World Highlights

• A Marine sergeant has been charged with 13 counts of murder in the killings of unarmed civilians in Haditha, Iraq, one of his defence lawyers said. Mark Zaid, an attorney for Staff Sgt Frank Wuterich, said the charges served against his client do not allege premeditated murder and carry a maximum penalty of life in prison.

• US soldiers in Iraq urged new Defence Secretary Robert Gates to send reinforcements but generals expressed concern that deploying more troops might delay the time when Iraqis take control.

• Stung by defeat at mid-term elections last month, US President George W. Bush is expected to announce a new strategy in January for the unpopular war, which has so far killed nearly 3,000 US soldiers and tens of thousands of Iraqis.

• Negotiators said no progress had been made at talks aimed at convincing North Korea to scrap its nuclear weapons, with Pyongyang refusing to budge before a climb down on US financial curbs against it.

• Ethiopian-backed Somali government troops and rival Islamists shelled each other with heavy artillery for a third day, as the religious movement said it was now at war with Addis Ababa. Persistent rocket, mortar and machinegun battles have boosted fears that a devastating Horn of Africa war, sucking in regional players and spawning suicide bombings across east Africa, may have arrived.