CARTOON

In Brief

Brasilia, Brazil - The Workers' Party of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has suffered severe losses in mayoral elections, losing in such metropolises as Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre. In Sao Paulo, the nation's largest city and its financial hub, incumbent Gilberto Kassab of the conservative Democrats won by a landslide with 61 per cent of the vote in Sunday's runoff against Workers' Party candidate Marta Suplicy. Political analysts said the win for Kassab strengthened the position and ambitions of Sao Paulo Governor Jose Serra of the Brazilian Social Democracy Party, which supported Kassab.

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Khartoum, Sudan - Sudan on Wednesday delayed until next week the publication of recommendations that are expected to lay a foundation for possible talks in Qatar on solving the Darfur conflict. "The seven committees are editing the recommendations and have not finished yet.

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Budapest, Hungary - Hungary's currency and stock market were rising Wednesday after the International Monetary Fund said the country would get an aid package of up to $25.1 billion (20 billion euros) to rescue its economy hit hard by the global financial crisis. Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany is preparing the country for a steep decline in growth. The IMF will provide a 17-month standby loan of $15.7 billion (12.5 billion euros), the European Union is ready to lend Hungary $8.1 billion (6.5 billion euros), and the World Bank will give $1.3 billion.

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Islamabad, Pakistan - Pakistan summoned the US ambassador today to protest over missile strikes by pilotless US aircraft on the Pakistani side of its border with Afghanistan, a Pakistani government spokesman said. The protest came two day after missiles fired by a suspected US drone killed up to 20 militants in the lawless South Waziristan border region.

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Camberra, Australia - Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has extended the bank-deposit guarantee to non-banks, such as investment funds, to stem the flight of capital from the sector over the past fortnight. The announcement last night came as Deutsche Bank warned that a Treasury ruling defining eligibility to meet the $1million guarantee threshold as ''per depositor, per institution'' could spawn a rash of sub-$1million deposits and seriously affect the ability of funds to raise money.

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