World highlights

The Iraqi Cabinet split over the fate of dozens of hostages snatched in a mass kidnap that raised new fears that sectarian militias can defy the government at will on the streets of Baghdad. With momentum growing in Washington for a change in tack to force Iraqis to impose order and bring US troops home, Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki played down Tuesday's daylight raid on a government building and said most of those seized by gunmen in police uniforms had now been released.

A rocket fired from Gaza killed a 58-year-old woman in an Israeli border town, prompting Israel to warn Palestinian militants they would "pay a heavy price". It was the first time since July 2005 that rockets have killed Israelis in towns and villages along the Gaza frontier.

Iran's President said his country would press on with its nuclear programme "until the end" and would not be stopped by the West, which fears the Islamic Republic is trying to build atomic bombs. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was speaking a day after the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in a report Iran was still stonewalling probes aimed at determining whether its plans are peaceful.

The top US general in the Middle East said violence in Iraq was unacceptably high but more American troops would not solve the problem. Iraqis must take responsibility, said Army Gen. John Abizaid in the military's first appearance on Capitol Hill since voters drove President George W. Bush's Republicans out of power in the next Congress.

Washington rejected pleas by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to cut emissions of greenhouse gases and dismissed his charge that there was a "frightening lack of leadership" in combating global warming.

Provisional results from Congo's historic presidential election gave President Joseph Kabila 58 per cent of votes, against 42 per cent for his rival Jean-Pierre Bemba, with all votes counted. Democratic Republic of Congo's Independent Electoral Commission has said it must deal with challenges to the figures before declaring a winner from the October 29 run-off, but it posted results from all 169 constituencies on its website.