Belarus
MINSK — Belarus' authoritarian president accused opposition leaders Friday of trying to foster chaos by using terror, as demonstrators protested for a fifth straight night in the capital against the referendum extending his term in office.
Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil on Friday denounced a U.S. magazine report saying Brazil's uranium enrichment plant will give it the potential to build nuclear warheads. In its latest issue, Science magazine said that Brazil's uranium enrichment plant in Resende, about 60 miles northwest of Rio de Janeiro, will be able to refine enough uranium to build up to six nuclear warheads.
Canada
HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — A Boeing 747 cargo jet that struggled to lift off before crashing last week was traveling too slowly, Canadian investigators said Friday. The MK Airlines Ltd. plane was barely airborne at Halifax International Airport on Oct. 14 when it crashed into the woods, killing all seven crew members.
China
BEIJING — As many as 29 North Koreans entered a South Korean school in Beijing on Friday and requested asylum, adding to a surge in large-scale defections from the communist nation.
Colombia
BOGOTA — A congressional committee on Friday approved a bill that would allow popular President Alvaro Uribe to run for a second term in 2006, clearing the way for a final legislative vote as early as next week.
Costa Rica
SAN JOSE — A court on Friday ordered that former President Rafael Calderon be jailed for nine months as investigators probe corruption allegations. Calderon, who served from 1990 to 1994, was detained at a courthouse on Thursday after testifying about allegations that money from a $40 million Finnish government loan wound up in his accounts.
Cuba
HAVANA — His kneecap shattered and his arm broken after a nasty fall, Fidel Castro refused to let doctors put him to sleep during surgery, showing his determination not to lose control of his nation's affairs, if even for a moment. Castro, 78, chose epidural anesthesia, commonly used in childbirth to reduce pain, so he could stay awake as surgeons used stainless steel wire to stitch together his left knee, broken in eight places, state-run media said Friday.
France
PARIS — A new advertising campaign to fight anti-Semitism in France aims to shock. The campaign features serene images of Jesus and Mary with the slur "Dirty Jew" scrawled across them as if in graffiti. Underneath the picture appears the slogan: "Anti-Semitism: What if it were everyone's problem?"
Japan
TOKYO — Rescue workers digging through sludge from mudslides and flooded rice paddies in western Japan recovered 14 more bodies Friday, raising the toll from the nation's deadliest typhoon in more than a decade to 77. Fourteen people remained missing.
Mexico
CIUDAD JUAREZ — Dozens of angry teachers traded pushes and punches with members of President Vicente Fox's security detail Friday after the president refused to meet with them to discuss controversial pension reforms.
Myanmar
YANGON — Myanmar's ruling junta on Friday abolished the intelligence departments headed by ousted Prime Minister Gen. Khin Nyunt, signaling a sweeping crackdown against his supporters.
Poland
WARSAW — Polish lawmakers narrowly voted Friday against reintroducing the death penalty following a series of killings that outraged the nation, including the case of a young woman who was tortured and killed on a train, then dumped out the window.
Russia
GROZNY — Chechen rebel leader Aslan Maskhadov is ready to give up his separatist fight and is seeking a way to negotiate with the Kremlin on his surrender, a top Chechen security official said Friday.
Zimbabwe
HARARE — Zimbabwe's government will prohibit African observers from monitoring national parliamentary elections next year if they have close links with Western countries, an official said Friday.