Taiwan leader says island is separate country

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Taiwan's president said Saturday that the island "is not someone else's province" but rather an independent country separate from China -- bold comments that risk enraging Taiwan's communist rival.

President Chen Shui-bian also repeated his support for a vote on whether Taiwan should seek a permanent split with China, suggesting the island amend its laws to allow such a referendum. He said holding such a vote "is a basic human right" of the Taiwanese.

"Simply put, with Taiwan and China on each side of the (Taiwan) Strait, each side is a country. This needs to be clear," he said from his office during a video telecast to Taiwanese living in Japan.

Chinese leaders regard the island as an inseparable part of China. China did not immediately provide an official reaction. But Li Weiyi, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office, told Taiwan's TVBS cable news, "The only future for Taiwan is unification."

Asian floods, earthquakes

FLOOD TOLL RISES: Another 10 people drowned in Bangladesh raising the death toll from South Asian monsoon rains to 560, relief officials said Saturday. The floods have destroyed crops and killed hundreds throughout India, Nepal and Bangladesh.

TOKYO RATTLED: A moderate earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.4 shook Tokyo and nearby cities Saturday, but there were no reports of damage or injuries. The 8:24 a.m. quake was centered about 280 miles below the seabed in the Pacific Ocean about 430 miles south of Tokyo, the Meteorological Agency said.

Turkey's parliament abolishes death penalty

ANKARA, Turkey -- Turkey's parliament abolished the death penalty and granted more rights to minority Kurds Saturday, taking a major step forward in its bid to join the European Union.

In a rowdy, all-night session, pro-EU legislators pushed through the legislation despite fierce opposition by nationalists. The legislation still needs to be approved by the president and published in the official gazette -- both of which are expected.

In Brussels, an EU statement welcomed the moves as "significant steps toward better protection of human rights and the rights of minorities in Turkey," but said it would carefully monitor their implementation.

Haitian police search for rampaging prisoners

GONAIVES, Haiti -- Police searched cars and buses leaving this city in northwestern Haiti Saturday for 159 prisoners who escaped after gunmen drove a tractor through the wall of a prison to free a jailed political activist.

Police fled Gonaives after the jailbreak Friday, and residents locked themselves in their homes. People burned down city hall and the courthouse, and authorities acknowledged they had lost control.

On Saturday, police returned with reinforcements and restored calm. Officers were patrolling the streets and searching vehicles for escaped prisoners on the southbound highway from Gonaives to Port-au-Prince, about 60 miles away. Government officials said the purpose of the prison assault was to free Amiot Metayer, a former ally of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide who turned against the president after he was jailed July 2 on charges of burning down houses of a rival gang. Metayer was seen Friday parading through Gonaives with his supporters, an armed group calling themselves the Cannibal Army.

Bolivian congress meets to elect president

LA PAZ, Bolivia -- Bolivian lawmakers met Saturday to begin choosing a new president. A wealthy businessman who grew up in the United States was virtually assured of beating an Indian coca grower.

The session of congress was expected to last through the night with the final vote this morning. All 157 lawmakers were to make speeches.

The legislative vote pits centrist millionaire and former president Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada against Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian and leader of the nation's coca growers. The two men were the top vote-getters in Bolivia's June presidential election, and the runoff was called because neither won with an outright majority.

The outcome appeared so certain that Sanchez de Lozada spent Saturday working on the makeup of his cabinet, while Morales negotiated the selection of members of his Movement to Socialism party to key legislative posts.

Sanchez de Lozada, who governed Bolivia from 1993 to 1997, virtually assured his re-election last week when he struck a deal with his rival and former president Jaime Paz Zamora. Zamora's support gave him more than the 79 votes he needs to win.

Brazilian candidate hurt when stage collapses

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil -- Presidential candidate Anthony Garotinho was hospitalized and 17 other people were injured when a stage collapsed during a campaign speech, an aide said Saturday.

Garotinho was speaking to a crowd of about 10,000 people in Cinelandia Square in downtown Rio on Friday night when the wooden platform gave way and he fell 6 feet. About 150 people were on the stage.

The injuries apparently were not serious, but the candidate and his wife, Rosangela Matheus, who is running for governor of Rio de Janeiro state, were taken to the Copa d'Or hospital.

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