Blast kill 50 in India * DELHI, India - India is on high alert after a series of near-simultaneous explosions killed at least 50 people and wounded 150 others in the northwestern city of Jaipur Tuesday night, government and local officials told CNN-IBN.

Arrests follow Malawi 'coup plot' * BLANTYRE - Heavily armed police in Malawi have arrested four opposition officials and ex-security chiefs after the president said there was a plot to remove him.

Those arrested include a former army commander and police chief.

President Bingu wa Mutharika at the weekend accused his predecessor Bakili Muluzi of being behind a plot to remove him by Friday.

UN calls for Burma aid corridor * NEW YORK - The United Nations has called for an air or sea corridor to be opened to channel large amounts of aid to the victims of Cyclone Nargis in Burma.

The UN's humanitarian agency said there was a risk of a "second catastrophe" unless a massive operation began.

The UN said it had only been able to reach 270 000 of the 1.5 million survivors.

New Zealand volcano more unsettled * WELLINGTON - Volcanic activity at New Zealand's Mount Ruapehu is increasing and an eruption could occur at any time, scientists warned yesterday.

The volcano in central North Island, famed as a location in the 'Lord of the Rings' film trilogy, last erupted on September 25 2007, spitting 2-metre boulders distances of up to 2 km.

Etna volcano rumbles back to life * ROME - The Etna volcano in Sicily rumbled back to life yesterday with "seismic events" measuring up to 3.9 on the Richter scale, a vulcanologist said three days after minor eruptions shook the cone.

Algerian extremists kill nine government troops * ALGIERS - Nine government troops were killed in Algiers on Sunday and Monday in two separate attacks blamed on Islamic extremists, security sources said.

US to give N Korea food relief * WASHINGTON - The Bush administration says the United States will give North Korea 500 000 tons of food aid.

World News Headlines Of The Last 48 Hours

•  Cape Town braces for more flooding
•  Hitler loses his head
•  Bertha is the 1st hurricane of season
•  Bomb at Indian embassy in Afghanistan kills 41
•  Cholesterol drugs recommended for some 8-year-olds
•  Zambia's Mwanawasa needs surgery
•  Shooting kills UN official, wounds two in Somalia
•  Freed hostage Betancourt to visit Lourdes shrine
•  It pays to go in India
•  Mamma Mia! Abba make rare appearance
•  Madonna denies rumours
•  Prehistoric epic '10 000 BC' clubs the DVD competition
•  Traffickers kill Egyptian officer
•  Oregon man gets carried away
•  Arrest in French students' double murder
•  Islamists mark anniversary of Pakistan's Red Mosque crackdown
•  No more noisy chicken
•  Mwanawasa 'remains stable'
•  In Brief * 20 killed, wounded in Afghanistan
•  US moves Iraq's uranium
•  Just how close 'friends' are Madonna and A-Rod?
•  Virtual friends in a cancer world
•  Snipes can travel abroad for movies