ABOUT one third of Afghanistan's eligible voters defied the Taliban to vote in parliamentary elections. Nato and Western embassies said the election had been a success but the main opposition leader claimed there had been massive fraud. The results will not be known for some weeks.
RUSSIA convened a meeting in Moscow to discuss its own and others territorial claims in the Arctic ocean; Canada, Denmark, Norway and the United States attended. Oil and gas equal to one quarter of known reserves are at stake.
IN Germanys biggest anti-nuclear protest for many years, tens of thousands marched in Berlin against the government's recent decision to extend the life of the country's 20 nuclear reactors.
SWEDEN's four-party centre-right governing coalition failed to get a majority in parliamentary elections. The anti-immigration Sweden Democrats won twenty seats and entered parliament for the first time.
IN the US Senate the majority Democrats were unable to stop a filibuster by Republicans which prevented the repeal of the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy which enables clandestine gays to serve in the US armed forces. The Pentagon wants to introduce a policy to enable homosexual men and women to serve openly.