Cairo  - Egyptian state security forces detained 10 leaders of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood Saturday in the Nile Delta city of Mansura, the movement said.

Most of the detainees are members of the Muslim Brotherhood's administrative office in Dakahlia governorate, of which Mansura is the capital, the movement said in a statement on its website.

The Egyptian government has banned the fundamentalist Islamic group, but paradoxically the Muslim Brotherhood is the most active political opposition movement in Egypt.

Bangkok  - Thailand's reshuffled cabinet was endorsed by King Bhumibol and announced Saturday evening, Thai media reported.

The shake-up was necessary after several ministers had to resign after losing legal battles over their qualifications, Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said.

Before the shake-up, Samak had already lost three of his cabinet ministers to Thailand's judiciary and court rulings during his six months in office.

Johannesburg  - South African freedom fighter and former president Nelson Mandela called his party to unity and respect for democracy at celebrations held in his honour by the African National Congress party on Saturday.

"Let no individual, faction or group regard itself as greater than the organization and the people," Mandela told the gathering of tens of thousands - including current South African President Thabo Mbeki - in a stadium in the capital Pretoria.

Riga  - Dissatisfied Latvians flocked to polling stations on Saturday to cast votes in a referendum that may give them power that, perhaps, would be unique among the European Union members.

They would be able to call snap elections in this small Baltic country.

Dhaka  - Rahul Gandhi, Indian parliament member and son of ruling Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi, arrived in Dhaka Friday to a rousing welcome to begin a five-day private visit to Bangladesh, officials said.

Gandhi was greeted at the airport by Nobel Peace prize winner Prof Mohammad Yunus and high government officials amidst tightened security, airport sources said.

Madrid  - The Spanish government said Friday it would not intervene "in any way" with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's decision to nationalize the local subsidiary of Spain's Banco Santander bank.

The operation was being carried out through "dialogue and negotiation," Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega said, explaining that the bank and the Venezuelan government were expecting to reach a deal soon.