could be extradited to the United States to stand trial, Pakistan's foreign secretary said today.
Russia
ROME — Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov softened his stance today toward the planned dispatch of U.S. military experts to Georgia. "Georgia is a sovereign state and has every right to turn to international organizations and the United States to ask for international help," he said upon his arrival at Rome's international airport for a three-day visit to Italy.
Sri Lanka
COLOMBO — A Sri Lankan woman has filed for divorce three months into her marriage after discovering her husband was really a woman, a newspaper reported today. The young bride had been whisked away on her wedding night by her parents, who were suspicious about the groom's feminine gait and high-pitched voice, the Daily Mirror reported.
Thailand
BANGKOK — Thai police today delayed an issue of the British-based Economist magazine, saying they were examining it for a possible ban in case an article in the publication offended the country's monarchy.
Venezuela
CARACAS — The government will spend $2 billion on job programs, health care and education to compensate for a 30 percent drop in the value of its currency, President Hugo Chavez said.
Vietnam
CHINA BEACH — China's 75-year-old president, Jiang Zemin, today followed the example of thousands of American soldiers in the Vietnam War and countless holidaymakers since by taking a swim at Vietnam's China Beach. Jiang swam for 10 minutes in the sea off the legendary beach near Danang, surrounded by bodyguards and lifeguards.
Zimbabwe
HARARE — President Robert Mugabe has accused Britain's Tony Blair of endorsing opposition rival Morgan Tsvangirai in next week's election, saying the country's former colonial rulers can "go to hell." Mugabe's latest volley against Britain came on the eve of a weekend Commonwealth summit where Blair was expected to call for immediate sanctions against Harare in response to government intimidation ahead of the election.