World - AFP

MANILA (AFP) - Police have ended a grisly search for corpses and mass graves from an election-linked massacre in the southern Philippines, with the known death toll standing at 57, officials said Saturday.

PORT OF SPAIN (AFP) - Hopes suddenly rose Friday that a new global climate pact was within reach after rich nations attending a Commonwealth summit here offered to pay poorer countries to help seal the deal.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Rescue workers picked Saturday through the twisted wreckage of a Russian passenger train that derailed overnight killing at least 25 people, hunting for more survivors of what may have been an attack.

CARACAS (AFP) - Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas thanked Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez for supporting the creation of a future Palestinian state as he rounded out a five-nation tour of Latin America.

BEIJING (AFP) - A cargo plane carrying seven crew crashed during take off in Shanghai on Saturday, killing three, state media reported.

WINDHOEK (AFP) - Namibia, one of the last African nations to win independence, voted Friday in elections expected to return the long-ruling SWAPO to power despite a tough challenge from a new breakaway party.

QUITO (AFP) - A regional Latin American summit aimed in part at calming tensions between Colombia and Venezuela opened here Friday, but Bogota opted to stay away in a move Caracas termed a "huge mistake."

MANILA (AFP) - Benigno Aquino, the front-runner in the race to succeed Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, formally registered his candidacy in the May 2010 election on Saturday with a pledge to fight corruption, witnesses said.

MIAMI (AFP) - Police in Florida launched a massive hunt for a man they say killed his aunt, two twin sisters and his cousin's six-year-old daughter at a family gathering for the Thanksgiving holiday.

DHAKA (AFP) - At least 10 people were killed and dozens are missing after a ferry packed with over 1,000 passengers going home to celebrate Eid-ul Adha listed and partly sank in southern Bangladesh, police said.

MOSCOW (AFP) - At least 25 people were killed and 63 injured Friday when a train travelling between the Russian capital Moscow and Saint Petersburg derailed, possibly as a result of an attack, Russian media reported.

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany's former defence minister Franz Josef Jung quit the cabinet on Friday over a deadly air strike in Afghanistan, the day after claims of a cover-up took the scalp of the country's top general.

LONDON (AFP) - Iranian Nobel Peace Prize winner Shirin Ebadi on Friday accused the Islamic republic of acting illegally by freezing her assets and questioned the timing of its demand she pay substantial back taxes.

TEGUCIGALPA (AFP) - Amnesty International expressed fears Friday the Honduran de facto regime would use excessive force to clamp down on opposition to post-coup polls that have divided the Americas.

SKOPJE (AFP) - Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said Friday he did not expect a Greek veto on Macedonia's bid to join the European Union because of an 18-year-old name dispute between Athens and Skopje.

HAVANA (AFP) - Cuban President Raul Castro ordered his troops to "never give up" on Friday as his Caribbean island nation carried out war games designed to train for the possibility of a US attack.

BERLIN (AFP) - Germany's top general quit on Thursday over an air strike in Afghanistan on two fuel tankers hijacked by the Taliban in which dozens of civilians are believed to have died in the resulting inferno.

MUMBAI (AFP) - India on Thursday marked the first anniversary of last year's deadly attacks on Mumbai with a show of security strength and prayers for the dead, as the government vowed a tough line to curb terror.

DUBLIN (AFP) - Ireland's Catholic Church apologised Thursday after a damning new report showed it covered up child sex abuse over more than three decades.

ARAFAT, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - Iranians chanted death to America and Israel on Thursday as some 2.5 million Muslims, drying out after a day of torrential rains, continue their hajj pilgrimage and mass at the site of the prophet Mohammed's last sermon.

VIENNA (AFP) - Outgoing IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei fired a parting shot at Iran here Thursday, saying efforts to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear programme have reached a dead end, as the UN atomic watchdog considered censuring Tehran.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel said on Thursday it had put the ball in the Palestinian court with temporary controls on settlement building aimed at reviving US-backed talks, as the two sides traded charges of gamesmanship.

PORT OF SPAIN (AFP) - The Commonwealth is trying to shape the direction of upcoming climate talks in Copenhagen by inviting top outside leaders to a weekend summit here, host Trinidad said on Thursday.

PARIS (AFP) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew to France on Thursday to pursue strategic military and energy goals that have raised concerns among states that were once under the grip of the Kremlin.

ISTANBUL (AFP) - The European Union urged Turkey Thursday to open its ports to Greek Cypriot vessels, ahead of a summit that may turn up pressure on Ankara over its refusal to comply with the terms of a trade pact with the bloc.

BUDAPEST (AFP) - A student at a university in southern Hungary opened fire on his classmates on Thursday, killing one person and wounding three, the university said.

MOSCOW (AFP) - At least 22 people were killed and 54 injured Friday when a train travelling between the Russian capital Moscow and Saint Petersburg derailed, possibly as a result of an attack, Russian media reported.

PORT OF SPAIN (AFP) - Commonwealth nations Friday joined forces with European and UN leaders Friday to push for a deal to tackle global warming and overcome last-minute haggling threatening to scupper climate talks.