10 in TEN

ITALY

Berlusconi's popularity to be put to the test

ITALIAN Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi faces confidence votes today that will test the strength of his coalition, struggling to stay united after two crushing electoral losses in the past month.

A string of corruption cases, a stagnant economy and a sordid scandal involving an underage prostitute have taken their toll on Berlusconi, whose support among voters stands at a record low of 29%, according to pollsters IPR. - Reuters

AFGHANISTAN

Finance minister slams negotiations with IMF

AFGHAN Finance Minister Omar Zakhilwal said yesterday that negotiations with the International Monetary Fund over a bank crisis that threatens to put a multimillion-dollar squeeze on the country's budget were "a waste of time".

"We are now negotiating with a partner who is not a willing partner to conclude this," Zakhilwal told a news conference in Kabul.

Tens of millions of dollars in aid payments from foreign donors have been delayed over the crisis, sparked by the failure of aid-reliant Afghanistan's biggest private lender after it issued hundreds of millions of dollars in unsecured loans to the country's political elite. - Reuters

Austria

UN nuclear chief calls for national safety tests

THE UN nuclear chief called yesterday for national safety tests on all the world's reactors within 18 months, followed by international inspections to help prevent any repeat of Japan's atomic crisis three months ago.

Yukiya Amano, opening a ministerial meeting in Vienna on strengthening safety standards after the Fukushima emergency, said UN experts should be allowed to carry out random safety reviews of nuclear power plants. - Reuters

PAKISTAN

US drones claim lives of 11 Afghan militants

SUSPECTED US drones fired missiles into Kurram yesterday, killing at least 11 militants, nine of them from a major Afghan militant group, which is fighting Western forces in Afghanistan, local officials said.

US forces have intensified missile strikes by remotely controlled drones in Pakistan's border regions since the killing of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden by US Seals last month. - Reuters

UK

UN report says more cash needed to save babies

MORE investment in midwifery could save many of the millions of babies and hundreds of thousands of women who still die every year because of a lack of skilled healthcare during childbirth, the UN said yesterday.

In the first global midwifery report for 35 years, the UN said as well as saving lives and preventing disability, good midwives can also help contribute to a country's human and economic development.

"If we want to stop these women and babies dying, we need to invest in skilled care," said Flavia Bustreo of the family and community health department at the World Health Organisation. - Reuters

IRAQ

Home-made bomb injures seven in convoy

SEVEN people were wounded yesterday when a French embassy convoy was hit by a makeshift bomb in Baghdad in the second attack on the mission's vehicles in a month, an embassy official and local police said.

The attack in Baghdad's al-Mesbah neighbourhood underscored the still shaky security situation in the capital as the last US troops prepare to withdraw by a planned year-end deadline. No French diplomatic or security personnel were hurt. - Reuters

UGANDA

28 die as bus drives on wrong side of the road

UGANDAN police said at least 28 people died in a bus collision in Southern Sudan.

Johnson Kirama, the police spokesman, said two buses collided head on about 50km from Uganda's border in Southern Sudan on Friday. He says 17 Ugandans and 11 Sudanese were among the dead, and more than 20 people were taken to a hospital near the border.

Kirama said the buses collided because the one driving from Uganda to Southern Sudan was on the left side of the road, as is the law in Uganda, but in Southern Sudan, vehicles drive on the right. - Sapa-AP

UK

Constable charged with murder following demo

A LONDON police officer appeared in court yesterday, accused of killing newspaper seller Ian Tomlinson at the G20 protests in the capital in 2009.

Tomlinson, 47, collapsed and died on the fringes of the demonstrations in central London after he became caught up in the protests near the Bank of England as he tried to make his way home.

Last month, the Crown Prosecution Service charged Constable Simon Harwood with manslaughter, reversing an initial decision not to prosecute anyone. Harwood, a father of two, appeared at City of Westminster Magistrate's Court yesterday and the case was postponed to October 17. - Reuters

IRAN

Three rapists and robbers hanged in public

IRAN has hanged in public three men convicted of rape and armed robbery in the eastern city of Zabol, the Fars news agency reported.

The report identified the convicts as Baboddin Barkazai, Mohammad Poudineh and Valioallah Meer without giving further details.

The latest hangings bring to 159 the number of executions reported in Iran so far this year, according to an AFP count based on media and official reports. - Sapa-AFP

AUSTRIA

Croatia's former ruler cans extradition appeal

CROATIA'S former prime minister, Ivo Sanader, has withdrawn an extradition appeal, paving the way for his return to Croatia to face charges of corruption and abuse of power, an Austrian court said yesterday.

"He agreed to a simplified extradition procedure to Croatia," his lawyer Werner Suppan said.

"As a result, a court date set for today to make a final ruling on his extradition to Croatia has been cancelled, a spokesman for the court in Linz said. - Sapa-AFP