Hundreds more firefighters are being deployed to battle a wildfire near a top US nuclear weapons research lab in New Mexico amid concerns the blaze could reach radioactive waste.
Residents are concerned flames could reach barrels stored outside the Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The town outside the facility was evacuated on Monday.
A curfew has been imposed on Nigeria's capital, Abuja, following recent attacks by Islamist militants, meaning nightclubs, beer parlours and cinemas must close early.
They must shut by 2200 local time (2100 GMT) and public parks that admit children should close by 1800.
Two weeks ago, eight people were killed when the Islamist sect Boko Haram attacked the police HQ in Abuja.
On Sunday, its fighters bombed a beer garden in Maiduguri, killing 25.
This is the group's most deadly attack to date - later on Sunday, it killed another 10 people with a car bombing in the city.
The group, which usually targets the north-eastern state of Borno, around Maiduguri, says it is fighting for Islamic rule, and campaigns against all political and social activity associated with the West.
Abuja city's administration said it has also banned parking of vehicles on two roads where most government offices are located.
"These measures are necessitated by the need to ensure adequate security of lives and property in the federal capital territory [in light of] the prevailing security concerns," the city's spokesman said in a statement.
The BBC's Naziru Mikailu in Abuja says beer gardens are busy after work at the weekends and the curfew is likely to prove unpopular.
After a lull, Boko Haram's attacks have intensified in the last nine months.
In May, it staged attacks at the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan.
The group's trademark has been the use of gunmen on motorbikes.
Dozens of people have been killed - mostly security officers and politicians but also a Christian preacher and Muslim clerics who have criticised Boko Haram.
The sect's leader Mohammed Yusuf and several hundred of his supporters were killed by security forces in Maiduguri in 2009 after the group attacked police stations.
Hundreds more firefighters are being deployed to battle a wildfire near a top US nuclear weapons research lab in New Mexico amid concerns the blaze could reach radioactive waste.
Nearby residents have expressed concern about potential contamination if flames reach barrels stored outside.
But officials are confident the blaze will not reach the drums and they say dangerous materials are safely stored.
The town outside Los Alamos National Laboratory was evacuated on Monday.
On Wednesday, there were expected to be between 600 to 800 firefighters tackling the blaze, deputy incident commander Mike Bradley told the Albuquerque Journal, adding that the number could climb as high as 1,000.
Air National Guard members from Colorado, California and North Carolina have also flown in to help local crews battle the blaze near the lab, which remains closed to all but essential staff until at least Thursday.
The Environmental Protection Agency has deployed air monitors and aircraft that can monitor radiation levels, amid fears the blaze could reach a cache of 30,000 drums, each containing 55 gallons (208 litres) of plutonium-contaminated waste.
Fire managers said foam could be sprayed on the barrels containing the radioactive materials to ensure they weren't damaged by fire, a procedure which would only be carried out as a last resort.
The lab's manager for the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees the site of the Department of Energy, said he had evaluated the precautions and felt comfortable.
"I have 170 people who validate their measures. They're in steel drums, on a concrete floor," Kevin Smith was quoted by the Associated Press as saying.
On Monday, the fire saw the evacuation of the town of Los Alamos, which has a population of roughly 12,000.
The facility, which opened during World War II, led the development of the atomic bomb.
Nearing the lab
On Tuesday evening, the wildfire was just across the road from the southern edge of the Los Alamos lab, roughly 50ft (15m) from the site's grounds.
The laboratory employs about 15,000 people, sprawls more than 36 square miles (93 sq km) and includes about 2,000 buildings over about four dozen sites.
The Las Conchas fire has grown to 95 square miles in just over two days fuelled by dry timber and powered by strong winds.
"Everything is just so dry and ready to burn," Los Alamos County Fire Chief Doug Tucker told the Associated Press news agency.
"We need some rain. Snow would be nice," added Mr Tucker, whose department is responsible for protecting the lab.
The wildfire has destroyed 30 structures south and west of Los Alamos.
