World Briefs

ASUNCION, Paraguay – President Fernando Lugo said Wednesday that he will return to the Roman Catholic Church when his term ends, despite acknowledging he fathered a child while still a bishop in rural Paraguay.

Lugo did not explain what role he would seek to play in the church, however.

"When I leave office I will return to the church because I never left it — I only left the priesthood," Lugo said during a televised interview.

"Fortunately, the Catholic Church is very pluralistic and has many places where I will be able to work when I leave the presidency on Aug. 16, 2013," Lugo said.

JERUSALEM – Stark differences between U.S. and Israeli policy toward peace talks with the Palestinians emerged clearly Thursday in the first meetings between President Barack Obama's Mideast envoy and top leaders of the new Israeli government.

The envoy, George Mitchell, stated clearly that Washington is aiming for creation of a Palestinian state. But Israelis avoided mention of Palestinian statehood, and the new foreign minister said past Israeli concessions have led to violence, not peace.

Mitchell met Thursday evening with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has yet to unveil his policy on peace efforts but has spoken of shifting focus to stimulating the Palestinian economy.

LIMA, Peru – Peru's civil defense says a mudslide has buried 25 homes in two towns in the northern highlands. As many as 30 people are missing.

Civil Defense special operations coordinator Walter Tapia says the mudslide hit the La Libertad province towns of Chamanacucho and Aricapampa, burying 25 homes early Thursday morning.

Tapia told the Associated Press Thursday that between 20 and 30 people are missing and feared dead.

LONDON – British Prime Minister Gordon Brown apologized on Thursday for offensive emails about top opposition figures sent by one of his most influential aides, as the government tried to limit fallout before next week's budget.

Adviser Damian McBride was forced to quit on Saturday and the scandal has threatened to wipe out any opinion poll boost Brown may have got from a G20 summit in London when he brokered a $1.1 trillion support plan for the global economy.

It also leaves Brown without one of his most trusted, and feared, aides in what is likely to prove a bitter election campaign next year. An election must take place by mid-2010 and Brown's Labour Party is floundering in polls.