Putin Alters Tone Toward Ukrainian Candidate
MOSCOW -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday adopted a more conciliatory tone toward the prospect of victory by opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko in Ukraine's repeat presidential runoff election. Yushchenko faces Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych in the election on Sunday.
"I am familiar with Mr. Yushchenko," Putin said at a news conference in Germany, where he was meeting with Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder. "Like the current prime minister, Mr. Yanukovych, he too held the premier's post. We cooperated quite well with him. If he wins, I don't see any problems."
The comment represented a significant shift for Putin. He was widely seen as backing Yanukovych and deeply hostile to Yushchenko, who favors closer ties with NATO and the European Union.
The campaign in Ukraine continued to be marked by tension as supporters of Yanukovych blocked a convoy of Yushchenko supporters from entering the eastern city of Donetsk, a Yanukovych stronghold where he once served as governor.
-- Peter Finn
ASIA
• BEIJING -- China appealed to Japan to reconsider its decision to grant a tourist visa to former Taiwanese president Lee Teng-hui, accusing him of agitating for formal independence for the island.
Japan issued the visa Tuesday, shrugging off protests by Chinese leaders who claim Taiwan as part of China and oppose contact between its leaders and foreign countries -- even tourist visits by former Taiwanese leaders -- that might imply recognition of the island as an independent country.
• RAWALPINDI, Pakistan -- Police arrested the husband of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto in the killing of a former judge and his son in 1996, taking him back into custody just a month after he had been freed on bail, lawyers and officials said.
Asif Ali Zardari was detained at an airport near the capital, Islamabad, after arriving on a flight from Karachi to address a major opposition rally, said Nafees Siddiqi, a lawyer and opposition member who accompanied him.
Africa
• ABUJA, Nigeria -- Sudan's government and rebels in the western Darfur region suspended faltering peace talks, and the African Union urged both sides to stop fighting to allow a resumption of negotiations in January.
The breakup of talks in Nigeria came as the British aid agency Save the Children announced that it was pulling all 350 of its workers out of Darfur after the killing of four staff members and the renewal of clashes in the region.
Europe
• BREGENZ, Austria -- An American died of injuries she suffered in an avalanche, bringing to four the death toll from two snow slides in Austria, officials said.
The 41-year-old San Francisco woman died in a Feldkirch hospital, a day after the death of her husband, also an American of the same age, and a 39-year-old German, said Ulrike Delather, a spokeswoman for the hospital in western Austria. Rescuers retrieved the body of a 51-year-old Austrian woman who had been caught in a separate avalanche in Tyrol province.
The names of the dead were not released.
• VATICAN CITY -- Pope John Paul II made a rare allusion to his personal struggle with aging and illness, saying in a Christmas address that each passing year brings a greater need for help from God.
The pontiff, 84, slowed by Parkinson's disease and hip and knee problems, addressed cardinals from his wheeled throne in a Vatican hall decorated with Christmas garlands. He struggled to catch his breath at several points.
-- From News Services