Meanwhile, three community meetings are scheduled on Wednesday for Los Alamos evacuees and residents affected by the Las Conchas Fire, the Albuquerque Journal reported.
The south-western US has been stricken by giant wildfires this year, with millions of acres scorched in New Mexico, Arizona and Texas.
To the west of New Mexico, the largest wildfire in the history of the state of Arizona has been burning for nearly a month.
2004: Kabul Bank founded by international poker player, Sherkhan Farnood
September 2010: Kabul Bank taken over by the central bank after a run on the bank amid fears of its collapse
February 2011: Abdul Qadeer Fitrat, central bank governor, tells BBC those involved in bank's woes should be prosecuted
February 2011: An IMF report recommends the bank be put in receivership
April 2011: Mr Fitrat, names in parliament prominent Afghan figures in connection with the Kabul Bank scandal
May 2011: Report by anti-corruption office shows $467m (£290m) of outstanding loans were made without appropriate collateral
Charges made against Mr Fitrat include that he financially mismanaged the bank, sabotaged the country's economy, ignored advice from other government institutions and did not adequately observe private banks.
The US - where Mr Fitrat has residency - does not have an extradition treaty with Afghanistan. He has said he has no plans to return to Afghanistan.
The embezzlement at Kabul Bank, Afghanistan's largest private bank, almost led to its collapse last year after it was discovered that hundreds of millions of dollars had gone missing.
The bank handles up to 80% of the government payroll, including salaries for policemen and teachers.
In April, Mr Fitrat accused several key Afghan officials - including President Hamid Karzai's brother and Vice-President Qasim Fahim - of being involved. Both deny the charges.
Then on Monday, he told reporters he had had to leave the country after receiving information that his life was in danger from "credible sources".
'Difficult job'
Mr Fitrat alleges that the central government did not assist him in his investigations or provide any help in recovering the bank's assets.
Relations have been frosty between the West and Kabul over the issue of corruption. The case of Kabul Bank was closely followed by the international community and the Afghan people - most were hoping all those involved would be prosecuted.
Resolving the issue is crucial in ensuring aid money continues to flow into Afghanistan. The International Monetary Fund wants the Afghan government to wind down the bank before it releases a new assistance programme.
Billions of dollars in international aid hinge on that programme.
"During [the] last 10 months during the Kabul Bank crisis, I continuously pressed for the creation of a special prosecution, for the creation of a special tribunal to investigate and prosecute those who were involved in Kabul Bank's fraud," he told the BBC.
"I did not receive any information that there is a credible plan to prosecute, to investigate and prosecute these individuals. The high political authorities of the country were responsible [for blocking] these efforts," he alleged.
President Karzai has said Afghanistan lacks the necessary banking experience to oversee the central institution and has blamed foreign advisers for the crisis.
He has also pledged to ensure that those responsible are subject to criminal investigations.
The UK Department for International Development said Mr Fitrat's resignation was "regrettable", and that he had done "a difficult job handling a complex set of challenges".
"It is absolutely critical that the government of Afghanistan chooses a good quality replacement with thorough knowledge of the banking sector," it said in a statement.
Some parts of the Horn of Africa have been hit by the worst drought in 60 years, the UN says.
More than 10 million people are thought to be affected across the region.
The UN now classifies large areas of Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Kenya as a crisis or an emergency.
Charity Save the Children says drought and war in Somalia has led to unprecedented numbers fleeing across the border into Kenya, with about 1,300 people arriving every day.
Three camps at Dadaab, just inside Kenya, are home to well over 350,000 people, but they were built to hold just 90,000 and are severely overcrowded.
A prolonged failure of rains, which began in late 2010, is now taking its toll.
The UN's Office for the Co-Ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) warns that the situation is continuing to deteriorate, and the number of people in need will continue to increase.
The numbers now affected are huge, Ohca says: 3.2m in Ethiopia, 3.2m in Kenya, 2.6m in Somalia and more than 100,000 in Djibouti.
Every month during 2011, about 15,000 Somalis have fled their country, arriving in Kenya and Ethiopia, according to Ocha.
