AFP, LONDON  - The original version of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution was published online Thursday among a "treasure trove" of the scientist's papers, photographs and other documents.

Some 20,000 items contained in around 90,000 images were published on the Internet,

AFP, KIRKUK - A suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of mourners north of Baghdad on Thursday, killing at least 51 people in one of the biggest insurgent attacks in violence-wracked Iraq this year.

The bomber detonated an explosives vest in the Sunni Arab village of Bu Mohammed, near the town of Adhaim in Diyala province north of Baghdad at around 11:00 am (0800 GMT), police captain Najim Abdullah said from Diyala.

Clashes between security forces and Shiite militiamen in the capital''s war-torn Sadr City district killed two people and injured 18, police said Wednesday, reports AP.

Meanwhile, the British military said warplanes attacked gunmen in the southern port city of Basra early Wednesday. The airstrike killed four militants and wounded one, spokesman Maj Tom Holloway said.

A bomb attack in Yemen is reported to have killed three policemen and wounded four civilians, reports AP.

The bomb exploded as they were parking their car in the city of Maareb, about 170 km east of the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

Witnesses said the vehicle was totally destroyed by the blast.

AFP, WASHINGTON - Pope Benedict XVI was expected Wednesday to raise thorny topics such as the Iraq war and Hispanic immigration in talks with President George W. Bush on the second day of his US visit.

On the flight from Rome to Washington on Tuesday, Benedict broached the most sensitive issue surrounding his trip when he told reporters he felt "deeply ashamed" by the child abuse scandal that has rocked the US Catholic church, and would "do everything possible to heal this wound".

REUTERS, LONDON - High global food and fuel prices are damaging Sri Lanka's economic growth more than its ongoing civil war, the central bank governor said on Tuesday, but shrugged off suggestions it could miss a 7 percent target.

The Asian Development Bank said earlier this month growth would probably slow to 6 percent this year and next on high interest rates and global economic weakness.

The world will face social upheaval and environmental disasters if agriculture is not radically reformed to better serve the poor and hungry, a landmark UN-sponsored report said Tuesday, reports AFP.

The warning in the report by the International Assessment of Agricultural Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD) comes amid growing discontent among the world''s poorest over rising food prices.

AFP, HARARE - A coalition of Zimbabwean doctors said Wednesday its members had seen and treated more than 150 patients who had been beaten and tortured since the elections at the end of March.

The independent Zimbabwe Association of Doctors for Human Rights (ZADHR) said 157 people had been treated between the elections on March 29 and April 14 with injuries clearly stemming from organised violence and torture.

AFP, TEHRAN - Iran is installing vending machines in Tehran to sell cheap condoms and syringes to drug addicts to prevent the spread of AIDS and hepatitis, an official said on Wednesday.

"Five of these machines which have been made will be installed in five of Tehran city's welfare shelters for addicts," the deputy head of Iran's anti-narcotics organisation, Mohammad Reza Jahani, said.

REUTERS, BEIJING - Police have found guns, dynamite, bullets and satellite receivers hidden in 11 Tibetan Buddhist monasteries in China's northeastern Gansu province, state media reported on Wednesday.

The weapons caches were found over the past two days in monasteries of the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, where riots between March 14 and 19 injured 94 people, Xinhua news agency said.

AFP, BAGHDAD - A spate of bombings across Iraq and a fresh surge of fighting between Shiite militiamen and US forces in east Baghdad killed at least 62 people on Tuesday, Iraqi officials said.

AFP, KATHMANDU - Nepal's Maoists said Tuesday the abolition of the Himalayan nation's monarchy was now just a "matter of procedure" as they held a commanding lead in the count from last week's landmark elections.

Up for grabs are 601 seats in an assembly that will decide the impoverished country's political future, and with the count edging towards the halfway mark,

AFP, ROME - Silvio Berlusconi's victory in Italy's elections marked a breakthrough for his Northern League ally, prompting fears Tuesday that the small anti-immigration party will unduly influence his agenda.

The populist regional party nearly doubled its strength in parliament, from 4.5 percent two years ago to 8.3 percent of the national vote this time around, and more than 25 percent in its northern Veneto and Lombardy bastions.

AFP, HARARE - The Zimbabwe opposition's campaign to force the release of results from last month's presidential election suffered a fresh blow on Tuesday when a call for a general strike went largely unheeded.

Despite the stay-away call by the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), most shops and services were open for business as usual and an initial heavy security presence was eased as it became apparent the job boycott had flopped.

AFP, TEHRAN - Twelve people were killed and at least 202 wounded when an explosion ripped through a packed mosque in Iran's southern city of Shiraz during

REUTERS, KATHMANDU - Nepal's Maoists were marching to victory in the Himalayan nation's first election in nine years, latest tallies showed on Sunday, a result almost nobody had expected.

The Maoists, who ended an insurgency two years ago and entered electoral politics, had won 44 of the 81 seats declared so far and were also leading by a similar proportion in other constituencies