Sri Lanka to vote after bitter campaign
MATT WADE, COLOMBO When Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa declared victory over the Tamil Tiger rebels last May after nearly three decades of conflict, his re-election looked certain.
Haitian quake toll could hit 300,000
RORY CARROLL, PORT-AU-PRINCE The Haitian Government has raised the confirmed earthquake death toll to 150,000 and said the figure could double as reports from outside the capital are collated.
Border town fights division
JASON KOUTSOUKIS, GHAJAR Israel's only non-Jewish minister, Ayoob Kara, says he will fight United Nations moves to transfer half of the Golan Heights village of Ghajar to Lebanon.
Fashion experts see red over ANC leather gear
DAVID SMITH, JOHANNESBURG The 'unity' jackets have been likened to uniforms worn by children, drum majorettes and the crew of Star Trek's Starship Enterprise.
Tamil asylum seeker to give birth on crowded ship
TOM ALLARD, JAKARTA A pregnant asylum seeker says she is prepared to have her baby on board the crowded vessel where about 250 Sri Lankans have been engaged in a stand-off with authorities.
Senate win stirs Republican fight
ADAM NAGOURNEY, WASHINGTON The number of seats up for grabs in congressional elections in November appears to be growing, setting up a midterm election likely to be harder fought than anyone anticipated.
Wheel turns as officials push for bicycle comeback
JONATHAN WATTS, BEIJING The Chinese capital is turning to the past to battle a modern problem.
Ethiopian plane crashes into sea
BEIRUT An Ethiopian jet carrying 90 passengers and crew plunged into the sea off Lebanon in a ball of fire after taking off yesterday.
Families want to quiz Blair
LONDON The families of soldiers killed in Iraq are to ask for a private session with Tony Blair after he has given evidence to the official inquiry into the war.
Taliban fight to take five years
LONDON A major conference on Afghanistan this week will conclude that international forces face up to five more years battling the Taliban.
Visitor rips $144m Picasso
NEW YORK A Picasso painting worth more than $144 million was damaged at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art when a visitor fell into it.
Split likely if Cyprus talks fail
NICOSIA Cyprus could become another Czechoslovakia, splitting into two separate states, officials in Turkish northern Cyprus warn.
Obituary
Doll among Hollywood's guys
Jean Simmons, a radiant British actress who as a teenager appeared opposite Laurence Olivier in Hamlet and emerged a star whose career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s in such films as Guys and Dolls, Elmer Gantry and Spartacus, has died of lung cancer in Santa Monica, California. She was 80.
Obituary
Acclaimed matriarch of musical family
Kate McGarrigle, a Canadian singer-songwriter who performed with her sister Anna and whose plaintive songs were covered by artists such as Linda Ronstadt, Emmylou Harris and Maria Muldaur, has died of cancer at her home in Montreal. She was 63.