While conflict has been a fact of life for them for years, it is the drought that has brought them to breaking point. Many have walked for days, are exhausted, in poor health, desperate for food and water.
Nearly one third of all children in the Juba region of Somalia are acutely malnourished, while in parts of Ethiopia the figure is even higher, the UN research says. Parts of Uganda are also suffering from the drought.
Hassain, Ali and Sareye are among the 390,000 Somalis to seek refuge in Kenya
The UN refugee agency is dealing with the exodus.
A new refugee camp primarily for Somalis was opened at Kobe in Ethiopia last Friday, near an existing camp at Melkadida.
More than 3,500 refugees and their belongings were moved there over the weekend.
The UNHCR says this is the sixth camp for Somalis in Ethiopia, which is currently housing some 130,000 displaced people.
Food prices have risen substantially across the region, pushing many moderately poor households over the edge.
The price of grain in affected areas in Kenya is 30-80% above average.
The spokeswoman for Ocha, Elizabeth Byrs, said appeals for Somalia and Kenya, each about $525m (£328m), are barely 50% funded, while a $30m appeal for Djibouti has raised just 30% of the needed funds.
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Five police officers charged over a fatal shooting in the chaotic aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 have gone on trial in New Orleans.
Two unarmed residents were killed and four others wounded in the incident on the Danziger Bridge.
Prosecutors say the officers decided to "shoot first and ask questions later" and then tried to cover up the crimes.
Defence lawyers say their clients feared for their lives and were justified in using deadly force.
Most of New Orleans was flooded by the hurricane and there was widespread looting and violence in the storm's aftermath.
Prosecutor Bobbi Bernstein said police plotted to plant a gun, fabricate witnesses and falsify reports to cover up what they had done.
He said they tried to use the chaotic conditions created by the hurricane as an excuse for gaps in their investigation.
"They lied because they knew they committed a crime," Mr Bernstein said.
"They lied because they knew police officers were not allowed to shoot first and ask questions later."
Charges 'fiction'
Former officer Robert Faulcon, Sgt Robert Gisevius, Sgt Kenneth Bowen and officer Anthony Villavaso are charged with the shootings that killed James Brissette, 17, and Ronald Madison, 40.
Retired Sgt Arthur Kaufman is charged with the alleged cover-up.
Paul Fleming, lawyer for Mr Faulcon, said the officers "did the best they could".
"These men are innocent," he said. "These five had one thing in common - they stayed."
Frank DeSalvo, lawyer for Mr Bowen, called the government's case a work of "fiction"
The shootings happened on the morning of 4 September 2005, less than a week after Katrina made landfall.
Police have fired tear gas in running battles with stone-throwing youths in Athens, where a 48-hour general strike is being held against a parliamentary vote on tough austerity measures.
Thousands of protesters have gathered outside parliament in the capital where public transport has ground to a halt.
PM George Papandreou has said that only his 28bn-euro (£25bn) austerity plan would get Greece back on its feet.
If the package is not approved, Greece could run out of money within weeks.
Without a new plan in place, the EU and IMF say they will withhold 12bn euros of loans which Greece needs to repay debts due in mid-July.
'Declared war'
Monday's rally started peacefully, but escalated into running skirmishes on the fringes of the main demonstration.
Some protesters started throwing stones and bottles at the police in one corner of the central Syntagma Square, with police firing tear gas to keep protesters back.
Greece's economic reforms, which led to it abandoning the drachma as its currency in favour of the euro in 2002, made it easier for the country to borrow money.
Greece went on a big, debt-funded spending spree, including paying for high-profile projects such as the 2004 Athens Olympics, which went well over its budget.
The country was hit by the downturn, which meant it had to spend more on benefits and received less in taxes. There were also doubts about the accuracy of its economic statistics.
Greece's economic problems meant lenders started charging higher interest rates to lend it money. Widespread tax evasion also hit the government's coffers.
