Algeria
THENIA — Demolition teams took over for rescue workers in some areas as hope dwindled Monday for finding more survivors in Algeria's devastating earthquake as the government moved to block Muslim fundamentalists from aiding in the recovery effort. As of Monday, the number of dead stood at 2,217, with another 9,087 people injured.
Argentina
BUENOS AIRES — Thousands of Argentine supporters of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro broke through security Monday night, creating pandemonium and forcing authorities to cancel Castro's first speech in Argentina.
China
MOSCOW — Chinese President Hu Jintao underscored the importance he gives to China's economic partnership with Russia by choosing Moscow as his first destination abroad since taking power. Hu arrived in the Russian capital Monday and headed to President Vladimir Putin's estate outside the city.
India
NEW DELHI — India decided Monday to resume a popular bus service to Pakistan and to release more than 130 Pakistani prisoners, initiatives aimed at resuming dialogue between the nuclear rivals after a two-year gap.
Indonesia
BANDA ACEH — Indonesia moved heavy artillery into rebel areas of Aceh, stepping up its offensive against the region's poorly armed separatists. The Free Aceh Movement said it wasn't intimidated and vowed to keep up its fight for independence in the tiny province.
Kenya
NAIROBI — The U.S. Embassy, closed for Memorial Day on Monday, will stay shut for an additional day to review its security against a heightened terrorist threat.
Liberia
MONROVIA — The United States urged Americans to leave the rebellion-torn West African nation of Liberia, citing the spread of fighting. The warning comes as two rebel movements, one newly formed, press in upon President Charles Taylor's government from the north and southeast, with fighting surging ahead of scheduled peace talks.
Moldava
CHISINAU — The Communist Party consolidated its hold on power in this former Soviet republic, winning over 47 percent of contested posts for mayor and other municipal offices, according to preliminary results published Monday.
Myanmar
YANGON — A Myanmar court sentenced 10 democracy activists to prison terms ranging from two years to life, and a pro-junta group threatened supporters of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and hurled a brick at her car, her party said Monday.
Philippines
MANILA — One of the Philippines' most-wanted Muslim guerrillas, allegedly trained by al-Qaida and linked to numerous Southeast Asian terrorist plots, was in police custody Monday. Saifulla Yunos, the suspected leader of the separatist Moro Islamic Liberation Front's special operations group, was arrested Sunday with an Egyptian man at southern Cagayan de Oro airport as they tried to catch a flight to Manila.
Russia
MOSCOW — The glitch that caused a Soyuz space capsule to come to earth more than 300 miles from its intended landing point early this month has still not been identified, Russian officials said Monday.
ST. PETERSBURG — The European architects who built this sumptuous city at the behest of Peter the Great dubbed it Russia's Babylon of the Snows, and Russia has every intention of marking its second city's 300th birthday with Babylonian flair.
Rwanda
KIGALI — Millions of Rwandans turned out Monday to vote on a new constitution intended to usher in a stable, democratic society nearly a decade after genocide devastated the tiny, central African nation.
Serbia-Montenegro
BELGRADE — Slobodan Milosevic's former state security chief, facing extradition to the U.N. war crimes tribunal, was hospitalized Monday because of deteriorating health, an official said.
Turkey
ANKARA — Turkey's head general is concerned about the appointments of Islamic-oriented officials to top government jobs, journalists said Monday, signaling heightened tensions between the fiercely secular military and the Islamic-rooted ruling party.