Top Stories - AFP

KABUL (AFP) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai vowed Tuesday his new government would eradicate corruption and unite the country after months of political chaos, while offering an olive branch to Taliban insurgents.

PRAGUE (AFP) - Czech President Vaclav Klaus gave Tuesday the long-awaited final seal of approval to the European Union's reforming Lisbon Treaty, clearing the way for the bloc to find a new president.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US automaker General Motors Tuesday scrapped an on-again, off-again plan to sell its big European division, Opel, which had triggered a political and diplomatic controversy.

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) - Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic defiantly demanded more time to prepare his defence Tuesday as he made his first court appearance since the start of his genocide trial.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - North Korea's plutonium production for atomic weapons "runs counter" to its disarmament commitments and "violates" UN Security Council resolutions, the State Department said Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Warren Buffett unveiled Tuesday a deal to take over Burlington Northern Santa Fe, one of the largest rail operators in North America, calling it a huge bet on the future of the US economy.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Federal Reserve opened a two-day policy-setting meeting Tuesday expected to leave interest rates near zero and emergency measures on hold to underpin fragile recovery from recession.

MADRID (AFP) - Didier Drogba announced his return to European football with a brace as Chelsea qualified for the knockout phase of the Champions League with a 2-2 Group D draw at Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

MANCHESTER, England (AFP) - Sir Alex Ferguson revealed he had played Russian roulette to ensure Manchester United secured their passage into the last 16 of the Champions League.

PARIS (AFP) - French anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss, who helped shape Western thinking about human civilisation, has died at the age of 100, his publisher and colleagues said Tuesday.

KABUL (AFP) - Election organisers on Monday declared Hamid Karzai president of Afghanistan for another five years, cancelling a run-off which threatened to descend into farce and further destabilise the country.

RAWALPINDI, Pakistan (AFP) - A suicide bomber targeted workers queuing for their salaries outside a Pakistani bank and hotel on Monday, killing 35 people as the United Nations pulled expatriate staff from the northwest.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Bosnian Serb wartime leader Radovan Karadzic was behind one of "humanity's dark chapters," prosecutors said Monday as he vowed to attend a hearing on the fate of his war crimes trial.

NEW YORK (AFP) - The USS New York, a naval vessel whose bow was forged in part with steel from the World Trade Center towers destroyed on 9/11, sailed for the first time Monday into the city's harbor.

BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) - Negotiators meeting for a final session before a worldwide conference on climate change were urged on Monday to craft simple, clear options for politicians facing next month's haggle in Copenhagen.

LONDON (AFP) - Royal Bank of Scotland, rescued by the British government in the wake of the global financial crisis, said Monday that it planned to axe about 3,700 jobs across its retail operations in Britain.

CHICAGO (AFP) - Ford Motor Co. on Monday posted surprise earnings of nearly a billion dollars in the third quarter and said it was on track to become "solidly profitable" by 2011 after years of painful losses.

PARIS (AFP) - The Williams Formula One team announced on Monday that their drivers for next year will be veteran Brazilian Rubens Barrichello and German rookie Nico Hulkenberg.

BASEL, Switzerland (AFP) - Roger Federer eased through to the second round of the Swiss Indoors here on Monday on his return after a six week break with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Belgian qualifier Olivier Rochus.

ESSAOUIRA, Morocco (AFP) - A music festival bringing Jews and Muslims together in this windy, walled fishing port, long a crossroads of civilisation, is a step in breaking down political divides, says festival founder Andre Azoulay.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates near zero at a monetary policy meeting Wednesday, in a bid to nurture a fragile recovery from recession.

PARIS (AFP) - English giants Chelsea and Manchester United made hard work of it but ended up coming from behind to both qualify for the Champions League knockout stages on Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The top UN official in Afghanistan called on its President Hamid Karzai to show his commitment to reform in his next cabinet, bluntly warning that the world could desert him otherwise.

MANCHESTER (AFP) - Antonio Valencia struck a dramatic stoppage time equaliser as Manchester United fought back from 3-1 deficit to secure a point that takes them through to the last 16 of the Champions League.

MILAN, Italy (AFP) - AC Milan and Real Madrid took a small step towards qualification for the Champions League knock-out rounds following a 1-1 draw at the San Siro on Tuesday.

MUNICH (AFP) - Bordeaux striker Marouane Chamakh's late goal sealed a 2-0 win at Bayern Munich to put the French side into the Champions League's knock-out stages and effectively knock the Germans out.

SEOUL (AFP) - North Korea announced Tuesday it has produced more plutonium for its atomic weapons programme, putting further pressure on the United States to start direct talks.

ABU DHABI (AFP) - Shahid Afridi hit an aggressive half-century and took two wickets to cap Pakistan's 138-run win over New Zealand in the first day-night international here on Tuesday.