World News: Tea Party candidate secures victory in the US primaries

A second insurgent led for the Republican Senate nomination in New Hampshire.

Tea Party favourite Christine O'Donnell defeated nine-term Mike Castle, a fixture in Delaware politics for a generation and a moderate who campaigned with the strong backing of party officials in his state and in Washington. Nearly complete returns showed O'Donnell with 53 per cent of the vote. Democrats rejoiced, as did O'Donnell's supporters.

The Tea Party movement emerged after the election of President Barack Obama as a loose-knit coalition of community groups largely made up of people with conservative and libertarian views who say government has grown too large and spends too much, threatening individual liberties.

Republican hopes to capture control of the House of Representatives have been complicated by the success of insurgents backed by the Tea Party.

New baby for trapped miner

The wife of one of the 33 miners trapped underground in Chile has given birth to a baby girl.

Ariel Ticona, who has been trapped underground for 40 days, has asked his wife to name the girl Esperanza, Spanish for hope.

Chief resigns after massacre

Mexico's top immigration official has resigned in the wake of a massacre of 72 migrants that exposed how brutally drug cartels have come to control human smuggling routes in the country.

Cecilia Romero stepped down as head of the National Institute of Migration.

Fishing boat back in China

A CHINESE fishing boat that set off a diplomatic spat by colliding with two Japanese patrol boats returned to China today, though its captain remained in Japanese custody despite Beijing's repeated demands for his release.

The foreign ministry said it had called in Japan's ambassador to China yesterday and lodged another formal protest against the arrest of the captain after his ship and the Japanese patrol boats collided last week.

Hiker urges Iran to free fiance

A US hiker, freed after spending more than a year in jail in Iran, has promised to lobby for the release of the two men she was arrested with.

Sarah Shourd, who was flown to Oman, urged Iran to free her fiance, Shane Bauer, and friend, Josh Fattal.

Twelve die in drone aircraft missile attack

Pakistan: Drone aircraft have unleashed a fresh missile attack that killed 12 people during the most intense period of US strikes in Pakistan since they began in 2004, intelligence officials said today.

The campaign is focused on a small area controlled by the Haqqani network.

France: The Eiffel Tower was evacuated last night after an anonymous caller phoned in a bomb threat, but police found nothing suspicious.