AFP - European Union energy ministers said at an informal meeting Saturday they had been labouring for 18 months under the false impression that an EU plan to fight global warming included an obligation to develop controversial biofuels.

Nigeria. Rwanda. Uganda. Ethiopia. Gabon. Robert Mugabe's regime in Zimbabwe has plenty of competitors for the title of "least democratic in Africa."

AP - Pakistani security forces have halted an operation against militants in the country's volatile northwest to try negotiating peace through tribal elders, officials said Saturday.

Reuters - Israeli forces blockaded a Palestinian village on Saturday in what the army called an open-ended effort to curb protests against the construction nearby of the controversial West Bank barrier.

Confessed French serial killer Charles Sobhraj, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in Nepal, is engaged and plans to marry a woman 44 years younger than he is.