Myanmar Junta announces plan for 2010 voting
YANGON, Myanmar — Myanmar’s military government, a target of sharp international criticism for failing to hand over power to a democratically elected government, announced Saturday that it will hold elections in 2010.
The junta also said a national referendum to approve a new constitution will be held in May.
“The time has now come to change from military rule to democratic civilian rule,” said an official announcement on state radio and television.
The country’s last election was in 1990.
Chavez takes “first steps” for release of ill hostages
BARINAS, Venezuela — President Hugo Chavez said Saturday that he has taken “the first steps” toward the release of three ailing hostages held by Colombian rebels for more than six years.
“We have already made contact” with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, Chavez told reporters in the southeastern city of Barinas. “The first steps on this path have been taken.”
Chavez urged “calm and patience,” saying “there’s no time limit” for the release of Gloria Polanco, Luis Eladio Perez and Orlando Beltran, who were kidnapped in 2001.
Moderate quake shakes Baja California
MEXICO CITY — A moderate earthquake rocked Baja California, shutting down factories near the U.S. border and leaving 400,000 people without power into early Saturday.
However, no major damage or injuries were reported.
The quake that struck shortly after 11 p.m. Friday had a magnitude of 5.1, according to the U.S. Geological Survey in Golden. The quake was centered 16 miles southeast of the border city of Mexicali.
Palestinian numbers grew 30% in 10 years in Israel
JERUSALEM — The Palestinian population in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and east Jerusalem has grown about 30 percent in the past decade to 3.76 million, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported.
The numbers could have some ramifications for peace talks because higher population figures potentially bolster Palestinian territorial demands. The census results found an unexpectedly low number of Palestinians — 208,000 — in disputed east Jerusalem, whose fate is a key stumbling block in the conflict.
Fire in Camden market damages Hawley Arms pub
LONDON — A major fire tore through London’s famous Camden market late Saturday, ripping through market stalls and partially consuming an iconic pub, Hawley Arms, fire officials and witnesses said.
There were no immediate reports of any casualties, a fire department spokesman said.
