METRO Goldwyn Mayer, once one of Hollywood's greatest film studios, declared bankruptcy and handed management over to Skyglass Entertainment which was a co-producer of the recent Nelson Mandela film Invictus.
IN Iraq at least 120 civilians were killed by insurgents in a five-day period, among them 50 Christians who were killed in their Baghdad church.
President Dmitrii Medvedev became the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the Kurile Islands which Japan claims Russia illegally took from it at the end of World War Two.
BRITAIN and France signed two treaties of military co-operation with provision for a 10'000 strong joint expeditionary force, sharing of aircraft carriers and of nuclear technology and testing.
PRESIDENT Obama's Democrat party narrowly retained its Senate majority but lost control of the House of Representatives in mid-term elections.