AP - Philippine troops found 21 bodies in the country's restive south after dozens of gunmen on Monday hijacked a convoy of politicians and supporters filing their nominations for next year's elections, officials said.

AP - Four U.S. service members were killed in the past 24 hours in Afghanistan, NATO forces said Monday.

AP - A Chinese dissident was sentenced Monday to three years in prison after criticizing the government's response to the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed about 90,000 people.

AP - Romania's centrist president will face a socialist former foreign minister in a Dec. 6 runoff election, partial results showed Monday, in a race key to helping the country emerge from a political and economic crisis.

AP - A French navy ship of the type that Russia hopes to buy arrived Monday for a visit to St. Petersburg, fueling concern in Georgia and other ex-Soviet nations that it may be used to intimidate its neighbors.

Time.com - Talking with the Taliban

AP - Germany warned fellow European governments on Monday against offering financial aid to General Motors Europe in exchange for job guarantees, hours ahead of a meeting in Brussels to discuss the future of the company.

AP - Iran on Sunday began large-scale air defense war games aimed at protecting its nuclear facilities from attack, state TV reported, as an air force commander boasted the country could deter any military strike by Israel.

AP - Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is seeking a new source of legitimacy while making his first visit to Brazil, a nation that maintains close ties to the U.S., Israel and other countries trying to halt Iran's nuclear push.

AFP - Two Congolese militiamen accused of seeking to wipe out a village blocking a strategic route in an ethnic war, enter the dock in The Hague Tuesday for the International Criminal Court's second trial.