A round-up of today's world stories
Zimbabwe parties fail to agree deal
HARARE -Zimbabwe's ruling party and Morgan Tsvangirai's opposition failed to reach a breakthrough in powersharing talks yesterday but president Robert Mugabe said a deal was still possible.
The parties ended a second day of make-or-break talks and planned to return to the negotiating table today.
Asked if progress had been made in more than four hours of discussions, Mr Mugabe said: "Not at the present moment but we will continue tomorrow." - (Reuters)
Israel to shut Gaza border crossings
JERUSALEM -Israel said it would shut its border crossings with the Gaza Strip today in response to a rocket attack that further strained a ceasefire between the Jewish state and Gaza militants.
The rocket fired from the Gaza Strip yesterday struck near the centre of Sderot, a town in southern Israel often targeted by militants, causing no damage or injuries, Israeli police said. - (Reuters)
Election monitors arrive in Angola
JOHANNESBURG - EU observers arrived in Angola yesterday to monitor next month's parliamentary election, the country's first in 16 years.
The EU said 40 long-term monitors from 16 countries joined a team of eight election experts who arrived in the oil-rich southwest African country in July. - (Reuters)
Taliban militants killed in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD - Pakistani forces killed about 50 Taliban militants in fresh clashes in a volatile tribal region near the Afghan border yesterday, taking the death toll to almost 160 in five days of fighting.
"The helicopter gunships pounded positions of the militants in Bajaur and killed about 50 of them," a security official said, referring to a tribal region known as a sanctuary for al-Qaeda and the Taliban militants. - (Reuters)
Nepal assembly to elect new PM
KATHMANDU - A special assembly in Nepal will elect a new prime minister this week, an official announced yesterday, a post that is likely to go to the chief of the former Maoist rebels, Prachanda.
The Maoists won a special assembly election in April but not a parliamentary majority, sparking a power tussle that has left Nepal struggling to form a new government four months after the polls. - (Reuters)
Five al-Qaeda suspects killed
SANAA -Five suspected members of al-Qaeda were killed and two arrested in a clash in Yemen after police stormed a hideout in a southern town yesterday.
Two militants were arrested after the shootout in which two Yemeni policemen were killed and four wounded, provincial officials said. - (Reuters)
King Abdullah visits Iraq
BAGHDAD -King Abdullah of Jordan yesterday became the first Arab leader to visit Iraq since the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003, a landmark step towards reducing Baghdad's isolation among its Sunni Arab neighbours.
Iraqi prime minister Nuri al-Maliki's office released footage showing the king embracing members of the Iraqi cabinet. - (Reuters)
Former BBC TV chief dies
BOURNEMOUTH -Sir Bill Cotton, the BBC's former managing director of television, died yesterday.
Cotton (80), who retired in 1987, died in a hospital in Bournemouth.
He was the BBC's head of light entertainment between 1970 and 1977, overseeing classic shows like The Two Ronnies, Morecambe and Wise and Monty Python's Flying Circus. - (PA)