World - AFP

COTABATO, Philippines (AFP) - Philippine President Gloria Arroyo vowed Wednesday justice would be served after 52 people were killed in a political massacre, but refused to say if an ally blamed for the murders would be arrested.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Barack Obama on Tuesday threw the biggest party of his presidency for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, hailing the world's largest democracy as "indispensable" and pledging to work out a range of thorny issues.

MECCA, Saudi Arabia (AFP) - The world's largest annual religious pilgrimage began on Wednesday but was overshadowed by the swine flu pandemic as 2.5 million Muslims massed at the holy city of Mecca for the hajj.

CARACAS (AFP) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in Caracas for a meeting with President Hugo Chavez, just hours after the Iranian leader stopped in La Paz for a meeting with the Bolivian leader.

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Prosecutors on Wednesday demanded a 40-year jail term for Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, as he expressed "excruciating remorse" for the deaths of 15,000 Cambodians at his brutal torture centre.

LONDON (AFP) - The first full-scale inquiry into Britain's role in the Iraq war opened with testimony suggesting Washington was gearing up for possible conflict two years before Tony Blair led London to war.

BRASILIA (AFP) - Italian ex-militant Cesare Battisti ended an 11-day hunger strike as he anticipated President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's verdict on his extradition to Italy.

KARBALA, Iraq (AFP) - Two bombs within minutes of each other exploded at a restaurant early Wednesday in Iraq's shrine city of Karbala, wounding at least 26 people, police and medical officials said.

HEGANG, China (AFP) - Rescuers have found three more bodies in a coal mine in northeastern China that was hit by a massive gas blast, bringing the confirmed death toll to 107, according to a mine spokesman.

SANIAG, Philippines (AFP) - The Philippines declared a state of emergency in parts of the volatile south on Tuesday as anger spiralled over a savage political massacre that left at least 46 people dead.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Two Congolese militiamen pleaded not guilty on Tuesday as they were accused in The Hague of plotting to wipe out a village where their forces killed civilians, raped women and enslaved child soldiers.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - An Israeli minister said on Tuesday that an agreement with Hamas to swap a Gaza-held soldier for hundreds of Palestinian prisoners was "very close," despite earlier efforts to rein in speculation.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Barack Obama threw the biggest party of his presidency for Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, hailing the world's largest democracy as "indispensable" and pledging to work out a range of thorny issues.

COTONOU (AFP) - Pirates attacked an oil tanker off the coast of west Africa, killing a Ukrainian officer before escaping with the contents of the ship's safe, the ship's owners and Benin's navy commander said Tuesday.

BRUSSELS (AFP) - Belgium's ex-prime minister Yves Leterme -- who quit amid a bank bailout scandal last year -- will bounce back as government chief within 24 hours, incumbent Herman Van Rompuy said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (AFP) - President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a probe into the prison death of a lawyer arrested in a high-profile tax case, the Kremlin said Tuesday, following allegations of "mediaeval" prison treatment in Russia.

SANIAG, Philippines (AFP) - The Philippines declared a state of emergency in parts of the volatile south on Tuesday as anger spiralled over a savage political massacre that left at least 46 people dead.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel said on Monday there was no deal yet on a prisoner swap with Hamas, as efforts appeared to gather pace on an accord that could see a Gaza-held soldier exchanged for hundreds of Palestinians.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Eight soldiers died in a munitions blast Monday in central Russia, a defence ministry spokesman said, at the same arms depot where two died in a huge accidental weapons explosion 10 days earlier.

BRASILIA (AFP) - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Monday urged his visiting Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to find a "just solution" with the West to Tehran's contested nuclear program.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama gathered his war cabinet Monday for what officials indicated could be the final time before he decides whether to dispatch tens of thousands more US troops to Afghanistan.

BAGHDAD (AFP) - Iraq's upcoming general election will be delayed, a top MP warned, because an amended electoral law agreed on Monday is likely to be vetoed for a second time by the country's Sunni vice president.

BUCHAREST (AFP) - Centre-right incumbent Traian Basescu and left-wing leader Mircea Geoana battled to form vote-winning alliances Monday after being forced into a second round of a presidential election.

TANJUNG BALAI, Indonesia (AFP) - Rescuers scoured the Malacca Strait in Indonesia for a third day on Tuesday as hopes faded that any more survivors of a deadly ferry sinking would be found, officials said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A alleged Belgian arms dealer on Monday pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring to export fighter jet engines and parts to Iran, US justice officials said.

CHICAGO (AFP) - A group of Somali-American youth recruited to fight for an Islamist militia in Somalia were told it would be "fun," court documents have shown.

RIYADH (AFP) - Saudi King Abdullah and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero held talks on boosting bilateral ties and the situation in the Middle East, the official SPA news agency said on Wednesday.

PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Prosecutors demanded a 40-year jail term Wednesday for Khmer Rouge prison chief Duch, as the former cadre made a final apology for his role in the deaths of 15,000 Cambodians at his torture centre.