World datelines

Ecuador

QUITO — Bolstered by support from the poor, Ecuador's leftist president appears poised for victory today in an ambitious attempt to reshape the country's political system.

Egypt

CAIRO — Two French aid workers and three Afghans kidnapped by Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan appeared in a video broadcast Saturday by the pan-Arab satellite channel Al-Arabiya.

Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR — A Malaysian state has closed down a museum exhibition on ghosts, ghouls and supernatural beings after Islamic clerics claimed it was detrimental to Muslims' faith, newspapers reported Saturday.

Nigeria

PORT HARCOURT — Nigerians chose state leaders Saturday in elections meant to help ensure democratic rule, but ballot-stuffing and other irregularities were on open display in the oil-producing south, where violence left more than a dozen people dead.

Saudi Arabia

RIYADH — Saudi Arabia wants to increase its oil production so it can meet domestic and international demand while ensuring "fair" world prices, King Abdullah said Saturday.

South Korea

SEOUL — The latest missed deadline in the tortuous years of negotiations aimed at getting North Korea to stop making nuclear weapons is not expected to derail the process, but it is a sign of the lingering mistrust between Washington and the communist nation.

Thailand

BANGKOK — Flash floods swept over two waterfalls Saturday on a southern Thai mountain popular with picknickers and swimmers, killing at least 21 people as the country celebrated its traditional New Year, officials said.

Turkey

ANKARA — A sea of flag-waving demonstrators poured into the streets of the capital Saturday to protest a possible presidential run by the pro-Islamic prime minister, whose party has been eroding secular Turks' longtime grip on power.

ISTANBUL — A bus full of second-graders crashed into a truck in central Turkey on Saturday, killing at least 32 people, most of them children, the government-owned Anatolia news agency said.

West Bank

RAMALLAH — The Palestinian Cabinet approved a new security plan Saturday that calls for a joint operations room overseeing rival security forces and appeals to gunmen not to flaunt their weapons, officials said.

Yemen

SAN'A — A smugglers' boat carrying Somali migrants capsized off Yemen's coast and at least 62 were feared dead, officials and local media said Saturday.

Zimbabwe

HARARE — Opposition speakers withdrew under police orders Saturday from a pro-democracy prayer meeting, which ended without the violence that halted a previous gathering, organizers said.