World datelines

China: Rio Tinto

BEIJING — The detention of a Rio Tinto Ltd. employee on spying charges could damage the business environment for foreign companies wanting to work in China, an Australian cabinet minister said today.

The comments from Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen came as Rio Tinto employee Stern Hu began a second week in detention in Shanghai on charges of stealing state secrets.

"The Chinese government will be very aware that it is not good for business certainty if there's a regular pattern of foreign businesspeople being incarcerated," Bowen said.

Honduras: Talks

TEGUCIGALPA — Supporters of ousted President Manuel Zelaya paid tribute Saturday to a teenager killed during protests and expressed fear the interim government will drag out negotiations to resolve the crisis so it can remain in power through November elections.

But a delegate of de facto President Roberto Micheletti who participated in the talks in Costa Rica on Friday, said his side has not ruled out the possibility of early elections as a way out of the conflict. Former Honduran Foreign Minister Carlos Lopez, of the Micheletti delegation, said Friday's talks were a way for the two sides to approach each other and now "we have the opportunity to reflect."

Japan: Election today

TOKYO — Japan's embattled Prime Minister Taro Aso faces a crucial test in a Tokyo municipal election today, seen as a bellwether for a coming national vote in which the ruling party risks losing power after governing for virtually all the past 50 years.

Aso's Liberal Democratic Party has lost four straight regional elections since April to the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan. The 68-year-old prime minister has become so unpopular that some lawmakers within his own party are now calling for his removal before a general election, which must take place by October at the latest.

Pakistan: Trial to start

ISLAMABAD — The trial of five men accused in the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people is likely to start this week, Pakistan's interior minister says, calling it proof of Islamabad's commitment to punishing those responsible for the assault.

Rehman Malik said Saturday the investigation into the role that the five played in the three-day siege of the Indian city of Mumbai last November is "almost complete." He said "their trial is going to commence probably next week."