SOUTH KOREA

Two rivals consider setting up hot line

SEOUL — North and South Korea on Saturday held talks over establishing a telephone hot line between their leaders and other communication issues ahead of a summit between the rivals later this month. The talks at a border village were part of preparatory discussions to set up the April 27 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in over the North’s nuclear program and other issues (AP).

GERMANY

Ex-Catalan leader calls for dialogue

BERLIN — Carles Puigdemont, the fugitive former president of Spain’s Catalonia region, made a renewed call Saturday for Spanish authorities to open negotiations over Catalonia’s secession claim. A day after he was released from a German prison, Puigdemont said a German court’s decision not to extradite him to Spain on charges of rebellion shows that ‘‘dialogue is needed’’ to defuse the political conflict. (AP)

VATICAN CITY

Diplomat arrested in child porn case

The Vatican on Saturday arrested a diplomat who was recalled from Washington last year amid investigations in the United States and Canada over possession of child pornography. Monsignor Carlo Capella was arrested after a Vatican investigation. Police in Ontario, said he allegedly obtained the material from a social networking site in 2016. The US State Department also looked into the charges while Capella was assigned to Washington. (AP)

HUNGARY

Ruling party tops polling in election

BUDAPEST — Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban will try to secure his third consecutive term, and fourth overall since 1998, in Sunday’s parliamentary election, facing a fragmented left-wing opposition and a nationalist party. Polls show Orban’s Fidesz party and the Christian Democrats, an ally, are favored to win most of the 199 seats at stake, but there are many uncertainties about how big their margins of victory will be. (AP)

INDIA

Better transit links to Nepal promised

NEW DELHI — India pledged Saturday to upgrade road and rail links with Nepal and develop inland waterways to provide sea connections to the landlocked Himalayan nation. Both sides would like to jointly build a new rail link connecting Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital, with India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India also will help Nepal in the field of agriculture, through organic farming, soil testing, and education for farmers. (AP)