World datelines

Afghanistan: Police tortured

KANDAHAR — Taliban militants tortured five abducted policemen in southern Afghanistan and then hung their mutilated bodies from trees in a warning to villagers against working with the government, officials said Sunday.

The discovery of the bodies came as officials said that recent violence and clashes had left at least 63 other people dead across Afghanistan.

Brazil: 5 die in prison riot

SAO PAULO — A botched prison escape led to a riot and a shootout with police that left five inmates dead and 70 injured in northeastern Brazil, authorities said Sunday.

The prisoners tried to break free from the overcrowded Maceio Detention Center in the northeastern state of Alagoas on Saturday, police Lt. Daniele Assuncao said by telephone.

A shootout with police followed and inmates burned mattresses and damaged objects inside their cells. Authorities negotiated an end to the riot after about five hours.

Brazil: Whale stuck again

SAO PAULO — An 18-foot whale that entered the Amazon River and swam about 1,000 miles upstream has been trapped for a second time on a sandbar, Brazilian news media reported Sunday.

Local residents spotted the minke whale just a few miles from where it was freed on Friday near Santarem, a city in the Amazon rain forest, the Jornal do Brasil reported.

France: Strikes protested

PARIS — Thousands of people demonstrated Sunday against transport strikes that unions said would continue for a sixth day despite signs the movement was losing steam and heading toward negotiations.

The strike over President Nicolas Sarkozy's proposal to scrap early retirement benefits has shuttered subway stations and tangled the nationwide train network since Tuesday night. Unions planned to keep up the walkout Monday.

Greece: Pipeline is opened

ATHENS — Greece and Turkey opened a $300 million pipeline on Sunday, creating an energy corridor that connects the rich natural gas fields in the Caspian Sea region to Europe, bypassing Russia and the volatile Middle East.