WORLD
* The U.S. Department of State has granted a senior North Korean government official and his delegation permission to attend two international conferences in the United States
* French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner arrived in Afghanistan on an unannounced visit
* Around a million people are estimated to have participated in an anti-abortion rally in Madrid
* Brazilian drug dealers shot dead the pilot of a police helicopter in Rio de Janeiro, causing it to crash to the ground and explode
* Film director Roman Polanski, arrested in Switzerland last month on child abuse charges, has been admitted to hospital, the Blick newspaper said
* Three U.S. soldiers have died in two separate incidents in Afghanistan, an International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) spokesperson said
* Pakistan forces began an offensive against Taliban militants in the country's South Waziristan area.
* Talks on a post-coup crisis in Honduras have reached deadlock with the de facto Honduran president refusing to reinstate ousted President Manuel Zelaya, the former Honduran foreign minister has said
* At least 32 people were killed and 10 injured in an explosion following a fire at a firework shop in southern India
RUSSIA
* Title holders Rubin went four points clear at the top of the Russian Premier League after a comfortable win over bottom-placed Khimki
* Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit to Belgrade on October 20 will help deepen Russian-Serbian ties, Serbia's president has said
* President Dmitry Medvedev has vowed Russia's closer cooperation with an alliance of Latin American and Caribbean countries
* A two-year-old girl missing in south Russia for 20 hours was found safe in a pit
World
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