Afghanistan
HERAT — President Hamid Karzai challenged one of the country's most powerful regional leaders on Monday, saying on a visit to his home territory that a big cut in his private army was inevitable in advance of Afghan elections later this year.
Brazil
RIO DE JANEIRO — The office of President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva denied a published report that he has a drinking problem, calling it "calumny and defamation." The nature of his drinking, a subject of speculation among journalists, attracted particular attention after The New York Times published an article Sunday under the headline "Brazilian Leader's Tippling Becomes National Concern."
Cuba
HAVANA — Cuban officials announced Monday they were freezing most sales in dollars in response to new U.S. proposals aimed at toppling the government of President Fidel Castro. Sales of goods at dollar stores, except for food and hygiene products, "are suspended until further notice," announcers on state television announced.
England
LONDON — A majority of Britons surveyed in an opinion poll published Monday want British troops to leave Iraq by the end of June. Fifty-five percent of the 1,001 adults surveyed said troops should be withdrawn once sovereignty is handed over to the interim Iraqi government June 30, according to the poll, which was done for The Independent newspaper. Twenty-eight percent were opposed, and 17 percent expressed no opinion.
India
NEW DELHI — With the conclusion Monday of India's election, exit polls showed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's coalition nowhere near the majority it needs to control Parliament and lead the nation for five more years. Final results were expected today.
Jordan
AMMAN — The nephew of an Osama bin Laden lieutenant shouted "Allah will punish you, tyrants!" at military judges Monday after they sentenced him and two accomplices to three years of hard labor for conspiring to attack American and Israeli tourists in Jordan. The court convicted the men of conspiring to attack Jordanian sights frequented by Americans and Israelis. The men were arrested a year ago, and no attacks were carried out.
North Korea
SEOUL, South Korea — Ahead of low-level nuclear talks, North Korea offered on Monday to respond with "credible measures" if the United States drops its "hostile policy" toward the communist North. The United States is demanding that North Korea scrap any nuclear weapons programs. The North says it needs to deter a potential U.S. invasion and has demanded a nonaggression treaty from Washington and economic aid in return for dismantling its nuclear facilities.
Saudi Arabia
RIYADH — In a significant shift, Saudi Arabia's oil minister said Monday that crude prices have risen far enough, and he will urge OPEC to increase production, reversing an output cut that began just last month. The change in Saudi oil policy, Oil Minister Ali Naimi said, is due to concern that high prices could hurt the world economy and reduce demand for oil.
Sierra Leone
FREETOWN — For the first time under international law, a U.N.-backed court in Sierra Leone will prosecute forced marriage as a crime against humanity, officials said Monday. The Freetown court approved a motion Friday by prosecutors to add the new count to indictments against six defendants to be tried "in the near future," court spokesman Peter Andersen told the Associated Press.
South Africa
CAPE TOWN — Nelson Mandela, 87, looked frail and joked about being an old man, but the former president remained combative Monday, lashing out at the United States and Britain over Iraq in a speech billed as his swan song before Parliament.
CAPE TOWN — Ousted Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide has officially asked South Africa for asylum until his personal situation "normalizes," the Foreign Affairs Ministry said Monday. Aristide was ousted from power on Feb. 29 after a three-week armed revolt in the island nation.
Switzerland
WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve on Monday fined Switzerland's largest bank, UBS AG, $100 million for allegedly sending dollars to Cuba, Libya, Iran and Yugoslavia in violation of U.S. sanctions against those countries.