World News: Death toll reaches 23 in Haiti floods

Heavy rain has hammered southern Haiti for a seventh straight day, triggering floods and mudslides and causing houses and shanties in the capital to collapse.

The official death toll was 23 but could rise as remnants of the storm lingered.

Haitian authorities listed six people as missing.

Runoff from the rain sent rivers surging and flooded many homes as people scrambled to their rooftops.

Yemeni president suffered 40 per cent burns in attack

President Ali Abdullah Saleh suffered 40 per cent burns and bleeding in the brain in last weekend's attack on his palace, US officials said - far more serious wounds than initially reported.

The revelation casts doubts on Saleh making a quick return to Yemen and spells a deepening power vacuum.

In the wake of Saleh's evacuation to Saudi Arabia for treatment, Yemen's violence escalated, with government troops battling militants and opposition tribesmen in two southern cities on yesterday.

The military said it killed 30 militants who were among a group that took over the city of Zinjibar last week.

The US fears that al-Qaida's branch in Yemen will take advantage of the chaos.

Washington and Saudi Arabia are pushing Yemeni officials to seize the opportunity of Saleh's evacuation to immediately begin a transfer of power and formation of a new government.

The US ambassador in Sanaa spoke with vice president Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi, who is acting president, to press the American view.

On Monday, Hadi had said Saleh, in his late 60s, was improving after a series of operations in Saudi Arabia and would return home "within days."

21 killed in bus plunge

Police say a speeding bus toppled off a bridge in southern India today, bursting into flames and killing 21 passengers.

Villagers helped police put out the fire before pulling the charred bodies from the wreckage.

Only two people, including the driver, survived the accident. It happened just before midnight when the bus tried to overtake a truck and flipped over the bridge into a dry gully Tamil Nadu state.

Police said the driver would be charged with negligent driving.

Australia bans live cattle trade

Australia has suspended its live cattle trade with Indonesia after gruesome televised images exposed slaughterhouse practices there.

The ban will last until proper treatment of the animals has been assured, said Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig. The footage was shown nationally last week.

Residents flee wildfire

About 2000 residents of the Arizona town of Eagar were ordered to evacuate as flames from a forest fire appeared on ridges surrounding the town and neighbouring Springerville.

Firefighters spent yesterday preparing a defence for the two towns as residents prepared to leave.

Gaddafi defies Nato air raids

COLONEL Gaddafi made a defiant TV broadcast yesterday in the face of the heaviest Nato airstrikes on Tripoli yet - at least 40 daylight attacks.

The strikes continued overnight, and early today some ten explosions shook the Libyan capital. It was not immediately clear what was hit.