Exiled Honduran president vows return
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras — Ousted President Manuel Zelaya said Saturday that he would return to Honduras to try to retake office following last week's military-backed coup, despite warnings of a potentially bloody confrontation and the interim government's vow to arrest him and put him trial.
Honduras rebuffed demands by the international community to reinstate Zelaya in the name of constitutional order, thrusting the poor Central American nation deeper into political crisis and isolation.
The Organization of American States met in Washington to consider suspending Honduras' membership because of the coup — though even before the emergency session, the interim government decided to pull out of the OAS rather than meet its demand to restore Zelaya.
Zelaya called on supporters to prepare to greet him at the airport on Sunday, and on Saturday more than 10,000 of them gathered near the heavily guarded presidential palace and pledged they would be ready if he returns.
Iran hangs 20 people convicted of drug trafficking
TEHRAN, Iran — Iran's official news agency reports that 20 people have been hanged in Iran on charges of drug trafficking.
IRNA said Saturday that all of the 20 had been convicted of buying, selling and possessing various kinds of narcotics.
The sentences were carried out at a prison in Karaj, 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of the capital Tehran.
The convicts ranged in age from 35 to 48 years old.
Two days earlier, Iran hanged another six people convicted of drug trafficking.
Murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping and drug trafficking are all punishable by death under Iran's Islamic penal law. Iran has executed more than 120 people this year according to media reports.
The country does not publish official statistics on executions.
Moderate quake rattles Panama
PANAMA CITY — A moderately strong earthquake rattled Panama early Saturday, sending residents rushing into the streets.
The country's National Civil Defense System said the temblor caused cracks in two luxury high-rise apartment buildings in Panama City.
Civil defense Director Arturo Alvarado said there were no reports of any injuries.
But Eddie Arauz, who lives on the 23rd floor of a Panama City apartment building said that "it felt very strong, and I got out of the building quickly."
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.0 and was centered in an area about 60 miles (95 kilometers) northeast of Panama City.
Brazil identifies 8 bodies from Air France jet
SAO PAULO — Officials say medical examiners have identified another eight of the 51 bodies recovered from the Air France flight that plunged into the Atlantic five weeks ago.
A statement released Saturday by the Public Safety Department of the northeastern state of Pernambuco says that so far a total of 43 bodies have been identified.
Nine bodies have been identified as Brazilian men, eight as Brazilian women, nine as foreign men and 17 as foreign women.
The statement that does not reveal the names of the victims but says relatives of the Brazilians and the relevant foreign embassies have been notified.
Last week, Brazil ended its search for bodies and debris from the plane that disappeared with 228 people on board on June 1.
French police arrest suspected Basque militants
PARIS — Police say three suspected members of the Basque separatist organization ETA have been arrested in southwest France.
The French national police headquarters says the three were arrested Saturday in the Pau suburb of Idron.
The Spanish newspaper El Mundo's Web site says one of the three is suspected in the wounding of a French police officer, another is believed linked to former ETA military chief Mikel de Garkoitz Aspiazu — now jailed — and the third suspected of involvement in the March 2008 killing of a former Spanish city councilor.
French authorities did not immediately provide the suspected militants' identities.
Spain's ETA has been fighting since 1968 for an independent Basque homeland. Its attacks have killed more than 800 people.
Macedonia reports its first swine flu cases
SKOPJE, Macedonia — Macedonia has reported its first two confirmed swine flu cases.
Health Minister Bujar Osmani said Saturday the two patients had been hospitalized, but are now fully recovered.
Osmani declined to identify the victims or say how they had come in contact with the virus.
— Associated Press