There have been demonstrations against the government's austerity measures to deal with its debt, such as cuts to public sector pay and pensions, reduced benefits and increased taxes.
The government has already had to access a 110bn euro (£95bn; $146.2bn) bail-out package from the European Union and International Monetary Fund, and now needs a second bail-out.
Eurozone ministers are worried that if Greece were to default it would make it even more difficult for other countries such as Portugal and the Irish Republic to borrow money.
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Small fires appear to have been started by the protesters.
The general strike has halted most public services, banks are closed and hospitals are operating on skeleton staff.
Airports are shutting for hours at a time, with air traffic controllers walking out between 0800 and 1200 (0500-0900 GMT) and 1800 and 2200 (1500-1900 GMT). A number of flights were also cancelled at Athens international airport.
Trains, buses and ferries are also affected.
In Athens, the metro is the only form of public transport which will work "so as to allow Athenians to join the planned protests in the capital", metro drivers said.
More than 5,000 police officers were deployed in the centre of Athens as the protesters marched towards parliament.
Protesters have blockaded the port of Piraeus, near Athens, which links most Greek islands with the mainland.
"The situation that the workers are undergoing is tragic and we are near poverty levels," said Spyros Linardopoulos, a protester with the PAME union at the blockade.
From the middle of the morning, they began to march into the city centre, thousands of unionists who think spending cuts and tax rises are just too severe.
It was good-natured at first, but there is real anger bubbling beneath the surface.
Small groups of protesters dressed in black began clashing with riot police. Tear gas and stun grenades were used, and Molotov cocktails have been thrown.
Running battles have been breaking out in the streets around parliament.
"The government has declared war and to this war we will answer back with war."
The unions are angry that the government's austerity programme will impose taxes on those earning the minimum wage, following months of other cuts which have seen unemployment rise to more than 16%.
Some protesters have said they will encircle the parliament building to prevent MPs from entering. The austerity package and implementation law must be passed in separate votes on Wednesday and Thursday.
Polls suggest that between 70% and 80% of Greek people oppose the austerity plan.
"We're opposed to what they're trying to do to us," said bank worker Kali Patouna. "We know very well that these measures will be our tombstone. They will have extreme consequences for workers and for everyone on all social levels."
'Flawed' plans
If the measures are passed, the next instalment of Greece's 110bn-euro bail-out will be released by the European Union and International Monetary Fund.
European officials will also start to finalise the details of a second bail-out - worth an estimated 120bn euros - designed to help Greece pay its debts until the end of 2014.
EU President Herman Van Rompuy said the impact of the Greek vote would be felt worldwide.
"There are decisive moments and the coming hours will be decisive, crucial for the Greek people, but also for the eurozone and the stability of the world economy," AFP quoted Mr Van Rompuy as telling the European parliament on Tuesday.
The BBC's Chris Morris in Athens says defeat for the government this week would send ripples of anxiety right across the eurozone, with Greece facing the prospect next month of becoming the first member state to default on its debts.
Mr Papandreou has warned that failure to secure the new loans would mean that national coffers could be empty within days.
The new Finance Minister, Evangelos Venizelos, acknowledged that the cuts were "unfair", but said they were absolutely necessary.
But the main opposition leader, Antonis Samaras of the New Democracy party, said the thinking behind the austerity package was flawed and that tax rates should be lowered rather than raised in order to stimulate the economy.
The outcome of the debate is uncertain. Mr Papandreou faces opposition from within the governing Panhellenic Socialist Movement (Pasok), with two MPs saying they may oppose the bill.
The party has a slim majority, with 155 seats out of 300 in parliament.
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Amanda Knox and her ex-boyfriend did kill Meredith Kercher, the first man convicted of the Briton's murder has told an Italian appeal court.
In dramatic courtroom scenes, Rudy Guede confirmed that he believed the US student killed her housemate.
Knox responded by standing up and saying she was "shocked and anguished".
Knox, 23, and her ex-boyfriend Rafaelle Sollecito, 26, are appealing against their convictions for killing Meredith Kercher, 21, in Perugia in 2007.
