In the World

CAIRO - Egypt's president set parliamentary elections to begin in April - a decision that an opposition leader denounced Friday as "a recipe for disaster" because of the continuing political turmoil.

About 15,000 people took to the streets in the Suez Canal city of Port Said to demonstrate against President Mohammed Morsi, hanging effigies of him in the main square. Residents have been on a general strike for six days, demanding punishment for what they considered a heavy-handed police crackdown.

Morsi scheduled the staggered, four-stage voting process to begin April 27 and end in June. The newly elected parliament would convene on July 6, according to a decree issued late Thursday night.

He hopes the election will end the political turmoil that has beset Egypt for the last two years, since the ouster of longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak. But Mohamed ElBaradei, who leads one of the main opposition groups, wrote on his Twitter account Friday that Morsi's "decision to go for parliamentary elections amidst severe societal polarization and eroding state authority is a recipe for disaster."

- AP

ATHENS, Greece - Torrential rainfall in Greece's capital Friday crippled traffic, inundated basements and streets, and was blamed for the death of a woman whose car was trapped in floodwater, authorities said.

The overnight storm swept across greater Athens, flooding hundreds of homes, causing blackouts in parts of the city, and forcing authorities to close major roads and a central subway station.

"We have many, many problems - it's hard to know where to begin describing it," Deputy Fire Chief Vassilis Papageorgiou said. "We have more than 60 crews working to get people out of stranded vehicles." - AP

MOSCOW - Moscow should "temper emotions" over the death of a Russian boy adopted by an American family, President Vladimir V. Putin's spokesman said Friday after the U.S. ambassador urged Russian authorities and the media to stop their "sensational exploitations" of the case.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the harsh statements by Russian officials and lawmakers were driven by the "zero tolerance" of Russians to the deaths of children adopted by Americans. Still, he acknowledged it's too early to know the cause of the Jan. 21 death in West Texas of 3-year-old Max Shatto, born Maxim Kuzmin.

The Medical Examiner's Office in West Texas has not officially pronounced the cause of death and presented only early results, but its report of bruises on Max's body has prompted some Russians to jump to conclusions. - AP