Britain

LONDON — Britain confirmed its first case of the deadly H5N1 strain of bird flu in a wild swan on Thursday, setting the stage for concerns the disease could spread across the Atlantic. The swan was found in the Scottish town of Cellardyke, more than 450 miles north of London.

Cuba

HAVANA — The Cuban coast guard shot at three suspected migrant smugglers from the United States who refused orders to halt their boat as it neared the island, killing one, official media reported Thursday.

Djibouti

A boat ferrying passengers to a traditional festival overturned off the coast of Djibouti Thursday, killing at least 69 people, an official said. He said more than 200 people may have been on board the vessel.

France

PARIS — Some 2,000 angry students massed on railroad tracks in Paris Thursday, halting international train traffic in a fresh push to force a new youth labor law off the books. Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin refused to say whether the measure would be repealed.

Guatemala

GUATEMALA CITY — Mario Pivaral, an opposition congressman, was shot to death as he stepped out of his party's headquarters on Thursday, the second lawmaker assassinated in the past two years in this violence-plagued Central American nation.

Kenya

NAIROBI — Kenyan officials told journalists Thursday that a passenger plane had crashed near a Nairobi airport with 80 people on board — but when reporters arrived, they found it had only been a drill.

Mexico

LA GARRAPATA — Hundreds of machete-wielding farmers opposed to a hydroelectric dam project briefly seized a pumping plant, cutting off much of the water supply to Acapulco just days before tourists flock to the Pacific resort for their Easter vacations.

Nepal

KATMANDU — Police arrested 300 protesters in Nepal's capital Thursday, chasing them down narrow lanes and beating them with batons on the first day of a general strike to demand the king restore democracy in the Himalayan nation.

Nicaragua

MANAGUA — Rescue crews have found the body of an Arkansas dentist who disappeared after a small boat sank in Lake Nicaragua, police said Thursday.

Northern Ireland

ARMAGH — The British and Irish prime ministers, Tony Blair and Bertie Ahern, issued an ultimatum Thursday to Northern Ireland's divided politicians: Elect a power-sharing administration by November — or your legislature will be disbanded. Their declaration followed 3 1/2 years of diplomacy that has failed to revive a Catholic-Protestant administration, the intended centerpiece of the Good Friday peace accord that both prime ministers oversaw eight years ago.

Pakistan

KARACHI — A prominent Pakistani Shiite Muslim leader narrowly escaped injury Thursday when a roadside bomb exploded near his car in a southern city, wounding his two guards and a passer-by, police said.

South Korea

SEOUL — South Korea and North Korea have agreed to restart their suspended high-level talks this month in Pyongyang, the Unification Ministry said today.

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Turkey

DIYARBAKIR — Turkey's leaders promised a tough fight against Kurdish militants but said Thursday that would not mean backtracking on reforms critical to their bid to join the European Union. Hours later the European Commission demanded an investigation into ongoing violence that has left 16 dead after a week of the worst street clashes in decades.

Venezuela

CARACAS — Protesters enraged by the killings of three boys in a ransom kidnapping took to the streets Thursday accusing President Hugo Chavez of inaction against rampant crime, saying he has divided Venezuelans with his frequent tirades.

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