AFP - Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe raised the spectre of war on Friday if his arch-rival triumphs in a June 27 election, while the opposition accused authorities of trying to "cripple" their campaign.

AP - President-elect Fernando Lugo, whose historic election ended six decades of one-party rule in Paraguay, on Friday named a former leftist militant to head his Cabinet when he takes office on Aug. 15.

AFP - Three climate change protesters who breached security at the Houses of Parliament, climbing on to the roof and unfurling banners, have been charged with trespassing, police have said.

AP - Soaring oil and food prices are emerging as serious threats to global economic growth, finance ministers from the world's top industrialized nations said Saturday, while vowing to work together to address the problem.

AP - When Bangladesh's military-backed government arrested more than 10,000 people, human rights activists denounced it as a political crackdown six months ahead of elections at the end of this year meant to restore elected government. In Washington, the Bush administration was largely silent.

AP - A spokesman for Hamas says representatives plan to travel to Cairo to discuss an Egyptian-mediated truce with Israel.

AP - A 7.2-magnitude earthquake ripped across mountains and rice fields in northern Japan on Saturday, killing at least three people as it sheared off hillsides, jolted buildings and shook nuclear power plants. At least seven people were missing.

AP - French President Nicolas Sarkozy energetically greeted President Bush on Saturday for private talks, the latest sign of the warming in U.S.-European relations that Bush has touted all week in his travels abroad.

Reuters - The U.S. general who recently handed over command of NATO troops in Afghanistan cast doubt on Friday on the ability of Pakistan's Frontier Corps paramilitary force to combat Islamist militants.

Reuters - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe said on Friday liberation war veterans would take up arms if he loses a June 27 presidential run-off vote.

AP - Israel announced plans Friday to build 1,300 more homes in east Jerusalem, further angering Palestinians who warned ongoing construction threatens efforts to work out a peace deal by the end of the year.

AP - A Dutch woman who was the oldest person in the world when she died at age 115 in 2005 appeared sharp right up to the end, joking that pickled herring was the secret to her longevity.