World News: Newt Gingrich launches bid to fight for US presidency

Newt Gingrich, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives and a Republican powerhouse in the 1990s, announced that he was joining the race for the party's presidential nomination to challenge Barack Obama in 2012.

The deeply conservative Gingrich is among the best-known Republicans in the still-forming group of candidates for next year's contest for the White House. He also brings considerable negative political baggage: three marriages, resignation under an ethics cloud while leader of the House and a tendency to shoot-from-the-hip when speaking.

In 1994, Gingrich led the Republican Party to its first House majority in 40 years. But any Republican candidate will face difficulties in defeating the incumbent Obama, who remains personally popular with Americans and has seen his job approval rating rise, notably after the killing of Osama bin Laden.

Obama was expected to raise as much as $1 billion to finance his bid for re-election and has proven himself a highly effective campaigner.

History would suggest a difficult path for Gingrich. The last president to have served as house speaker was James K. Polk in 1844.

Arnie and Shriver to split

Terminator star Arnold Schwarzenegger and wife of 25 years, Maria Shriver, said today they were separating.

"This has been a time of great personal and professional transition for each of us," the two said in a prepared statement.

Man, 82, dies on Everest

An 82-year-old former Nepalese foreign minister has died on the slopes of Mount Everest while attempting to become the oldest person to climb the world's highest peak, an official said today.

Shailendra Kumar Upadhyay was returning from the first camp on the slopes of Everest back to base camp when he collapsed yesterday evening,

Officials said Mr Upadhyay he was going back to base camp to get medical attention because he was not feeling well.

Mass grave body count hits 68

At least 68 bodies were found in a mass grave on a football field in the Ivory Coast capital Abidjan, the UN said.

Guillaume Ngefa, of the UN mission in Ivory Coast, said the victims were probably killed by pro-Laurent Gbagbo militias on April 12, the day after the strongman was arrested.

Police hunt acid bikers

Police say they are hunting two suspects who have attacked numerous women with an acid-like liquid while roaming Malaysia's largest city on a motorcycle.

Kuala Lumpur police say they have stepped up street patrols after receiving reports of 22 such incidents in three months.

13 killed as marines storm gang's island

Mexico: Marines patrolling a lake along the border with Texas discovered a drug gang camp on an island, provoking a gun battle that left 13 people dead.

One marine and 12 suspected gunmen of the Zetas drug cartel were killed.

Chile: A 4.2 billion project to dam two of the world's wildest rivers for electricity has won environmental approval from a Chilean government commission despite strong opposition.