World News: Photographer is freed at last

AN Israeli photographer has been freed after being detained by Libyan security services for five months.

Rafael Hadad, 34, was arrested as a suspected spy in March after travelling to Libya.

The release was part of a secret Austrian-mediated deal, an Israeli official said.

Rwandans head to the polls

Rwandans are voting today in Presidential elections which are expected to bring a landslide for incumbent Paul Kagame.

He is credited locally with bringing peace and stability after the 1994 genocide in the country.

Radical Bashir arrested again

Radical Indonesian cleric Abu Bakar Bashir, once imprisoned for his links to the terror group behind the Bali bombings, was arrested today for alleged involvement with a new militant network.

His lawyer, Muhammad Ali, said Indonesia's elite anti-terror squad swooped in on the 72-year-old cleric early Monday in West Java's Ciamis district.

Officials said they had proof he was linked to Islamic militant training camps.

Chavez to meet with Santos

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez will meet the new Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in Bogota tomorrow in a bid to restore diplomatic relations between the neighbours.

The Venezuelan president broke off relations with the country last month.

Rescuers in desperate bid to dig survivors from mud

Rescuers armed with little more than shovels are searching for hundreds of people after a torrent of mud engulfed a northwestern Chinese town, tearing down homes, filling the streets with sludge and killing at least 127 people.

Nearly 1,300 people were still missing this morning after heavy rains and landslides on Saturday created a torrent of mud and floodwaters.

The landslides buried at least 300 low-rise homes and gouged chunks out of multi-storey concrete homes in Zhouqu County in Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture in Gansu province - a region dominated by steep and barren hills.

Upstream from the disaster, demolition experts and geologists were continuing to work frantically in a bid to drain a lake that had built up behind a barrier of landslide blockage.

With more rains forecast for this week, there would be fresh tragedy if the unsecured dam bursts, creating a new mud flow.

Premier Wen Jiabao visited the disaster-hit town yesterday to survey the wreckage, promise government help, console survivors, and urge rescuers and engineers to work as hard as possible to save lives and prevent fresh tragedy.

Sex-swap marriage ban goes to court

Hong Kong: A court has begun to review a government decision to bar a transgender woman from marrying her male partner in the first such case to be heard in the city's legal system.

Mexico: Police in Ciudad Juarez have detained their own commander, accusing him of corruption and links to drug gangs.

There were injuries when some loyal agents defended him, as more than 200 federal police raided his hotel.