Top Stories - AFP

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israel said on Monday there was no deal yet on a prisoner swap with Hamas, as efforts appeared to gather pace on an accord that could see a Gaza-held soldier exchanged for hundreds of Palestinians.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Eight soldiers died in a munitions blast Monday in central Russia, a defence ministry spokesman said, at the same arms depot where two died in a huge accidental weapons explosion 10 days earlier.

GENEVA (AFP) - Two circulating beams on Monday produced the first particle collisions in the world's biggest atom smasher, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), three days after its restart, scientists announced.

THE HAGUE (AFP) - A Boeing 747, one of four engines powered by a 50-percent biokerosene mix, circled the Netherlands for an hour on Monday for what airline KLM called the world's first passenger flight using biofuel.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - A rush to cash in tax incentives helped boost sales of existing US homes 10.1 percent in October, according to data Monday showing fresh momentum for the sector at the heart of the economic crisis.

LONDON (AFP) - Gold prices soared to a record 1,174 dollars an ounce here on Monday as a sliding US currency and worries about a possible spike to inflation increased demand for the "safe-haven" metal, traders said.

LONDON (AFP) - Rafael Nadal was beaten in straight sets by Robin Soderling in his opening match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday, the Swede repeating his shock French Open win over the Spaniard.

PARIS (AFP) - FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called an extraordinary general meeting for December 2 following the Thierry Henry handball incident and an ongoing investigation into match-fixing in Europe.

LONDON (AFP) - British reality TV singing sensation Susan Boyle's debut album went on sale Monday, having already become the most pre-ordered CD in the history of online retailer Amazon.

HEGANG, China (AFP) - The death toll from China's deadliest coal mine blast in two years has climbed to 104, local authorities said early Monday, according to state media.

TEHRAN (AFP) - Iran's envoy to the UN atomic watchdog said on Sunday that Tehran wants a guaranteed supply of fuel for a research reactor as a military chief warned that any attack on its nuclear sites would be crushed.

JERUSALEM (AFP) - Israeli President Shimon Peres said on Sunday there has been "progress" in talks to free soldier Gilad Shalit, held captive by Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip for the past three years.

BUCHAREST (AFP) - Romania's incumbent president and his Social-Democrat rival will face a run-off after Sunday's first round election, exit polls showed, as the country aims to recover from a political crisis and a deep recession.

OSLO (AFP) - After wind, sun, currents and tides, a company is preparing to make clean electricity by harnessing another natural phenomenon, the energy-unleashing encounter of freshwater and seawater.

MADRID (AFP) - With Spain facing its worst recession in decades, the government will approve this week a sweeping package of reforms aimed at changing the nation's economic growth model, Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said Sunday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has voiced confidence that the US economy will make a strong recovery and poured cold water on talk of dropping the dollar as the key global currency.

LONDON (AFP) - Jermain Defoe scored five goals as Tottenham Hotspur thrashed Wigan Athletic 9-1 at White Hart Lane here on Sunday, a record victory for the hosts in the top-flight.

BALTIMORE, Maryland (AFP) - Indianapolis eked out yet another narrow win on Sunday while New Orleans rolled past Tampa Bay as the Colts and Saints remained unbeaten in the National Football League.

SAN FRANCISCO (AFP) - French videogame powerhouse Ubisoft will have a virtual fitness coach whipping Wii users into shape starting Tuesday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - President Barack Obama's signature drive to remake US health care was on track to clear a key Senate hurdle Saturday, as the last wavering Democrats agreed to vote to formally open debate on the bill.

HALIFAX, Canada (AFP) - Despite fierce public pressure to end the war in Afghanistan eight years on, politicians and experts on Saturday decried calls for setting an exit date they say would embolden the Taliban.

COCKERMOUTH, England (AFP) - Britain's flood-hit northwest braced Saturday for more devastation after river levels rose again and forecasters warned of more rain following unprecedented torrential deluges.

PARIS (AFP) - Swine flu vaccines are still effective despite reported cases of mutations in the A(H1N1) virus, health experts in Europe and North America said Saturday.

VATICAN CITY (AFP) - Pope Benedict XVI and the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams sought to ease tensions between the Roman Catholic and Anglican churches at "cordial" talks at the Vatican on Saturday.

SAINT PETERSBURG (AFP) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Saturday strongly backed President Dmitry Medvedev's call for economic modernisation, moving to smother talk of differences between the two leaders.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Back from an Asia tour, President Barack Obama called Saturday for the United States to produce more goods to sell across the Pacific, touting trade as a way to revive the troubled US economy.

MADRID (AFP) - Barcelona dropped two costly points in a 1-1 draw at Athletic Bilbao on Saturday to fall a point behind new leaders Real Madrid ahead of next Sunday's eagerly-anticipated 'El Clasico' at Camp Nou.

ROME (AFP) - Inter Milan got back to winning ways in Serie A on Saturday with a convincing 3-1 win over Bologna at the Dall'Ara stadium extending their lead at the top to eight points ahead of Sunday's games.