World datelines

Brazil: Rice takes rare break

SALVADOR — Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice stopped her typically fast-moving motorcade on Friday to stroll the streets of Salvador, a Brazilian town known historically for its slave trade.

It was a rare move for Rice, who is busy trying to reignite Middle East peace talks and disarm the North Koreans. On Sunday, one day after she was to return from Latin America, Rice planned to travel to Moscow to persuade the Russians to back U.S. missile radars in Europe.

Colombia: U.N. seeks probe

BOGOTA— The U.N. on Friday called for an investigation into the deaths of six organizers of a march protesting the Colombian government and paramilitary death squads.

The victims included union workers and human rights activists. They were killed around the time of the March 6 protest that drew tens of thousands of people.

Guatemala: 4 hostages taken

GUATEMALA CITY — Farmers fighting for the release of their imprisoned leader took four Belgians, their Guatemalan guide and a boat operator hostage Friday, Guatemala's national tourist agency said.

The Belgians — two women and two men — were taken captive in Rio Dulce, a tourist area 155 miles northeast of Guatemala City, said Jose Roberto Goubaud, spokesman for the tourism institute. The kidnappers belong to the same group that took 29 policemen hostage last month in the Caribbean coastal town of Livingston, Goubaud said.

Israel: Bush envoy seeks peace

JERUSALEM — The Bush administration's Mideast envoy pushed Israel and the Palestinians to speed up peace negotiations Friday at the first meeting the U.S. has attended since talks resumed nearly four months ago.

Lt. Gen. William Fraser III took a hands-off approach during his first few months on the job, preferring to let moderate Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert negotiate on their own. But the talks stalled after an upsurge in violence between the sides last month, and Fraser came from Washington to oversee the meeting at Jerusalem's King David Hotel between Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Amos Gilad, a lower-level Israeli Defense Ministry official.

Mexico: Laura Bush visits

MEXICO CITY — First lady Laura Bush joined her Mexican counterpart on Friday to inaugurate a two-country alliance to promote breast cancer awareness and research.