World
Darfur rebel factions meeting in Tanzania have reached a common negotiating position for final peace talks with the Sudanese government, which they want held within three months, international mediators said on Monday.
The United Nations' nuclear watchdog held talks in Tehran on Monday to discuss future inspections of Iran's uranium enrichment facilities. Iran has rejected two UN Security Council resolutions requiring it to halt its uranium enrichment activities, citing its right to produce nuclear fuel under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. Members of the Security Council are preparing to debate a third set of sanctions against Iran in response to its refusal to suspend enrichment, which can produce fissile material for a bomb.
Turkey's president on Monday asked Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan to form a new government two days after the new parliament was sworn in. Mr. Erdogan, of the Islamic-rooted ruling party, the AKP, has 45 days to present a cabinet list for President Ahmet Necdet Sezer's approval. But he may delay until parliament holds presidential elections so that the new president – and not Mr. Sezer, a staunch secularist – approves the list.
Philippine police arrested a suspected Muslim militant plotting to bomb a shopping mall in Manila, a district police chief said Monday. He added that the suspect, who was apprehended Friday, had bombs in his home and a militant wanted by the US had ordered him to detonate them the following day. Manila is fighting a long-running Muslim insurgency that has killed more than 120,000 and displaced 2 million.
Ehud Olmert on Monday became the first Israeli prime minister to visit a Palestinian town since the outbreak of fighting seven years ago, meeting under heavy guard with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Jericho to talk about the creation of a Palestinian state. Olmert took a security risk in coming, but also gave a symbolic boost to Abbas, who stands to gain stature by hosting the prime minister on his own turf. The meeting, which tested renewed Israeli-Palestinian security coordination in the West Bank, is one in a series of sessions ahead of an international Middle East conference in November.
Monsoon rains that have killed at least 347 in South Asia are easing. Officials are now concerned about an outbreak of waterborne diseases.
Mexican golfing star Lorena Ochoa battled 35-m.p.h. wind, rain, and others' doubts about her prowess to win the Women's British Open this weekend.
The pro-US Lebanese government, locked for months in a political standoff with the Syrian- and Iranian-supported opposition, suffered a blow Monday in a tense election to replace two assassinated anti-Syrian legislators. In the Christian stronghold of Metn, a little-known opposition candidate defeated a former president, exposing divisions among Lebanon's once-dominant Maronite Christians.
The US and Iran held talks Monday on security issues in Baghdad more than two weeks after ambassadors agreed to establish a committee to discuss efforts to stabilize Iraq.
Al-Jazeera, the Arab-operated network based in Doha, Qatar, said Monday that the viewership for its nine-month-old English-language news channel has grown to more than 100 million households across Europe, Africa, and parts of Asia, including "tens of thousands" in the US. The channel is available in Washington, Houston, parts of Ohio, and Vermont.
Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has promised to donate up to 1 million laptop computers for use by Mexican children. The world's second-richest man, according to Forbes magazine, said digital education holds the key for Mexico's poor.