World Highlights

¤ Finland's left-leaning President Tarja Halonen won a second six-year term in a run-off against conservative challenger Sauli Niinisto yesterday, official results showed. Ms Halonen, Finland's first woman President, won 51.8 per cent of the vote with 98 per cent of ballots counted.

¤ Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said yesterday Israel would boycott a Palestinian government that includes Hamas and urged foreign leaders to do the same until the militant group meets Israeli terms. "Israel will not hold any contacts with the Palestinians" unless Hamas "renounced terror", recognised the Jewish state's right to exist and accepted all agreements Palestinian leaders had signed with Israel, Mr Olmert said in broadcast remarks.

¤ Iran yesterday insisted the only solution to its nuclear dispute with the West was negotiations rather than referral of its atomic dossier to the United Nations Security Council. Tehran's nuclear programme, which the US and other major Western powers fear will be used to make nuclear bombs, will be discussed at a meeting of the five permanent members of the Security Council and Germany in London today.

¤ Three people were killed and up to 40 injured when a Pakistani passenger train derailed yesterday and one carriage plunged into a ravine, but all other passengers were believed to have been rescued, officials said. But they said troops using searchlights in the dark were still scouring the site of the crash near the central city of Jhelum.

¤ Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah was sworn in as Kuwait's new emir yesterday, after Parliament unanimously confirmed him as ruler of the Gulf oil producer. Sheikh Sabah, 77, took the oath of office before the assembly, officially assuming the powers and responsibilities of ruler - the first of which is expected to be the appointment shortly of a new Prime Minister.

¤ Twenty people were wounded when two gunmen on a motorcycle fired at a crowd leaving a mosque on the southern island of Jolo, Philippines, said an army general and witnesses yesterday. Brigadier-General Alexander Aleo, the army commander on the island, said people were coming out from the main mosque after the evening prayers when two gunmen opened fire at them on Saturday.