Top Stories - AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The White House on Tuesday signaled the end of months of deliberations on US strategy toward Afghanistan, announcing that President Barack Obama would reveal his decision within days.

BEIJING (AFP) - Two men were executed in China on Tuesday for their roles in a contaminated milk powder scandal that led to the deaths of at least six infants and sickened up to 300,000, state media said.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Two Congolese militiamen pleaded not guilty on Tuesday when they were accused of planning to wipe out an entire village as their men killed civilians, raped women and enslaved child soldiers.

SHANGHAI (AFP) - AIDS has killed 25 million people worldwide but new infections are slowing sharply, the UN said on Tuesday in an annual report on the crisis that mixed hope with a warning against complacency.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Humanity would need five Earths to produce the resources needed if everyone lived as profligately as Americans, according to a report issued Tuesday.

BERLIN (AFP) - General Motors has repaid the 1.5 billion euros (2.2 billion dollars) in bridging loans it received from Germany to keep its troubled European unit Opel afloat, Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday.

BEIJING (AFP) - China has issued a rare warning that it will impose curbs on banks unless they beef up their defences against bad loans as Beijing tries to put the brakes on a massive lending spree.

PARIS (AFP) - It would normally be unthinkable -- but it is just possible that holders Barcelona will become the first winners since the 1993 introduction of the Champions League format not to survive the group stages.

CLEVELAND, Ohio (AFP) - Cleveland coach Eric Mangini sparked the ire of Detroit coach Jim Schwartz when he suggested Lions players faked injuries Sunday as a delaying tactic in their 38-37 NFL win over the Browns.

SYDNEY (AFP) - A high-fat, high-sugar diet could have the same effect on brain chemistry as mood-altering drugs, giving scientific support to the craving for "comfort food", Australian researchers said on Tuesday.

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 has 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.

GENEVA (AFP) - Two circulating beams on Monday produced the first particle collisions in the world's biggest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), three days after its restart, scientists announced.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - A Boeing 747, one of four engines powered by a 50-percent biokerosene mix, circled the Netherlands for an hour on Monday for what airline KLM called the world's first passenger flight using biofuel.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A rush to cash in tax incentives helped boost sales of existing US homes 10.1 percent in October, according to data Monday showing fresh momentum for the sector at the heart of the economic crisis.

LONDON (AFP) - Gold prices soared to a record 1,174 dollars an ounce here on Monday as a sliding US currency and worries about a possible spike to inflation increased demand for the "safe-haven" metal, traders said.

LONDON (AFP) - Defending champion Novak Djokovic handed Nikolay Davydenko another painful defeat at the ATP World Tour Finals as the Serb secured a 3-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory on Monday.

PARIS (AFP) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called an extraordinary general meeting for December 2 following the Thierry Henry handball incident and an ongoing investigation into match-fixing in Europe.

LONDON (AFP) - British reality TV singing sensation Susan Boyle's debut album went on sale Monday, having already become the most pre-ordered CD in the history of online retailer Amazon.

HEGANG, China (AFP) - The death toll from China's deadliest coal mine blast in two years has climbed to 104, local authorities said early Monday, according to state media.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's envoy to the UN atomic watchdog said on Sunday that Tehran wants a guaranteed supply of fuel for a research reactor as a military chief warned that any attack on its nuclear sites would be crushed.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Sunday there has been "progress" in talks to free soldier Gilad Shalit, held captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for the past three years.

BUCHAREST (AFP) - Romania's incumbent president and his Social-Democrat rival will face a run-off after Sunday's first round election, exit polls showed, as the country aims to recover from a political crisis and a deep recession.

OSLO (AFP) - After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.

MADRID (AFP) - With Spain facing its worst recession in decades, the government will approve this week a sweeping package of reforms aimed at changing the nation's economic growth model, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has voiced confidence that the US economy will make a strong recovery and poured cold water on talk of dropping the dollar as the key global currency.

LONDON (AFP) - Jermain Defoe scored five goals as Tottenham Hotspur thrashed Wigan Athletic 9-1 at White Hart Lane here on Sunday, a record victory for the hosts in the top-flight.