World in brief: Landslide victims uncovered

Rescuers recovered dozens of bodies from a village devastated by landslides Wednesday on Indonesia’s Java island as authorities struggled to get heavy lifting equipment to the affected areas. Officials said at least 78 people were killed or feared dead.

Most of the victims were caught in a single landslide in the Karanganyar district in central Java. But hillsides collapsed onto houses and claimed victims in at least seven other places in the mountainous region, which had been lashed by hours of torrential rain.

The latest disasters occurred on the third anniversary of a massive earthquake off Sumatra in December 2004 that triggered a tsunami. That killed more than 230,000 people and left a half-million homeless in a dozen countries.

CARACAS, Venezuela

Colombia to allow hostage retrieval

Colombia agreed Wednesday to allow Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to send his planes and helicopters into its territory to pick up three hostages who have been held for years by leftist rebels.

Chavez said he hoped the hostages – including a mother and her young son – could be on Venezuelan soil by sundown today.

Colombia’s largest rebel group announced last week that it would unilaterally hand over the three hostages to Chavez, demonstrating the guerrillas’ affinity for the socialist leader.

MOSCOW

Another challenger to Medvedev quits

The number of candidates challenging the Kremlin’s choice for president dwindled Wednesday when the leader of a pro-business party dropped out of the race.

Boris Nemtsov, a former deputy prime minister, said he was withdrawing so as not to split the vote with what he described as the only other remaining candidate from the liberal opposition, former Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov.

Several other candidates from parties seen as loyal to the Kremlin are still running.

President Vladimir Putin, who is barred from seeking a third straight term, has backed his protege Dmitry Medvedev in the March 2 election. The endorsement virtually assures Medvedev’s victory, given Putin’s popularity and the Kremlin’s powerful influence.