World Briefing

Though the protest was small compared with past marches, there is a growing outcry over the barring of key figures from running in state and local elections in November.

Chavez opponents also are outraged by 26 laws the president just decreed, some of them mirroring the socialist measures voters rejected in a December referendum.

"We said in the referen- dum that we didn't want that, and now he's put it in the decrees," said protester Josefina Bravo.

Chavez issued the decrees just before the expiration of special legislative powers that allowed him to make laws without National Assembly approval for 18 months.

ISRAEL

150 Palestinians to be released

At a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert pledged to free more than 150 Palestinian prisoners, a gesture meant to energize peace talks.

The release could also boost the prestige of the Palestinian leader, whose Fatah movement is engaged in a tense power struggle with the militant Islamic group Hamas.

Olmert has announced that he will resign next month because of corruption investigations, but his term could actually extend into next year.

RUSSIA

Solzhenitsyn is laid to rest

Russia buried Soviet-era dissident and author Alexander Solzhenitsyn at the 16th-century Donskoi monastery after a service attended by President Dmitry Medvedev that bore all the hallmarks of a state funeral.

Hundreds of elderly Russians came to bid farewell to the deeply religious Nobel prize laureate in the Russian Orthodox ceremony in Moscow.

AFGHANISTAN

Marine is killed in roadside blast

A U.S. Marine died of wounds sustained when his vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in western Afghanistan, the U.S.-led coalition said.

The Marine, not immediately identified, was patrolling in Farah province at the time of the blast Monday, the statement said.

MALAYSIA

Anwar charged with sodomy

Malaysian opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was charged today with sodomizing his male aide.

Anwar pleaded innocent in Kuala Lumpur to the charge, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Anwar has claimed the allegation was concocted by the government to destroy his political career and prevent him from returning to Parliament in a by-election later this month. Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has rejected Anwar's claim.

Riot police backed by trucks mounted with water cannons surrounded the courthouse.

From Times Wire Reports