AFP - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad congratulated Asif Ali Zardari on his victory in Pakistan's presidential poll Saturday and said he hoped ties between the two countries would expand.

AFP - South Africa fell 1-0 to Nigeria Saturday and lost virtually all hope of playing in the African Nations Cup five months before hosting the 2010 World Cup.

AP - Hurricane Ike barreled toward the Turks and Caicos as a powerful Category 3 hurricane Saturday, prompting an exodus of tourists and residents from the normally idyllic Atlantic island chain.

AP - A suicide car bomber blasted an outdoor market Saturday in a northern Iraqi city, killing six people and wounding 54, police and hospital authorities said.

AFP - Teenage striker Samuel Vokes came off the bench to score a late winner as Wales beat Azerbaijan 1-0 in their opening World Cup qualifier at the Millennium Stadium here on Saturday.

AP - A pickup truck packed with explosives blew up a police security checkpoint in northwestern Pakistan Saturday, killing at least 30 people and injuring dozens more, the day after a foiled militant kidnap attempt led to another 24 deaths in the volatile region.

AP - The Swazi king, bare-chested and wearing a traditional leopard skin loin cloth, celebrated his 40th birthday and his nation's 40th independence day in lavish style Saturday — hosting an extravaganza that contrasted sharply with the biting poverty of his subjects.

AP - Massive boulders crashed down on an Egyptian shantytown Saturday on the outskirts of the capital, killing at least 24 people, authorities said. Rescuers were digging by hand to reach any survivors.

AP - Benazir Bhutto's widower swept Pakistan's presidential election on Saturday, offering hope for stability to a nuclear-armed country feeling intense U.S. pressure to crack down on Islamic militants.

AP - Authorities fear that the death toll in the flooded city of Gonaives could rise into the hundreds as U.N. peacekeepers and aid groups rush food and water to tens of thousands left hungry by Tropical Storm Hanna.

AFP - Voters in Western Australia went to the polls Saturday in a ballot that could see a formal ban slapped on uranium mining in the mineral-rich state that drives the whole nation's economy.

AFP - A suicide bomber blew himself up inside a government building in southwestern Afghanistan Saturday, killing a senior state prosecutor and two other people, a provincial governor said.

AP - Flooding in Haiti from three major storms has killed scores of people and "washed away" progress toward dealing with ongoing food shortages, the top-ranking U.N. humanitarian official said Friday.

AP - The Iraqi government reacted sharply Friday to published allegations that the U.S. spied on Iraq's prime minister, warning that future ties with the United States could be in jeopardy if the report were true.