Russian space capsule lands off-target

MOSCOW -- A Russian capsule carrying South Korea's first astronaut touched down 260 miles off target in northern Kazakhstan on Saturday after hurtling through the atmosphere in a bone-jarring descent from the international space station.

It was the second time in a row -- and the third since 2003 -- that the Soyuz landing went awry.

Mission Control spokesman Valery Lyndin said the condition of the crew -- South Korean bioengineer Yi So-yeon, American astronaut Peggy Whitson and Russian flight engineer Yuri Malenchenko -- was satisfactory, though the three had been subjected to severe gravitational forces during the re-entry.

The Russian TMA-11 craft touched down at 4:51 a.m. EDT about 260 miles off its mark, Lyndin said, a highly unusual distance given how precisely engineers plan for such landings. It was also around 20 minutes later than scheduled. Search helicopters then took 25 minutes to locate the capsule and determine the crew was unharmed.

Officials said the craft followed a so-called "ballistic re-entry" -- a very steep trajectory that subjects the crew to extreme physical force. Lyndin said the crew had experienced gravitational forces up to 10 times those on Earth during the 3 1/2 hour descent.

The crew were being examined on site by medical officials, and were later to return to Moscow for further evaluation.

Protests against French retailer spread in China

BEIJING -- Demonstrations against French supermarket chain Carrefour erupted in cities across China on Saturday, fueled by anger over the disruption of the Olympic torch relay when it went through Paris nearly two weeks ago.

Other protesters gathered outside the French Embassy and the Beijing French School.

The recent unrest in Tibet and protests during the worldwide Olympic torch relay have created a backlash of anger inside China against those viewed as supporting independence for Tibet.

The nationalist outburst comes as Chinese state media has launched a sustained attack against foreign critics of China's Tibet policy and on the Dalai Lama, Tibet's spiritual leader, who Beijing blames for instigating riots last month in Tibet's capital.

Hundreds of protesters carrying Chinese flags and pictures of the late Communist Party chairman, Mao Zedong, gathered outside a Carrefour store in Wuhan in central Hubei province Saturday.

A woman working at a store in the same building as the Carrefour estimated about 1,000 people took part in the protests, mostly youth and university students. They held banners and sang the national anthem, said the woman, who would only give her surname, Wang.

Zimbabwean officials begin recount

HARARE, Zimbabwe -- Zimbabwe's main opposition party said Saturday it feared its parliamentary election victory was being stolen, while former U.N. chief Kofi Annan urged African leaders to step in and resolve the country's election crisis.

Zimbabweans are still awaiting results of the presidential election held three weeks ago alongside parliamentary voting. Opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai claims he won outright and that the delay in reporting results is part of a fraud plot.

Now the opposition's landmark victory in the parliamentary vote is being called into question. Electoral officials on Saturday began recounting ballots for nearly two dozen legislative seats, which could overturn the Zimbabwean opposition's landmark majority win in the parliamentary poll.

Most of the seats being recounted had been declared for opposition candidates, including in President Robert Mugabe's home district of Zvimba.

State-owned Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corp. reported the recount would take as many as three days.

Pakistani ambassador: 'I was kidnapped'

CAIRO, Egypt -- An Arab satellite channel has aired video of Pakistan's ambassador to Afghanistan saying he was kidnapped by Taliban militants two months ago.

Ambassador Tariq Azizuddin and his driver and bodyguard are shown sitting on the ground in front of three masked men holding automatic weapons. The diplomat says he has been treated well by his captors.

Azizuddin disappeared Feb. 11 near Pakistan's border with Afghanistan. The video was broadcast Saturday on Al-Arabiya television.

Aid arrives in Haiti, but many are left out

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Hundreds of Haitians stood in long lines Saturday, just as others had walked for hours throughout the week to receive the U.N. and regional food aid pouring into the country after a spate of deadly riots.

But amid the tenuous calm, aid groups say they are just buying time -- and long-term solutions seem remote in the desperately poor nation.

"The beans might last four days," said Jervais Rodman, an unemployed carpenter with three children who emerged from a churchyard Friday with small bags of food. "The rice will be gone as soon as I get home."

Rodman was one of the lucky ones. Many others arrived after the distribution centers had run out.

Haitian officials handed out 1,000 bags of U.N.-bought food Saturday in Cite Soleil, a huge seaside slum on the eastern edge of the capital. Though aid was limited to women over age 57 and the handicapped, at least 50 people who waited in line were turned away.

Suicide bombers attack Israel-Gaza crossing

JERUSALEM -- Hamas bombers attacked an Israel-Gaza border crossing under the cover of fog Saturday, detonating two jeeps made to look like Israeli military vehicles and packed with hundreds of pounds of explosives.

The twin blasts, just hours before the Jewish Passover holiday, wounded 13 Israeli soldiers in what Hamas said was an attempt to break the nearly yearlong blockade of the territory. Four Hamas assailants died, Israeli officials said.

Meanwhile, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter met with senior Hamas leaders in Damascus, Syria, for a second day to hear their views, defying U.S. and Israeli warnings that doing so would grant the group legitimacy. The U.S. and Israel have labeled Hamas a terrorist organization.

An Israeli army commander said the Hamas operation was the most ambitious since Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, even though another planned attempt at the border was averted Saturday. The attack was the fifth on a crossing by Gaza militants since last week, and Hamas threatened to target the passages again.

Thai leg of Olympic torch relay sees little protest

BANGKOK, Thailand -- Thousands of people followed the Olympic torch through the sweltering streets of Thailand's capital Saturday with little of the dissent that has accompanied some of the relay's earlier stops.

The nearly three-hour run, with no disruptions by demonstrators protesting China's recent crackdown in Tibet, contrasted with the chaos that accompanied the torch's visits to London, Paris and San Francisco.

Heavy but not heavy-handed security was deployed along the Bangkok route, with about 2,000 uniformed and plainclothes police on duty.

Security officials had little to do but direct traffic and the mostly festive crowds, except at one spot where they came between pro-Tibet demonstrators and pro-Beijing supporters who exchanged angry words.

New al-Qaida tape calls for offensive

CAIRO, Egypt -- A man claiming to be the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq vowed in an audiotape released Saturday to launch a monthlong offensive against U.S. troops.

There was no independent confirmation that the voice belonged to Abu Hamza al-Muhajir, also known as Abu Ayyub al-Masri, but it sounded exactly like the one heard on previous audiotapes.

Al-Muhajir has been the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq since his predecessor Abu Musab al-Zarqawi was killed in a U.S. airstrike northeast of Baghdad in 2006.

"We call on our beloved ones ... that each unit should present the head of an American as a gift to the charlatan Bush ... in addition to one of the apostate servants and slaves of the awakening (councils) during a one-month period," he said in the tape, posted on an Internet site known for its militant contents.

He made clear that the 30-day period begins from the day of the audiotape's release.