World Briefs

LIMA, Peru – The historic guilty verdict and 25-year sentence imposed on former President Alberto Fujimori for death squad killings and disappearances during his 1990s rule have thrust his daughter Keiko into the spotlight.

The 33-year-old congresswoman says people's outrage over Tuesday's "vengeful" verdict will propel her to Peru's presidency in 2011. Then she'll pardon her father.

PARIS– French workers on Wednesday released managers they had held overnight at a British-owned plant in southern France, the latest example of a boss being taken hostage by angry employees. Workers stopped four managers leaving the site on Tuesday when talks over the potential closure of the factory near the town of Bellegarde came to a head. The owner is Scapa Group Plc.

NAIROBI, Kenya The American crew of a hijacked U.S.-flagged cargo ship retook the vessel Wednesday from the Somali pirates who seized it far off the Horn of Africa, Pentagon officials said.

Capt. Joseph Murphy, an instructor at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, told The Associated Press that he was called by the Department of Defense and told the crew, including his son Shane, the second in command, had regained control.

At a noon news conference, Maersk Line Ltd. CEO John Reinhart said that the company was working to contact families of the crew.

"Speculation is a dangerous thing when you're in a fluid environment. I will not confirm that the crew has overtaken this ship," he said.

A U.S. official said the crew had retaken control and had one pirate in custody.

HAVANA – A "very healthy, very energetic" Fidel Castro asked visiting Congressional Black Caucus members what Cuba could do to help President Barack Obama improve bilateral relations during his first meeting with U.S. officials since falling ill in 2006.

Caucus leader Rep. Barbara Lee, a Democrat from California, said the ailing former Cuban president talked for nearly two hours with her and two other delegation members.

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – A judge has reinstated a Canadian Guantanamo prisoner's military defense lawyer who was fired by his Pentagon bosses.

The military judge says the chief defense counsel for the Guantanamo trials lacks authority to dismiss Navy Lt. Cmdr. William Kuebler from Omar Khadr's defense team. The chief defense counsel has asked the judge to reconsider. Air Force Col. Peter Masciola removed Kuebler.