Zimbabwe opposition leader offers compromise

Johannesburg, South Africa

Zimbabwe's opposition chief would accept the prime minister's post and concede the presidency — and command of the military — to Robert Mugabe to settle a political crisis in his country.

Morgan Tsvangirai outlined his proposal for resolving the contentious issue of who would lead any unity government in Zimbabwe in a speech Friday to regional Cabinet ministers gathered for the Southern African Development Community summit.

Tsvangirai's proposal, which he said his Movement for Democratic Change presented during the deadlocked negotiations with Mugabe's ZANU-PF party, would mean a major curbing of the powers Mugabe has wielded since the country gained independence in 1980.

But it also would leave Tsvangirai working closely with a leader he has reviled as a brutal dictator. After months of attacks on opposition supporters blamed on soldiers and police, the prospect of Mugabe remaining commander in chief was worrisome to some.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti

Tropical Storm Fay threatens Florida

Flooding from Tropical Storm Fay killed four people in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, and authorities warned Saturday that the storm could reach hurricane strength as it barrels toward Cuba.

Florida's Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency and said Fay threatened the state with a "major disaster." Forecasters said Fay could bring hurricane-force winds to the Florida Keys as soon as Monday.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center in Miami said that on Saturday night the storm was located about 60 miles southwest of Guantánamo, Cuba. It was heading west at about 14 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 45 mph.

San Pedro, Paraguay

President pledges to tackle poverty

Paraguay's new leftist president returned Saturday to the province where he spent 11 years as bishop, and pledged to raise living standards by eradicating poverty and corruption in this South American nation.

Accompanied by Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez, President Fernando Lugo spoke to about 1,000 peasants gathered in a plaza in San Pedro, the biggest municipality in a neglected province where most eke out a living while rich soy farmers profit from high international commodity prices.

"This is where I learned to love the peasant, the indigenous people, and to admire their efforts to excel despite adverse conditions," Lugo said after arriving in the town of 29,000 several hundred miles north of the capital of Asunción.

Chávez told the crowd that oil-rich Venezuela will finance a fertilizer plant in San Pedro and send the country "all the oil Paraguay needs" to ensure that periodic diesel fuel shortages don't get worse.

Seattle Times news services