WORLD BRIEFS

PERU/Mudslide kills five

Five people have been killed by a mudslide set off by heavy rains in a remote community of wildcat miners in the southeastern Andes, Peruvian police said. Gen. Javier Sanguinetti, police chief of the Puno region, said authorities have no further information because communications have been disrupted and the area is accessible only by foot because of the rain. He said the bad weather prevented a police helicopter from landing Saturday to check the extent of damage near an unauthorized mine. The aircraft will try again Sunday. The police chief said the slide occurred in Carabaya province, 530 miles from Lima.

SOUTH KOREA/Search fails to find sailors

Military divers searched in vain for 46 marines missing since a South Korean ship exploded and sank near the tense maritime border with North Korea. The exact cause of the explosion was unclear, but North Korea did not appear to be to blame. Families voiced their anger Saturday as hopes faded for the missing crew in one of South Korea's worst naval disasters. Divers tried twice to get to the wreckage, Rear Adm. Lee Ki-sik of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told lawmakers. Military planes and boats searched the waters near Baengnyeong Island where the 1,200-ton Cheonan had been on a routine patrol. Rescue efforts were hampered by fierce waves and high winds.

THAILAND/Soldiers retreat

Protesters claimed a symbolic victory Saturday after forcing soldiers to retreat from parts of Bangkok's historic district, raising tensions in what so far has been a nonviolent bid to bring down the government. More than 60,000 red-shirted protesters clogged traffic and traveled in a noisy parade to the Bangkok zoo, Buddhist temples and a half-dozen other locations being used by soldiers as temporary camps. Authorities said the soldiers would regroup at other locations nearby. The protesters are demanding Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dissolve Parliament and call fresh elections, which he has repeatedly rejected.