Italy
Berlusconi's wife asks for privacy in divorce
ROME — The estranged wife of Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi lashed out Saturday at what she called excessive attention and unwanted advice in the media following her decision to divorce the conservative leader.
In a letter published on the front page of Corriere della Sera, Italy's top daily, Veronica Lario asked that she and her children be left in peace.
Two months ago the former actress set off a political storm for Berlusconi when she announced her intention to divorce him, citing his selection of showgirls for European Parliament candidates and his attendance at the birthday party of an 18-year-old model in Naples.
guinea-bissau
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Gruesome backdrop for today's election
BISSAU — First the general was blown up. Then the president was shot dead; the former prime minister was arrested and tortured; a presidential candidate was killed in his villa; and the former defense minister was ambushed and shot on the bridge outside of town.
Despite those chilling messages — reportedly executed by men in military uniform — today's election to replace the assassinated president, Joao Bernardo Vieira, goes on.
Underneath, though, there is anxiety and doubt here in Guinea-Bissau, a former Portuguese colony that is pitch-black at night because of a lack of electricity.
Few here are betting that the election will check a military that never stood down after winning this West African country's liberation struggle nearly four decades ago.
lebanon
Son of slain leader is named new PM
Saad Hariri, the wealthy leader of an American-backed political coalition, was appointed prime minister of Lebanon on Saturday, an indication that the nation's sectarian political parties, at least for now, are cooperating on the contentious task of forming a unity government.
Hariri's ascent is the culmination of a political journey that accelerated after the 2005 assassination of his father, Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister and billionaire developer. Saad Hariri has the support of the U.S. and moderate voices in the Arab world, such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia, which have been agitated for years by the influence of Lebanon's militant Shiite Muslim group, Hezbollah.
Lebanese President Michel Suleiman asked Hariri, who had the support of 86 members of the 128-seat Parliament, to serve as prime minister and form a coalition Cabinet from the nation's various parties.
hungary
Leaders mark fall of the Iron Curtain
BUDAPEST — European leaders marked the 20th anniversary of the symbolic fall of the Iron Curtain, often described as the first crack in the Berlin Wall and one of the key episodes leading to the end of communism in Eastern Europe, in Budapest on Saturday.
The presidents of Germany, Austria, Finland, Slovenia and Switzerland, as well as high-ranking officials from Poland, Britain and more than 20 other countries participated in a commemorative session at the Hungarian parliament and a gala event at the Hungarian State Opera House.
On June 27, 1989, the then-foreign ministers of Hungary, Gyula Horn, and Austria, Alois Mock, cut through some barbed wire on the border between the two countries, putting a symbolic end to a physical and psychological boundary of which, by then, there was little left.
mexico
Officials: Drug suspect had list of bribed cops
MONTERREY — Mexican soldiers have captured a suspected drug cartel operator with a list of the names of local police officers who apparently received payoffs, the army said Saturday.
A statement said Omar Ibarra was caught Friday on a street in the northern city of Monterrey. It said he possessed the names of 33 policemen in the wealthy suburb of San Pedro Garza Garcia "who presumably received money from this individual."
San Pedro officials were not immediately available for comment.
Ibarra also had two hand grenades, two packages of marijuana and a 9-mm submachine gun with a silencer, the army said.
venezuela
Possible TV shutdown sparks dueling rallies
CARACAS — Thousands of Venezuelans held separate protests Saturday to support and condemn an opposition-aligned TV station that President Hugo Chavez's government has threatened to close.
Opposition protesters marched to Venezuela's journalists' association, chanting "Journalism is freedom!" Some waved Venezuelan flags, while others carried signs reading: "They won't shut us up."
In recent weeks, the government has stepped up its confrontation with Globovision — the only strongly anti-Chavez channel remaining on the open airwaves. Earlier this month, the president urged Globovision's executives to reflect on the station's tough criticism of his government or face shutdown.
argentina
President, spouse face tough political fight
BUENOS AIRES — Argentina's president and her predecessor husband are fighting for their political survival in congressional elections that have become a referendum on their populist economic policies and autocratic leadership style.
President Cristina Fernandez — who has nationalized pension funds and waged a four-month battle over taxes with the powerful farm sector in a bid to increase state control over the economy — has seen her approval ratings plummet to 29 percent this year.
Her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, is trying to give her a boost with his own campaign for Congress, a run he has used to remind voters of his success in bringing Argentina back from economic catastrophe during his 2003-2007 administration.
israel
Orthodox Jews, cops clash over parking lot
JERUSALEM — Police turned water cannons on a raucous demonstration by ultra-Orthodox Jews Saturday, the second consecutive day of protests over the opening of a city parking lot on the Jewish Sabbath when religious Jews are forbidden to drive.
Thousands of ultra-Orthodox protesters were on the streets throughout the city Saturday, Jerusalem Police spokesman Shmuel Ben-Ruby said.
Police said they made 24 arrests, and one 6-year-old boy was slightly hurt by a stone thrown by protesters. Four officers were lightly hurt as well.
In a major standoff near City Hall, several hundred Orthodox protesters in traditional black suits hurled rocks, garbage and glass bottles at police for several hours.
honduras
Referendum vote called power grab
TEGUCIGALPA — President Manuel Zelaya enlisted government employees and his supporters Saturday to set up polling stations for a rogue referendum that opponents depicted as a power grab by the leftist leader.
Zelaya cast himself as the survivor of an attempted right-wing coup and vowed to forge ahead in his quest to reform the constitution, which prevents him from being re-elected.
Opponents, including a Congress led by Zelaya's own party, the Supreme Court, the military and others, warned voters to stay away from today's vote, saying it would be neither fair nor safe.
