AFP - Pakistan's Supreme Court Wednesday ordered the postponement of a by-election while it decides on a government appeal against the disqualification of former premier Nawaz Sharif, lawyers said.

Reuters - Southern African leaders will hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss Zimbabwe's crisis, but the region's designated mediator, South African President Thabo Mbeki, will not attend, officials said.

AP - Iraqi police say 14 Shiite gunmen have been arrested during clashes in southern Iraq.

Reuters - Britain warned Iran on Wednesday it will suffer growing economic and political isolation if it makes the "wrong choice" and fails to comply with United Nations resolutions on curbing its nuclear program.

AP - Dozens of scared children filed silently into the bare room, their eyes on the cracks in the floor. One by one, in low voices, they told of being tortured by the Kenyan army because they were suspected of aiding rebels. They told of being beaten and made to shake hands with corpses. They told of being forced to crawl through barbed wire tunnels and of genitals squeezed by pliers.

AP - A water lily painting by Claude Monet sold for more than $80 million Tuesday, breaking the auction record for the French impressionist artist, Christie's said.

AP - A roadside bomb killed three American soldiers and an interpreter north of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Wednesday, and Iraqi police reported 14 Shiite gunmen were arrested after fighting south of the capital.

AP - The U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan says its warplanes have killed more than 22 militants in the country's troubled east.

AP - Saying the world can "shout as loud as they like," President Robert Mugabe refused to give into pressure from Africa and the West and vowed to go ahead with this week's runoff election, even though his opponent quit the race.

AFP - A leading Moroccan rights organisation said Tuesday that "slight" improvements in the country's record over 2007 were outweighed by a heavy police crackdown earlier this month.

AP - Countries at an international conference Tuesday agreed to commit $242 million to strengthen the Palestinian Authority's police and judicial systems, sending what Germany's foreign minister called a "clear signal of support" for building a Palestinian state.

AFP - Finnish mobile telephone giant Nokia said on Tuesday it will take full control of Symbian, a London-based software group, buying out the other shareholders for 264 million euros.

AP - An Israeli police officer fatally shot himself in the head at an airport farewell ceremony Tuesday for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, prompting bodyguards to whisk the visiting leader and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to safety, officials said.