Talks between Qwest, union nearing deadline

DENVER -- Formal contract negotiations between Qwest and its largest employees' union were on hold Saturday as union and company representatives met in small groups to work on separate issues that have held up a new contract. The agreement between Qwest Communications International Inc. and 25,000 members of Communication Workers of America in 13 mostly Western states was due to expire at midnight Saturday. If there is no deal, the workers have authorized the union to declare a strike, though the union hasn't publicly threatened to do so.

Cuba celebrates Castro's 79th birthday

HAVANA -- Cuba honored President Fidel Castro's 79th birthday Saturday, revisiting his nearly five decades in power on the communist island with tributes in state-run newspapers and documentaries. Cuban children danced and cut an enormous blue-and-white cake for Castro -- the world's longest-ruling head of government -- while front pages bore his photo and loving words. The Cuban leader is an active 79. He maintains a busy schedule, and has shown no interest in retiring.

Zapatista rebels seek to shake up 2006 election

CARMEN PATATE, Mexico -- After four years of near silence, the Zapatista rebels suddenly have a lot to say as they try to build a national political movement and reshape the campaign for next summer's presidential election. But unlike the 1994 armed uprising in Chiapas state that grabbed headlines and gave the Zapatistas a romantic aura, their latest effort seems oddly timed. Rebel leader Subcomandante Marcos has grown pudgy and quarrelsome, and Mexico's left seems to have moved on. Saturday Marcos renewed recriminations against the political establishment.

Suriname leader calls for unity at inauguration

PARAMARIBO, Suriname -- Suriname's president was inaugurated to a second term Friday, calling for national unity following elections that weakened his government's hold on Parliament and swelled the ranks of a party led by a former dictator. Ronald Venetiaan, who has sought to stabilize Suriname's economy through spending cuts and privatizations, was sworn in to a five-year term in a church in the South American country's capital of Paramaribo.

-- From wire reports

An assembly of regional councils re-elected Venetiaan on Aug. 3 in a special vote called after the National Assembly failed to choose a president in two rounds of voting last month. It was the second time the assembly has elected the president since the former Dutch colony gained independence in 1975.