BEIJING -- China's unmanned spacecraft has circled the earth 60 times during four days of smooth flying, the official Xinhua News Agency said Saturday in the first progress report since the vessel's launch.

Experts at the Beijing Aerospace Directing and Controlling Center have monitored the craft since its Wednesday launch, commanding the vessel to perform "hundreds of sophisticated maneuvers," Xinhua said.

The flight was the second test of the Shenzhou capsule in 14 months and brought China a step closer to becoming the third nation, after the United States and Russia, to achieve manned space travel.

American activists challenge Iraq embargo

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- More than 70 American activists arrived on two separate flights Saturday to deliver medicine, books and school supplies as part of the growing international challenge to the 10-year-old international embargo against the Arab nation.

The Americans, mostly members of religious and humanitarian organizations, make up one of the largest U.S. contingents to visit Iraq since the 1991 Gulf War. A pair of Royal Jordanian flights ferried them from Amman, capital of neighboring Jordan, adding to the dozens of planes that have touched down at Saddam International Airport after a decade of U.N. sanctions that had effectively banned air travel.

Albright gives Bush advice

PARIS -- Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said in an interview published Saturday that President-elect Bush should reassure allies that the United States will remain engaged in European security.

In the International Herald Tribune, she urged Bush to follow up on the Clinton administration's efforts to defuse the nuclear missile threat in North Korea. She also warned that plans to build a U.S. national missile defense system would be like an "elephant in the room" when Washington is dealing with other countries.

Thailand residents revote

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Under the gaze of video cameras and extra police, Thais voted Saturday in four constituencies where the results of last week's general election were annulled because of irregularities.

Official results were expected today. They were not expected to change the outcome of the Jan. 6 parliamentary elections in which Thai Rak Thai won a majority.

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