LEBANON'S rival political leaders kicked off negotiations in Qatar on Friday in a fresh drive to form a national unity government.

VENEZUELAN President Hugo Chavez rubbished Interpol's claim on Thursday that documents detailing links between Caracas and Colombia's left-wing guerillas came directly from rebel computers and hadn't been doctored by Bogota.

THE United Nations warned on Thursday that the world economy is "teetering on the brink" of a severe downturn and is expected to grow only 1.8 per cent in 2008, down from 3.8 per cent in 2007.

SERBIA'S nationalists and socialists announced on Friday that they were close to forming a new government, dealing a blow to President Boris Tadic's plans to drag the country into the European Union.

THE International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) on Friday slammed a Zimbabwean court's decision to keep top trade union leaders Lovemore Matombo and Wellington Chibebe in detention in Harare Remand Prison until May 23.

TRADE unionists welcomed the news on Friday that thousands of Northern Ireland's lowest-paid civil servants are to share £100 million in back pay as part of a drive by the Stormont power-sharing executive to redress inequality.

GAY rights activists celebrated "a historic and landmark day for those who value fairness and opportunity" on Friday after the California Supreme Court ruled that the state can no longer exclude same-sex couples from civil marriage.

THOUSANDS of Greek strikers marched through central Athens on Thursday in protest at the right-wing government's sweeping privatisation plans.

TWO hundred and twenty strikers shut down five Norwegian airports on Friday after all-night contract talks failed to reach a settlement with national airport authority Avinor.

A STRONG aftershock sparked landslides near the epicentre of Monday's powerful earthquake in central China on Friday, burying vehicles and again cutting off ravaged areas.

AL-QAIDA chief Osama bin Laden vowed that his terror network will continue its "holy war" against Israel and its allies until Palestine is liberated in a new audio message that was released on Friday.

THE Chinese government warned on Thursday that the death toll from this week's earthquake could soar to 50,000 and appealed to the public for donations of rescue equipment, including hammers, shovels, demolition tools and rubber boats.

UNITED Nations human rights envoy Philip Alston warned on Thursday that foreign intelligence agents are acting with impunity in Afghanistan and have taken part in secret raids which have killed civilians.

A PAKISTAN Taliban leader vowed on Thursday to avenge a missile strike that killed several people in a tribal region.

THE Canadian Autoworkers Union (CAW) and General Motors agreed a tentative new labour contract on Thursday.

US President George W Bush feted Israel on Thursday in honour of the 60th anniversary of its founding.

PENTAGON bigwig Air Force Brigadier General Thomas Hartmann insisted on Thursday that he would not resign as adviser to the legally dubious US war crimes tribunals at the Guantanamo concentration camp in Cuba, despite his removal from the trial of Osama bin Laden's driver because of a lack of impartiality.

THE European Commission gave Spain one month to scrap conditions limiting any foreign takeover of its largest energy utility Endesa on Thursday.

US presidential hopeful Barack Obama secured a long-sought-after endorsement from ex-rival John Edwards on Wednesday night.

THE Swiss-based Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions said on Thursday that 800,000 residents of the Nigerian capital Abuja were forcibly evicted over a four-year period in response to demands for space in the fast-growing city.