Miss Kercher, of Coulsdon, Surrey, was found with her throat cut at her Perugia flat after what prosecutors claimed was a sex game taken to the extreme.
Knox is serving a 26-year sentence for Miss Kercher's murder while her Italian co-defendant Sollecito was sentenced to 25 years.
Guede told the court that claims by a fellow prison inmate that he thought Knox and Sollecito were innocent were not true. He said he never made that claim to the inmate.
On 18 June, convicted child killer Mario Alessi told the appeal Guede had confided that Knox and Sollecito were innocent.
According to Alessi, Guede said he and a friend went to the house Miss Kercher shared with Knox with the intent of having sex with Miss Kercher and that when she refused, the scene turned violent and his unnamed accomplice slit her throat.
Guede admits being in the house at the time of the Miss Kercher's murder but denies any involvement
'Cursed night'
Drug-dealer Guede was jailed for 30 years for the sexual assault and murder of Miss Kercher after a separate fast-track trial. His sentence was reduced to 16 years on appeal.
Guede was in the witness stand as his letter was read to the court on Monday.
"This splendid, marvellous girl was killed by Raffaele Sollecito and Amanda Knox," the letter said.
Guede has previously admitted being in the house at the time of the murder, but denies involvement in Miss Kercher's death.
After cross-examination by the defence, Guede is reported to have said he had always believed Sollecito and Knox were behind the murder.
"I've always said who was there in that house on that cursed night," he told the court.
'Shocked and anguished'
BBC correspondent Duncan Kennedy said it was the first time since the killing four years ago that all three defendants had given evidence on the same day and there were "dramatic scenes" in court.
Knox stood up after Guede's evidence and denied his claims.
"The only time that Rudy Guede, Raffaele and I were in the same space has been in court. I'm shocked and anguished.
"He knows we weren't there and have nothing to do with it," she said.
Sollecito said Guede was always talking "about a shadow that could be me and a voice that could be Amanda's... we've been fighting shadows for four years. Our lives have been destroyed in a subtle and absurd way."
Speaking before Monday's hearing, Knox's mother Edda Mellas told reporters she hoped that Guede would have the "integrity to stand up and tell the truth".
She said her daughter was "always very anxious and nervous but I think she's glad things are moving along. She feels things are going well," but that it is, "hard to get too hopeful, especially after the first trial."
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi, accusing him of crimes against humanity.
The court had grounds to believe he had ordered attacks on civilians during Libya's four-month uprising, it said.
The Hague-based court also issued warrants for two of Col Gaddafi's top aides - his son Saif al-Islam and intelligence chief Abdullah al-Sanussi.
Thousands of people are believed to have been killed in the conflict.
Anti-Gaddafi forces said on Monday they had launched a new push towards Tripoli, with heavy fighting near the strategic town of Bir al-Ghanam, to the south-west of capital.
The rebel defence minister told the BBC that forces opposed to Col Gaddafi may also make a move on the capital from the east.
'Unquestioned control'
The ICC arrest warrants refer to early weeks of the uprising, from 15 February until "at least 28 February".
As the "recognised and undisputed leader of Libya", said the court, Col Gaddafi had "absolute, ultimate and unquestioned control" over the state.
He introduced a state policy "aimed at deterring and quelling by any means, including by the use of force, the demonstrations of civilians against the regime", the court alleged.
The warrant says that while Saif al-Islam Gaddafi holds no official position in Libya, he is "the most influential person" in Col Gaddafi's inner circle.
Mr Sanussi, said the court, had "indirectly instructed the troops to attack civilians demonstrating" in Benghazi, the city that has become the rebels' stronghold.
The BBC's Andrew Harding in Misrata said there was celebratory gunfire on the streets of the besieged city as the news emerged.
"We are extremely happy that the whole world has united in prosecuting Gaddafi for the crimes he has committed," rebel council spokesman Jalal al-Galal told Reuters news agency from the rebel stronghold Benghazi. "The people feel vindicated by such a response."
