Democratic Sen. Barack Obama, trying to quell a political firestorm that has roiled his presidential campaign, strongly denounced his former pastor on Tuesday and called his racially charged comments "appalling." , reports REUTERS.

The controversy over the Rev. Jeremiah Wright has been a major stumbling block for the Illinois senator, who is leading New York Sen. Hillary Clinton in the state-by-state contest for the party's nomination for the November election.

REUTERS, MEXICO CITY- The US Navy has temporarily added a second aircraft carrier in the Gulf as a "reminder" to Iran, but this was not an escalation of American forces in the region, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday.

Speaking to reporters during a trip to Mexico, Gates flatly denied a suggestion that the presence of two US carriers in the Gulf could be a precursor to military action against Tehran.

REUTERS, Islamabad - Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif flew to Dubai on Tuesday for a crucial meeting to decide if his party should stay in a month-old coalition with the party of the late Benazir Bhutto.

Sharif is expected to meet Asif Ali Zardari, Bhutto's widower and leader of her Pakistan People's Party (PPP), on Wednesday to try to break a deadlock over reinstating judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf late last year.

REUTERS, NEW DELHI--India plans to launch at least six satellites a year as it expands its capabilities to claim a bigger chunk of the global space business, the head of its space agency said on Tuesday.

India sent 10 satellites into orbit from a single rocket this week and is planning more launches before a manned mission to space by 2015.

REUTERS, BEIJING - A Chinese court jailed 17 people for terms ranging from three years to life on Tuesday for their roles in Tibet's deadly riots, which triggered anti-China protests ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

China has blamed Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, and his government-in-exile for plotting the riots, in which at least 18 "innocent civilians", according to Beijing, were killed by Tibetan mobs in the regional capital, Lhasa, last month.

DNA tests on Tuesday confirmed that Josef Fritzl is the father of his daughter's six surviving children born while she was a prisoner in a cellar for 24 years, investigators said, reports internet.

The 73-year-old Fritzl appeared in court to be remanded in custody while doctors shielded the Elisabeth Fritzl and her surviving children in isolation from a world they barely know.

AFP, ZIBO - Seventy people were killed and 420 injured early Monday when a passenger train from Beijing careered off the rails and slammed into another train in eastern China, state media reported.

Ruling out terrorism, the official Xinhua news agency said preliminary investigations found human error was to blame, without elaborating.The first train was travelling to Qingdao -- the coastal city that will host the Olympic sailing

AFP, BAGHDAD - Fierce clashes between Shiite militiamen and US and Iraqi forces in east Baghdad killed at least 38 people, the American military said on Monday, amid new political efforts to end the bloodletting.

Sunday's heaviest fighting in weeks came on a day when militiamen blasted Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone with rockets and mortars, taking advantage of a blinding dust storm that grounded US attack helicopters.

REUTERS, ISLAMABAD - Iran and Pakistan agreed they had settled all issues relating to plans for a $7.6 billion gas pipeline during a visit to Islamabad on Monday by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Pakistan's foreign minister said.

The project to pipe gas to India and Pakistan was discussed when Ahmadinejad stopped briefly to meet Pakistani leaders before flying on for an official visit to Sri Lanka.

REUTERS, ISLAMABAD - A Pakistani Taliban commander pulled out of a peace deal with the government after it refused to withdraw the army from tribal lands on the Afghan border, the militant's spokesman said on Monday.

Tribal elders in Pakistan's South Waziristan region have been trying to broker a peace deal between the government and Baitullah Mehsud, an al Qaeda ally who leads the Taliban in Pakistan.

AFP, AMSTETTEN - An elderly Austrian, portrayed by media as a "monster", confessed Monday to imprisoning his daughter in a cellar for 24 years and fathering her seven children, prosecutors said.

Josef Fritzl, 73, "has admitted building the dungeon and to holding his daughter and three children there," prosecution spokesman Gerhard Sedlacek told AFP.

REUTERS, KABUL - Afghan President Hamid Karzai escaped unhurt on Sunday after an assassination attempt by Taliban fighters who fired guns and rockets at an official celebration in the capital, Kabul.

Karzai, government ministers, former warlords, diplomats and the military top brass ducked for cover after gunfire sounded at the celebration to mark the 16th anniversary of the fall of the Afghan communist government to the mujahideen.

The Burmese military government has decided to allow pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi to vote in a May 10 national referendum on whether to endorse a draft constitution, sources in the ruling junta said Saturday, reports agency.

According to the sources, the Burmese government placed the name of Suu Kyi on the list of eligible voters. Suu Kyi is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate who is under house arrest, since her National League for Democracy (NLD) party won a general election but was prevented by the military from taking office.

REUTERS, KATHMANDU - The elections have passed off peacefully, the U.N. spokesman in Nepal crowed: "bad news for foreign journalists".

He could not have got it more wrong. Covering Nepal's journey from hopeless civil war and royal dictatorship to democracy, peace and its first elections in nine years has been exhilarating. I have reported from Africa and Afghanistan but few places inspired such pessimism as Nepal.

Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad called here Friday for an international tribunal to try Western leaders with war crimes over the war in Iraq, a spokesman for the organisers said, reports AFP.

In a speech at Imperial College, Mahathir called for a tribunal to try US President George W. Bush plus former prime ministers Tony Blair of Britain and John Howard of Australia for their part in the conflict, said a spokesman for the Muslim group the Ramadhan Foundation, which set up the event.

Israeli forces have clashed with Palestinian militants during a raid on northern Gaza, hours after rejecting a truce offered by Hamas, reports BBC.

Palestinian doctors say a 14-year-old girl died and eight other people were injured in the raid, in Beit Lahiya. They say the casualties included the girl''s mother, but were mostly gunmen involved in clashes with the Israelis.

REUTERS, KATHMANDU - China will extend its railway link from Tibet to Nepal's border in five years, Nepali officials said on Saturday, bringing the traditionally friendly nations closer and boosting trade and tourism.

The rail link with China could help Nepal reduce its heavy dependence on its giant southern neighbour India for everything from oil to motor parts and medicines.

REUTERS, NEW YORK - Afghan President Hamid Karzai criticized the U.S. and British conduct of the war in Afghanistan, telling The New York Times in an interview published on Saturday his government must be accorded the lead in policy decisions.

Karzai told the newspaper he wanted U.S. forces to stop arresting suspected Taliban members and their sympathizers, saying that fear of arrest along with past mistreatment were discouraging them from coming forward and laying down their arms.

AFP, HARARE - Zimbabwe's main opposition party said Saturday it had retained a historic victory over President Robert Mugabe's ruling party and accused the authorities of stepping up a campaign of violence.

The Movement for Democratic Change said a recount in 23 of the country's 210 constituencies had confirmed its victory in the March 29 elections.

The Palestinian Islamist movement, Hamas, has proposed a six-month "period of quiet" in Gaza, which it says could then be extended to the West Bank, reports BBC Former Palestinian foreign minister Mahmoud Zahhar said the truce would have to be mutual and include the lifting of an Israeli blockade of Gaza.

But an Israeli government spokesman dismissed the proposal as a ruse to allow Hamas to "re-arm and re-group". Meanwhile, two Israeli security guards have been shot dead in the West Bank.