Around the world

Berlusconi faces parliament showdown

ROME - Premier Silvio Berlusconi battled for political survival Monday, warning lawmakers they risked plunging the country into financial instability unless they support his government in a pair of confidence votes.

The showdown in parliament today is a do-or-die test for Berlusconi midway through his five-year term. The Italian leader has insisted he will survive and he appeared confident Monday, but the outcome is unpredictable and will likely be determined by a handful of swing lawmakers.

The premier has been hurt by prostitution scandals and revelations that a U.S. diplomat described him as a "feckless" leader, according to a secret U.S. Embassy cable released by the WikiLeaks website. A fallout with his one-time closest ally, Gianfranco Fini, weakened his coalition this summer, potentially depriving him of a parliamentary majority.

Ivory Coast

UN-recognized leader to march for control

ABIDJAN - The internationally recognized winner of Ivory Coast's presidential poll said Monday he and his supporters will march on state institutions in a bid to take control, and the European Union agreed on sanctions against the incumbent.

Incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo claimed victory in November's vote and has rebuffed calls from the U.S., the EU, former colonial ruler France and the African Union to step down. The United Nations recognized opposition leader Alassane Ouattara as the winner. Both took oaths of office and set up governments last week in the vote's chaotic aftermath.

After setting up his administration in an Abidjan hotel, Ouattara on Monday raised the stakes by saying he and his supporters will march on government buildings and state television on Thursday in a high-risk bid to deprive Gbagbo of the trappings of his presidency.

Ukraine

Officials plan to open Chernobyl for tours

KIEV - Want a better understanding of the world's worst nuclear disaster? Come tour the Chernobyl nuclear power plant.

Beginning next year, Ukraine plans to open the sealed zone around the Chernobyl reactor to visitors who wish to learn more about the tragedy that occurred nearly a quarter of a century ago, the Emergency Situations Ministry said Monday.

Chernobyl's reactor No. 4 exploded on April 26, 1986, spewing radiation over a large swath of northern Europe. Hundreds of thousands of people were resettled from areas contaminated with radiation fallout in Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Related health problems persist.

The so-called exclusion zone, a highly contaminated area within a 30-mile radius of the exploded reactor, was evacuated and sealed off in the aftermath of the explosion. All visits were prohibited.

Today, about 2,500 employees maintain the remains of the now-closed nuclear plant, working in shifts to minimize their exposure to radiation.

Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Yulia Yershova said experts are developing travel routes that will be medically safe. She did not give an exact date when the tours were expected to begin.

Egypt

Collapsed factory yields 13 bodies so far

CAIRO - Egyptian authorities say rescue workers pulled 13 bodies from under a factory that collapsed in the port city of Alexandria during severe rainstorms that battered the Middle East.

A security official said Monday rescue teams continued their search for at least 15 more workers believed to be trapped in the rubble of the factory that collapsed a day earlier.

Nine people were rescued alive.

A committee is investigating whether the rainstorm weakened the factory's foundations.

Peru

General denies any ties to drug sellers

LIMA - A leaked U.S. diplomatic message reporting speculation that the new head of Peru's military was involved in drug corruption has shaken the nation's armed forces. The general has angrily denied any drug ties and said he may take legal action against the former U.S. ambassador.

The March 2009 document from then-Ambassador Michael McKinley noted that a source - whose name was omitted in the released document - "saw signs that officers may have continued to cooperate with drug traffickers." It was released Sunday by WikiLeaks.

The document cited a 2007 meeting between Gen. Paul da Silva and a regional fishing-industry leader, Rolando Eugenio Velasco Heysen, and said the source suggested they were coordinating drug shipments. Velasco was arrested in October 2007 on charges of trying to export around 1,800 pounds of cocaine hidden in frozen fish and remains imprisoned facing trial.

Da Silva, then chief of the Piura military region, was named head of Peru's army this month. He held a news conference at army headquarters Monday to deny the suggestion, saying that while he did meet with Velasco, they talked about the fishing-industry executive's offer to supply the military with seafood.

The Associated Press