World highlights

• US forces attacked insurgent bases in Iraq as a leaked memo from the man who sent them there revealed that Donald Rumsfeld believes their strategy is not working and it may be better to reduce troop numbers. A day before election defeat cost Mr Rumsfeld his job, the outgoing defence secretary told the White House: "It is time for a major adjustment. Clearly, what US forces are currently doing in Iraq is not working well enough or fast enough."

• Anti-US Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez drove himself to a polling station in a red Volkswagen beetle, seeking another six-year term that will intensify his promised leftist revolution. A victory for Mr Chavez, 52, would bolster his campaign for a left-wing alliance in Latin America and allow him to continue his diplomatic jousting with US President George W. Bush whom he calls the "devil."

• Villagers in the central Philippines buried hundreds of relatives and friends in mass graves as hopes faded of finding survivors from Typhoon Durian. Officials fear the death toll from Durian, which swept into the South China Sea on Friday, could hit 600 after driving rain and winds of up to 225 kph sent waves of mud crashing down an active volcano onto nearby villages.

• Lawyers for Saddam Hussein and two former aides sentenced to death lodged appeals, the Iraqi chief prosecutor said, following a trial slammed by some human rights experts as unfair and flawed.

The defence had been given until tomorrow to submit their appeals. The case is already with the appeals court, which will decide whether the hangings should be carried out. Meanwhile, Saddam is still on a trial for genocide against Kurds.