The Chinese government has confirmed the executions of two Tibetans for deadly arson attacks during last year's riots in Lhasa, in the first judicial killings related to the unrest, which left at least 22 people dead. Reports that two more Tibetans were executed have not been confirmed.

A large bomb blast at a market in Peshawar, Pakistan, on 28 October has killed at least 80 people and injured dozens more. This is the latest in a spate of attacks as the military fights the Taliban in South Waziristan.

The Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas has said that presidential and parliamentary elections will be held on 24 January across the Palestinian territories, including the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip - although no deal to ensure that these take place has been agreed by the two factions.

Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, the son of the late French president François Mitterrand, and the former interior minister Charles Pasqua have been convicted for their roles in illegal arms sales to Angola, accepting bribes to facilitate arms deals in 1993-98. Mitterand received a suspended sentence, but the 82-year-old Pasqua faces a year in jail.

The Lebanese military has deactivated four Katyusha rockets ready to be fired at Israel. This follows the rocket attack of 27 October, which caused Israel to retaliate with artillery. Though there were no casualties, the incident has sharply raised growing cross-border tensions.

The European Union has imposed an arms embargo on Guinea and sanctions against its military leaders, in response to troops opening fire on protesters in September. Rights groups say that 157 protesters died, and many others were raped and beaten.

Radovan Karadzic is boycotting his genocide and war crimes trial at The Hague, saying he needs more time to prepare his defence. The court ruled the trial could begin without him.

The Czech Constitutional Court has delayed a legal challenge to the EU Lisbon Treaty, brought by conservative senators who say it would infringe Czech sovereignty. The treaty must be approved by all 27 member countries before becoming law. The Czech Republic is the only country yet to sign.

A senior diplomat in Afghanistan has become the first US official to resign in protest over the war. Matthew Hoh, posted to Zabul Province, said he had doubts about the war's purpose. His resignation comes as eight US soldiers were killed on 27 October in bomb attacks, making October the deadliest month yet for US troops in the eight-year war.

A Taliban attack on a UN guesthouse in Kabul has left at least six foreign UN employees dead, and nine wounded. Two Afghan security personnel and a civilian also died. The attack, which took place on the morning of 28 October, comes ten days before the second round of presidential elections.

Uruguay's presidential candidates face a run-off on 29 November, after the former guerrilla leader José Mujica fell just short of the majority needed to triumph in the first round, with 47.5 per cent of the vote. He will go head to head with the former president, Luis Alberto Lacalle.

Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, will be facing trial for tax fraud and false accounting from 16 November, in what marks his first prosecution since he lost his immunity on 7 October.

Nigeria's main armed group in the oil-rich Niger Delta has declared an "indefinite ceasefire" to encourage dialogue with the government. Attacks on Nigeria's oil industry have reduced the country's oil production by a third since 2006, and have played havoc with oil prices on the world market.

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