Swiss voters have approved a move to ban the construction of minarets by 57.5 to 42.5% majority in a vote on a right-wing initiative that labelled the mosque towers as symbols of militant Islam.

The Iranian government approved a plan tonight to build 10 new uranium enrichment facilities, a dramatic expansion in defiance of UN demands it halt the programme.

Nepal's government says it will hold a Cabinet meeting on Mount Everest on December 4 to highlight the threat from global warming which is causing glaciers to melt in the Himalayas.

US vice president Joe Biden is encouraging Iraq's leaders to resolve differences and agree to legislation allowing a national vote to take place next year.

A rescue ship has righted a capsized ferry, easing the work of those searching the submerged cabins for scores believed trapped inside more than a day after the boat sank in southern Bangladesh.

Swiss voters are deciding in a referendum today whether to accept a ban on the construction of minarets, which right-wing parties regard as symbols of militant Islam.

Relatives have begun the grim process of identifying loved ones killed in the wreck of a train Russian authorities say was blown off the tracks by a terrorist bomb.

Gordon Brown sent a tough challenge to Pakistan today to step up action against the al Qaida terror network and "take out" its leaders Osama bin Laden and Ayman Zawahiri.

Pakistan's president turned over command of the country's nuclear arsenal to his political ally the prime minister and signalled he was ready to shed more power amid growing pressure to resign.

Osama bin Laden was unquestionably within reach of US troops in the mountains of Tora Bora when American military leaders made the crucial and costly decision not to pursue the terrorist leader with massive force, a Senate report said.

The flooding emergency that has ravaged areas of the south and west of the country shifted to the east today as heavy rains resulted in major flooding in many towns in Co Kildare.

The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) is pursuing policies that will create a political train wreck in the North, Sinn Féin claimed today.

The head of the Catholic Church in Dublin today told bishops implicated in a sickening report into child sex abuse to look in to their consciences.

A pedestrian was killed today when he was hit by two cars as he crossed a road.

The ESB has issued a flood warning for towns in Co Kildare that lie on the banks of the River Liffey including Ballymore Eustace, Kilcullen, Newbridge, Clane, Celbridge and Leixlip.

A Catholic bishop criticised for not investigating an allegation of child sex abuse today said that in response to calls for his resignation he would be guided by the priests and people of his diocese.

The Archbishop of Dublin has called on the Irish public to support and encourage the "good priests" that are in the religious orders.

A 21-year-old man was being questioned today over the seizure of €400,000 worth of drugs.

Two men appeared in court in Arklow last night charged in connection with an incident in the town earlier this week in which a shopkeeper died.

Negotiations on a €1.3bn reduction in the public sector pay bill for next year will continue in Dublin today.