ROMANIA: Current Prime Minister Victor Ponta is favoured to win tomorrow's election first round to replace President Traian Basescu who steps down after 10 years.

If, as expected, no candidate secures an absolute majority tomorrow there will be a second round on November 16.

The front-runner is a Social Democratic Party member who pledges lower taxes, higher pensions, good relations with the EU and China and a referendum on the monarchy.

NORTH KOREA: Pyongyang diplomat Kim Un Chol confirmed yesterday that EU human rights official Stavros Lambrinidis is expected to visit the country next March.

"We have already sent the invitation letter," said Mr Kim.

However, he warned that recent offers of visits to UN human rights officials would be dropped unless a UN resolution on North Korea removes any reference to the International Criminal Court.

CZECH REPUBLIC: Parliament approved a government plan yesterday to keep troops in Afghanistan for at least two more years.

Up to 350 soldiers will be stationed there in 2015 and 2016 as part of a Nato-led mission called Resolute Support to train and advise Afghan forces.

Prague also pledged to maintain its military role in international forces in the Balkans, Africa and the Sinai Peninsula.

SPAIN: Deputy Prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said yesterday that the government is petitioning the Constitutional Court to block plans by Catalonia to hold an informal independence poll on November 9.

Catalan authorities called off an official referendum on the issue after the government challenged its legality before the court.

Ms Saenz de Santamaria said that the alternative poll was equally unconstitutional and should also be suspended.

SPAIN: Andalusian regional official Luis Naranjo revealed yesterday that archaeologists will start inspecting a remote hillside area close to Granada where poet Federico Garcia Lorca is believed to have been executed and buried.

Soundings will begin on November 17 in a 300-square-metre area, he said.

The project is aimed at discovering the remains of victims put to death by fascists in the 1936-39 war.

COLOMBIA: Mining and Energy Ministry sources announced yesterday that a coal mine collapse in the state of Antioquia has trapped 12 men.

The ministry said that the collapse had occurred on Thursday evening with a sudden burst of water into the mine and that officials are trying to pump out contaminated air pervading the tunnels.

YEMEN: Shi'ite rebels, who are in control of the capital Sanaa, gave the president 10 days yesterday to form a government, hinting at a takeover attempt if their demands are not met.

The group, known also as Houthis, rallied 30,000 tribal leaders in Sanaa, where they delivered a communique warning President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi that "all revolutionary options are open" if he fails to form a government.

The communique from yesterday's rally called for the establishment of "revolutionary committees" across the country.

SYRIA: The 10 Peshmerga fighters from Iraq who entered Kobane on Thursday returned to Turkey yesterday to prepare for their forces' full deployment.

Kurdish official Anwar Muslim said that the 10 had discussed defensive positions and strategy against the Islamic State group with the town's Kurdish defenders.

All 150 Peshmerga fighters were supposed to leave Turkey last night for Kobane.