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World briefs

A look at what's happening around the world.

By TIMES WIRES
Published November 29, 2006

PRESIDENT-ELECT GIVES POSTS TO FRIENDS

President-elect Felipe Calderon appointed close friends and party allies to key Cabinet positions Tuesday, in a sign that he is closing ranks in the face of street-level opposition to his narrowly won presidency.

The appointees reflect the conservative social and fiscal views of Calderon and his National Action Party, and contrast with his promises during his bitter campaign with leftist Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to appoint a multiparty Cabinet.

Lopez Obrador, who last week declared himself the country's "legitimate" president, has ordered his party's congressional bloc to keep Calderon from taking office on Friday.

CHINA

Ordination of bishop may turn off Vatican

China will ordain a new bishop in its state-sanctioned Roman Catholic church this week, a state church official said Tuesday, a move likely to set back efforts to forge better relations between Beijing and the Vatican.

Wang Renlei, vicar-general of the Xuzhou diocese, has been appointed as a bishop in Xuzhou in Jiangsu province, in eastern China, Liu Bainian, deputy chairman of the government-backed Chinese Patriotic Catholic Association, said.

Chinese ties with the Vatican were broken in 1951 after the Communists took power. Worship is allowed only in China's government-controlled churches, but millions belong to unofficial congregations loyal to Rome.

China and the Vatican do not have diplomatic relations, and a major stumbling block to better ties has been a dispute over who has the power to appoint bishops.

NIGERIA

Abuse by soldiers, police is alleged

Nigerian police and soldiers are using rape to intimidate restive communities and "as means of torture to extract confessions from suspects in custody," Amnesty International said Tuesday.

Amnesty, based in London, accused the government of failing to prosecute those who carry out the sexual assaults and said most victims are afraid to report the crimes.

Elsewhere

THAILAND: The military-installed government agreed Tuesday to lift martial law in Bangkok and in more than half of the provinces, the defense minister said. Martial law was imposed after Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was overthrown Sept. 19 in a bloodless coup.

CONGO: Mount Nyamulagira erupted near the city of Goma, threatening to shower ash on a park that is home to some rare animals, officials said Tuesday.

Times wires

[Last modified November 29, 2006, 06:02:11]