USA

Ex-president Jimmy Carter arrived in Cuba on a six-day visit, the most prominent US figure to do so since Fidel Castro's 1959 Communist revolution. Carter, who sought to normalize US relations with Cuba during and after his term, has described the trip as an opportunity to improve ties. Carter also said he looked forward to meeting Cubans "of all walks of life." The trip comes a week after Undersecretary of State John Bolton accused Havana of attempting to develop biological weapons, a claim Castro has denounced as a "pack of Olympic-size lies." (Story, page 1.)

The US and Russia will have an agreement on nuclear-arms reduction ready in time for next month's presidential summit, Secretary of State Powell told a Russian TV station Sunday. In comments made public before the broadcast, Powell said he was "sure" that when President Bush visits Moscow May 23-26, "the agreement will be signed." Russia has raised objections to a US proposal to store, rather than destroy, nuclear warheads.

Laura Bush is due in Paris, on her first solo foreign trip since her husband become president. The first lady's itinerary includes a speech on education tomorrow to the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development and a later forum in Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, on ways to promote civil society in Afghanistan. She is scheduled to rejoin her husband May 22.

A parade of more than 100 fishing boats led a demonstration against new restrictions that New England fishermen say will ruin their livelihoods. The vessels (above) sailed into the Port of Galilee in Narragansett, R.I., Saturday, to protest last month's order by a federal judge that cut maximum days at sea from 88 to 70 and closed additional areas to groundfish such as cod, haddock, and flounder. Even some environmental groups say the rules may go too far.

Pledging to rebuild Manhattan "even better than it was before," New York Gov. George Pataki (R) launched his bid for a third term Saturday, reversing an earlier pledge to serve no more than two. Amid high popularity as reflected in public opinion polls in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Pataki said he had "no intention of walking away" from the difficult challenges facing his state.

World-famous tenor Luciano Pavarotti cancelled what was widely regarded as his farewell appearance Saturday at the Metropolitan Opera's season finale in New York, citing illness. Italian tenor Salvatore Licitra, who is set to join the Met in 2004, stepped in to fill Pavarotti's role in Puccini's "Tosca." Licitra and the rest of the cast received standing ovations.