World in brief

Bank bosses held in Venezuela

Venezuela: A court barred 16 bank executives on Friday from leaving the country after a scandal that led the government to take over management of four banks.

Those prohibited from travelling include six directors of Banco ProVivienda (BanPro), eight of Banco Confederado and two of Bolivar Banco.

Prosecutors also questioned the ex-president of Banco Canarias Alvaro Gorrin on Friday as part of their investigation.

Coup regime holds 'election'

Honduras: The illegitimate presidential elections are taking place across the country but have brought no end to the five-month-long crisis caused by the overthrow of President Manuel Zelaya.

Two prosperous businessmen from the political old guard, Porfirio Lobo and Elvin Santos, are the front-runners in the election.

Mr Zelaya urged Hondurans to boycott the vote, hoping overwhelming abstention will discredit the election.

Zardari pressed to give up power

Pakistan: A powerful opposition leader has called on President Asif Ali Zardari to relinquish wide-ranging powers immediately.

Shahbaz Sharif's demand came a day after the expiration of an amnesty protecting Mr Zardari and several allies from graft prosecution.

Mr Zardari enjoys immunity from prosecution as president, but the Supreme Court could challenge it.

Lima says sorry to black Peruvians

Peru: The government has released a proposed resolution apologising to the Afro-Peruvian population for the first time for centuries of discrimination.

The resolution said that discrimination against black Peruvians still exists and is "a barrier for social, economic labour and educational development."

Afro-Peruvians arrived in the 16th century as the slaves of Spanish conquerors.

Leftwinger set to win election

Uruguay: A former leftist guerilla is heavily favoured to win Sunday's presidential run-off election and keep the country's popular centre-left coalition in power for another five years.

Jose Mujica won 49 per cent of the votes in October's first round of the election, which secured another majority in Congress for the governing Broad Front coalition.

As campaigning ended, Mr Mujica insisted: "To win the vote does not mean being the owner of absolute truth," and vowed to do everything possible to build bridges and avoid creating an atmosphere of tension and drama.

12 men break out of prison

Afghanistan: Police have said that a dozen prisoners have escaped from jail through a tunnel in western Afghanistan.

Farah province police chief General Mohammad Faqir Askar said that, in the prison escape, the inmates included low-level Taliban militants, drug-dealers and other minor criminals.

Mr Askar said that a 13th prisoner arrested during his attempted escape said the tunnel took 10 days to dig and the plan was to slowly empty the prison overnight.

More than 300 inmates were held in the prison, which was built to hold about 80.

US citizen jailed for three years

China: A US citizen wanted for eco-terrorism attacks in the western United States has been sentenced to three years in a Chinese prison for making illegal drugs.

Justin Franchi Solondz was given the sentence on Friday in south-western China's Yunnan province.

His father said that his son had been arrested in during a drug sweep in March and authorities had later found 33lbs of marijuana leaves buried in the courtyard of a home that he had rented.

Policeman shot at Basque border

Spain: A police officer has been shot and wounded in an attack by assailants in a region bordering the Basque country.

The Civil Guard officer is undergoing surgery for a fractured arm after the shooting in the town of Leitza, Navarra.

An exchange of gunfire broke out after the officer encountered at least one person preparing to place a bomb outside a Civil Guard building that houses officers and their families.