World datelines

Bolivia

LA PAZ — Opposition leaders led a work stoppage in four Bolivian state capitals Friday to protest President Evo Morales' control of an assembly called to rewrite Bolivia's constitution, a centerpiece of his populist revolution. The protests were centered in Santa Cruz, where residents of largely European descent fiercely oppose the reforms proposed by Morales, the country's first Indian president.

Britain

LONDON — The wife of an ex-KGB agent fatally poisoned in Britain and the Italian security expert he met the day he fell ill both showed traces of the same radioactive substance found in the dead man's body, friends and officials said Friday. The inquiry into the death of Alexander Litvinenko widened with the new positive test results, the evacuation of a hotel in southern England, and the sweep of an Irish hospital that treated a Russian opposition leader for what his aides described as poisoning.

Colombia

BOGOTA — Guerrillas attacked an army patrol in northeastern Colombia, killing 17 soldiers and injuring four, the army said Friday. In a separate incident, an air force training helicopter crashed Friday in central Colombia, killing all five aboard.

Cuba

HAVANA — Communist Cuba's military is rolling out its olive green Soviet-era hardware this weekend, summoning 300,000 troops and citizen soldiers for a show of strength in times made uncertain by Fidel Castro's illness. Anti-aircraft missiles, tanks and armored vehicles, MiG fighter jets and helicopter gunships have rehearsed in recent days for today's parade in Havana's Plaza of the Revolution.

Fiji

SUVA — Fiji's prime minister went into hiding Friday in anticipation of a coup, but a deadline set by the country's defiant military commander passed without the threatened ouster of the government. Prime Minister Laisenia Qarase said he understood the government had been given a reprieve until Monday to meet the military's demands.

Germany

BERLIN — Germany's national railway, Deutsche Bahn, said Friday it had reached an agreement with the Transport Ministry to open an exhibition documenting its predecessor's role in the Holocaust. The exhibition will be put on display in train stations and in the immediate vicinity starting Jan. 27, 2008, the day when Auschwitz was liberated in 1945.