Bolivia
LA PAZ — Bolivia's caretaker president met Sunday with activists in the opposition stronghold of El Alto, and appealed for calm as labor leaders promised more crippling protests if he does not meet their demands. Interim President Eduardo Rodriguez spent nearly two hours with the coalition of Indian and labor activists whose nearly monthlong blockade cut off the main food and gasoline supply route from the slum city of El Alto to the capital, La Paz. They demanded he nationalize the country's oil and gas industries.
China
BEIJING — Forklifts cleaned up mud and silt as rescuers searched through ruins Sunday for 17 students missing after a flash flood swamped a school in northeast China and swept 92 people to their deaths. The flood hit the same day a fire raced through the top floors of a southern hotel and killed 31. Authorities in Beijing were struggling to handle the twin tragedies thousands of miles apart, trying to overcome faulty communications in the flood zone and vowing to dispatch an emergency team of investigators to the hotel fire.
Gaza Strip
GAZA CITY — Palestinian authorities carried out their first executions since 2002 on Sunday, killing four convicted murderers in a campaign meant to halt a growing wave of lawlessness but which drew swift condemnation from human rights groups. The executions reflected the tough challenge that Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas faces as he tries to impose law and order in the Palestinian areas.
Iran
TEHRAN— Hundreds of women staged an unauthorized demonstration in Tehran on Sunday, protesting sex discrimination under Iran's Islamic leadership just days before the June 17 presidential elections. The protest was the first public display of dissent by women since the 1979 revolution, when the new regime enforced obligatory veiling. "We are women, we are the children of this land, but we have no rights," they chanted.
Japan
TOKYO — Charles Jenkins, a U.S. soldier who deserted his Army unit 40 years ago and fled to North Korea, and his Japanese wife left their home in Japan today for his first visit to the United States since he turned himself in late last year.
Lebanon
SOUK EL-GHARB — Anti-Syrian candidates apparently suffered major losses in a third round of elections Sunday to fill nearly half the seats in parliament, a senior opposition leader conceded after a campaign that led to some surprising alliances. Walid Jumblatt said former army commander Michel Aoun, who broke opposition ranks and joined pro-Syrian groups on an anti-corruption slate, was winning in contested constituencies.
Nigeria
ABUJA — New World Bank chief Paul Wolfowitz on Sunday praised a historic deal to cancel the foreign debt of some of the world's poorest nations and said he was hopeful debt relief was also on the way for Africa's biggest debtor, Nigeria. Wolfowitz spoke to reporters soon after arriving in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, on the first leg of a four-nation Africa tour — his first since taking over as head of the 184-nation development bank last week.
South Korea
SEOUL — South Korea's president said today he was certain international nuclear talks with North Korea would resume and called for more flexibility in offering incentives to convince Pyongyang to disarm. President Roh Moo-hyun expressed his confidence at a news conference marking the fifth anniversary of the historic 2000 summit in Pyongyang between leaders of the two Koreas.
Syria
DAMASCUS — President Bashar Assad met with a top U.N. envoy Sunday amid accusations that Syria has not fully withdrawn its intelligence operatives from Lebanon and was perhaps even organizing political assassinations. U.N. envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, who met with Assad for two hours, left the country without commenting on the outcome of the talks. The government also had no comment.
Vatican City
Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday he will lead a special gathering with children at the Vatican in October. The pope said he plans to hold "a special catechism" Oct. 15 for children, particularly from Rome and the surrounding region, who received the sacrament of Holy Communion this year.