Revolts

Shining Path rebels shot down an air force helicopter in Peru's coca-growing highlands, killing three troops and wounding five, Peru's joint command said Thursday. Peru's fight against the insurgency has flared up in the last week, with guerrillas ambushing army patrols and attacking an army base. Five military personnel have been killed and 10 wounded. The military says three rebels have been arrested and four killed, though the deaths are unconfirmed. The rebels shot down the helicopter with machine-gun fire late Wednesday in Sinaycocha, a mountain village along a drug-smuggling corridor in Junin province.

Reporting from Mexico City and Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- For a few hours Wednesday, Honduras' political drama gave way to more important matters -- like buying groceries and filling gas tanks. Streets in the capital, Tegucigalpa, were clogged with frantic shoppers after the country's interim rulers briefly lifted a nationwide curfew to let residents restock shelves. Meanwhile, the deposed president, Manuel Zelaya, remained hunkered in a foreign embassy. It was the first chance for residents to get out since Monday, when Zelaya sneaked back into Honduras and the de facto government abruptly imposed the shutdown.

The de facto government of Honduras suspended constitutional guarantees indefinitely late Sunday, outlawing public gatherings and making it easier for the army to make arrests. The measure, announced on a nationwide simultaneous television and radio broadcast, came on the eve of a potentially enormous march by ousted President Manuel Zelaya's supporters. From his refuge at the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capital, Zelaya called on people to take to the streets today to mark the three-month anniversary of his ouster.

Reporting from Mexico City and Tegucigalpa, Honduras -- The meeting, by all accounts, was tense and difficult. Whether it erupted in shouted insults remains a matter of dispute. On one issue, everyone agreed: Something must be done to ease the political crisis engulfing Honduras. U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens and the diplomat representing the Organization of American States, John Biehl, got an earful from Honduran business leaders and senior politicians. And they gave back some of what they got, according to several participants.

Backers of the coup against Manuel Zelaya made progress Wednesday in negotiations with representatives of the ousted Honduran president, but the key point, Zelaya's reinstatement, remained unresolved. Victor Meza, negotiating on Zelaya's behalf, said delegations representing the two factions had agreed on wording regarding that sticking point. But later, the de facto government of Roberto Micheletti, who replaced Zelaya, said no agreement had been reached. "The dialogue on this point has been cordial and both sides have made important advances," said a statement from the delegation representing Micheletti, according to news reports.

Leaders of a bloc of leftist Latin American and Caribbean governments urged the international community Saturday to reject the presidential election planned by Honduras' interim government next month. The leaders of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas group also denounced Colombia's plan to give the U.S. military expanded use of bases in that South American nation, calling it a threat to the region's security. In a joint statement issued at the end of the two-day ALBA meeting, the leaders criticized the coup-installed government in Honduras and urged the world's nations to continue pressing for the reinstatement of ousted President Manuel Zelaya.

The Mahsud tribesmen of South Waziristan don't hate the Taliban. But they hate what having Taliban fighters living among them has done to life in their mud-hut hamlets. The Taliban presence has made their villages frequent targets for U.S. missile strikes. It has prevented schools and hospitals from opening and roads from being built. Many villages still do not have electricity or phone lines. As people stream out of South Waziristan to escape the all-out blitz against the Taliban, they say they back the offensive, if only because it represents their best -- and only -- hope for a clean break from the misery of isolation.

Nigeria's main militant group warned of a "sweeping assault" on the country's oil and gas industry, saying it was calling off a cease-fire after a military strike on one of its camps. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta said the army had carried out an unprovoked attack on the camp of militant leader Ateke Tom and that it would end a four-month cease-fire. The joint military task force in the delta confirmed there had been clashes, but said its troops had been fired on first.

Bangladeshi border guards began surrendering today after a 20-hour mutiny that saw some of them turn weapons on senior officers over demands for better pay. Officials feared that as many as 50 people could be dead. Home Minister Sahara Khatun received about a dozen automatic rifles from surrendering mutineers at the Dhaka headquarters of Bangladesh Rifles, the official name of the paramilitary border guards. But as the violence subsided in Dhaka, there were reports of gunfire at several other border posts in the country.

Libya staged a lavish spectacle Tuesday, parading white-robed horsemen and gold-turbaned dancers as jets streaked overhead to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Moammar Kadafi to power in the oil-rich nation. The four-day festivities that got underway were designed to highlight the volatile leader's acceptance on the world stage, but were overshadowed by new controversy about the return of the only man convicted of the 1988 Pan Am airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.