WORLD BRIEFS

MIDEAST/Arab nations back peace talks

Arab nations Saturday endorsed indirect peace talks between the Palestinians and Israelis, a move that likely paves the way for the start of long-stalled U.S.-brokered negotiations. The United States has proposed the talks to end the impasse between Israelis and Palestinians over the conditions for resuming negotiations, which broke down more than a year ago amid Israel's military offensive in the Gaza Strip. Arab League chief, Amr Moussa, stressed that the league would be keeping a close eye on the talks, and said there will be no transition from indirect to direct negotiations. The Arab foreign ministers warned peace efforts would collapse if Israel continued to build settlements in east Jerusalem and the West Bank.

TAIWAN/Plane diverted after bomb scare

A scheduled flight from the Taiwanese capital of Taipei to the eastern Chinese city of Shanghai was diverted to a nearby Chinese airport Saturday after a passenger told cabin crew his luggage contained explosives. Spokesman Bruce Chen of Taiwan's China Airlines said the plane landed safely at Hangzhou and that Chinese authorities took the passenger away for questioning. Chen said he was surnamed Lin and that he was traveling on a U.S. passport. "The passenger told the cabin crew very calmly that he had explosives in his luggage," Chen said. "After the plane landed in Hangzhou it was very carefully checked and nothing was found."

CUBA/May Day rally draws thousands

Hundreds of thousands of Cubans marched through Revolution Plaza Saturday in annual May Day celebrations that the government said prove the island supports its communist system even amid mounting international criticism over human rights. This year officials assigned special meaning to International Workers' Day, saying it was Cuba's response to Washington, the European Union and international journalists who have conspired to tarnish its reputation after the February death of a jailed dissident hunger striker and a protest by another opposition activist who has refused food for weeks.

GERMANY/Pigs find WWII weapon

Police say a couple of hungry pigs digging for food came nose-to-nose with a long-buried World War II anti-tank weapon. Police said Friday the two pigs found the single-shot "panzerfaust" on private land southwest of Dresden. The pigs' owner called police who were able to destroy the weapon. The panzerfaust was used extensively during the defense of Germany and through the rest of the war. Such finds are still relatively common.