National Palace

On a cold rainy day in early 1949, as Communist troops advanced from the north, panic-stricken families of Nationalist Chinese navy men rushed a Taiwan-bound ship in the Yangtze River port at Nanjing. The uncontrollable crowd swarmed into space intended for nearly 2,000 crates of art from China's dynastic collections--art that had survived 16 years of shipment back and forth across the war and revolution-torn nation and that was now to be sent to Taiwan.

Stepping down as Haiti's "president for life," Jean-Claude Duvalier handed power to a military-led government council Friday and fled to France, setting off scenes of rejoicing and later of looting in the capital of Port-au-Prince. Duvalier, 34, said he quit after nearly 15 years to end "a nightmare of blood" brought on by a wave of mass protests against his authoritarian rule.

Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad formally handed power to his anointed successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, a mild-mannered career politician who had been his deputy for the past five years. Mahathir's rule officially ended when Abdullah took the oath of office in front of the king in a ceremony at the National Palace in Kuala Lumpur.

About 2,500 street children marched through downtown Guatemala City on Thursday to demand respect for children's rights. The youngsters walked 14 blocks from the National Palace to City Hall, where they called on Mayor Alvaro Arzu to declare Feb. 23 "Day of the Street Child."

U.S. Ambassador Charles J. Pilliod will present his credentials to President Miguel de la Madrid in a formal ceremony at the National Palace on Monday. Pilliod, a former Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. executive, replaces John Gavin, who resigned in May.

MEXICO CITY - Against the backdrop of a deadly drug war and shifting security cooperation, President Obama joined his Mexican counterpart, Enrique Peña Nieto, here Thursday to promote economic integration, trade and jobs. The two leaders sought to emphasize a U.S.-Mexican partnership committed to growth, education exchange and a strengthened border, minimizing the dominant position that fighting drug cartels has occupied in recent years. Yet the topic was unavoidable. Obama acknowledged that the Mexican government was "organizing a vision" on how to reduce violence, a strategy that is expected to limit the U.S. participation in Mexican security affairs that had flourished under the government of former President Felipe Calderon.

Commandos seized Haiti's National Palace in a coup attempt Monday, killing four people before police retook the building. Three other people, including one of the attackers, died as the violence spread. Government supporters armed with machetes and sticks struck back by burning the homes and offices of opposition leaders. President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his wife were unharmed in their home about three miles from the palace, National Palace spokesman Jacques Maurice said.

Interim President Joseph Nerette rejected a plan mediated by the Organization of American States to reinstate ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. In a radio broadcast from the National Palace, Nerette accused Aristide of constitutional violations that prompted the "unfortunate" coup on Sept. 30. Only a solution developed by Haitians themselves "will have a chance of keeping the peace in Haiti," Nerette said.

Guatemala apologized to U.S. lawyer Jennifer Harbury for the torture and slaying of her guerrilla husband by state security forces in the 1990s. The government took responsibility for the disappearance of Maya rebel leader Efrain Bamaca at an official event at the National Palace, where in 1994 Harbury went on a 32-day hunger strike to push for information about her husband's death.