On the military front, meanwhile, the rebels have advanced some six miles (10km) towards Tripoli in the past 24 hours, says the BBC's Mark Doyle on the front line about 40 miles south-west of the capital.
The fighting is taking place on a plain of rock and sand between Bir al-Ghanem and Bir Ayyad a few miles to the south, with shells whistling overhead in both directions and plumes of smoke and sand rising into the air, he says.
The rebels seem better armed in this strategic area than elsewhere in the country, adds our correspondent, who saw several pick-up trucks full of rebel soldiers - in clean uniforms and new-looking rocket launchers and rifles - heading for the front line.
'No legitimacy'
The warrants had been requested by chief ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in May. He has said Col Gaddafi must be arrested in order to protect civilians.
There were celebrations across Misrata today, with car horns beeping, and a lot of gunfire in the air as people greeted the news from the ICC.
This still besieged city has suffered a great deal at the hands of Col Gaddafi's forces, which have pounded the city itself and killed many civilians.
A lot of people I've been speaking to say they believe Col Gaddafi should face justice in the Hague. But, when pressed, many people also say that if his internal or external exile or house arrest would end this war quicker, they'd be happy to accept that.
But the Libyan authorities have previously said they do not recognise the court and are not concerned by the threat of a warrant.
On Sunday, government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said the court was overly preoccupied with pursuing African leaders and had "no legitimacy whatsoever".
The ICC announcement came as the international air operation in Libya, aimed at protecting civilians, enters its 100th day.
It was welcomed by Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who said the court's decision highlighted the increasing isolation of the Libyan regime.
"It reinforces the reason for Nato's mission to protect the Libyan people from Gaddafi's forces," said Mr Fogh Rasmussen in Brussels.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the court's decision further demonstrated "why Gaddafi has lost all legitimacy and why he should go immediately".
Mr Hague called on people within the Libyan regime to abandon the leader and said those responsible for "atrocities" must be held to account.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy echoed those sentiments, saying of the Libyan leader: "After 41 years of dictatorship, it is perhaps time to stop, for him to leave power."
The US House of Representatives has voted against a resolution giving President Barack Obama authority to order US operations in Libya.
However, the House on Friday also voted down a Republican effort to cut off money for the Libya conflict.
US backing for the Nato operation in Libya has drawn criticism from many in Congress in recent weeks.
Opponents say the three-month-old operation is in breach of legislation requiring the backing of Congress.
"The president has operated in what we now know is called the zone of twilight as to whether or not he even needs our approval," Republican Representative Tom Rooney of Florida said. "So what are we left with?"
Mr Obama says he does not need additional congressional approval, as US forces are simply supporting Nato.
His allies in Congress urged members of the House to vote for the resolution authorising the conflict.
"A sudden withdrawal of American support for the mission would strengthen Gaddafi's hand and increase his confidence that he can wait out the rebellion against his rule," Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer of Maryland said on the House floor.
"It would put civilian lives at risk... I urge my colleagues: protect our valuable alliances and the principles of human rights that they safeguard."
War Powers resolution
Under the terms of the resolution, the US would have been allowed to conduct "limited" operations for one year in Libya.
The introduction of ground troops would have been banned.
Analysts suggest Democrats angry at Mr Obama's continued commitment of resources to the Libya campaign could refuse to vote against the resolution, delivering another rebuke to the president.
The disagreement between Congress and the White House stems from a Vietnam War-era law, the War Powers resolution, intended to constrain the president's ability to wage military conflict with congressional approval.
Under the US constitution only Congress can declare war, and the 1973 War Powers resolution requires that, without such a declaration, a president who sends US military forces into conflict must get authorisation from Congress if the hostilities last longer than 90 days.
Last week, Mr Obama informed Congress that administration lawyers deemed the Libya conflict did not require additional congressional approval, arguing US forces were merely playing a supporting role in the Nato campaign.
That role, the White House says, does not match the definition of "hostilities" as described in the War Powers resolution.
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Citi banker denies $19.2m theft
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