World News: Greek militants believed to be behind mail bomb attacks

Suspected Greek terrorists unleashed an unprecedented two-day wave of mail bomb attacks in Athens and abroad, with one package reaching the office of German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Greek militant groups are suspected of mounting the attacks targeting embassies in Athens, international organisations and foreign leaders abroad.

If that is confirmed, it would mark a dramatic escalation for organisations that have never before attempted to strike targets abroad.

The campaign used small devices that only caused one injury and minimal damage.

Security at all embassies in Athens was increased and authorities yesterday suspended all international mail deliveries from Greece for 48 hours. By yesterday evening, at least 11 mail bombs had been detected in the Greek capital - one addressed to French president Nicolas Sarkozy and eight to the embassies of Bulgaria, Russia, Germany, Switzerland, Mexico, Chile, the Netherlands and Belgium.

One addressed to Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi was opened by bomb experts at the airport at Bologna, Italy.

Peru plea to US over artefacts

Peru's government formally asked US President Barack Obama to assist Peruvian efforts to get Yale University to return thousands of artefacts taken from the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu.

In a letter to Mr Obama, President Alan Garcia said it was "just and necessary" for Mr Obama to intervene on Peru's behalf.

Paper in gay names row

Uganda's high court ordered a controversial newspaper to stop publishing the names and photographs of people it says are gay, ruling that the publication is violating their right to privacy.

A gay rights group sought the injunction against the paper, Rolling Stone, on Monday.

NZ plans to be smoke-free

New Zealand should severely limit the import and use of tobacco and aim to be smoke-free by 2025, a parliamentary committee said today.

The proposal to drastically cut smoking rates was welcomed by health workers and given cautious support from the government, which said the habit is a health hazard but that it would be difficult to eradicate it.

The only other country with a similar policy is Finland, which plans to be smoke-free by 2040.

British writer faces sentence

A Singapore court has found the UK author Alan Shadrake guilty of insulting the Singapore judiciary in a book he wrote about the death penalty.

The 75-year-old will be sentenced for contempt next week; he also faces trial on defamation charges.

Serbia fails to track down war criminal

Serbia: Authorities conducted another unsuccessful hunt for Europe's most-wanted war crimes fugitive, pledging to meet a European Union demand to arrest Ratko Mladic.

The EU said last month that Serbia must bring Mladic to justice if it wants to join the bloc.

Ivory Coast: The presidential election is likely to go into a second round after results point to a tight race between the top candidates Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara.