In Brief

* CHAOS – Ivory Coast needs a collective rescue strategy to prevent it from sliding deeper into chaos, Crisis Group said in a new report one day before the UN Security Council was to vote on an African Union measure to extend the mandate of President Laurent Gbagbo by one year.

Crisis Group pointed to the legacy of conflict in neighbour Liberia, where elections were held on Tuesday after a two-year transition period from back-to-back civil wars, as evidence that both Ivory Coast and its international partners must seize on any “window of opportunity for durable peace”. * TOLL – The death toll from devastating mudslides in Guatemala topped 2 000, as rescuers called off their search for hundreds of people buried for six days under solidifying mud.The decision brought the death toll from mudslides, heavy rains and flooding to 2 055 in Guatemala alone.Forty-two others were killed in Mexico, 72 in El Salvador and 11 in Nicaragua.* VOWED – Israel vowed no let-up in its fight against Hamas, arresting scores more activists amid fears the Islamists are seeking to transfer their centre of activities to the West Bank.* WARNED – Germany’s future chancellor Angela Merkel knuckled down to the tricky task of shaping a coalition government packed with political opponents, amid warnings she may prove unable to impose her will.* BASE – Kyrgyzstan assured the United States that its troops could continue using a base in the ex-Soviet republic until the situation stabilised in Afghanistan, but said it would not jeopardise old ties with Moscow by favouring new relations with Washington.* SPACE – Two Chinese astronauts boarded their space craft at dawn to prepare for liftoff on a five-day orbital mission marking their country’s second manned foray into space, state media said.- Nampa-AFP* TOLL – The death toll from devastating mudslides in Guatemala topped 2 000, as rescuers called off their search for hundreds of people buried for six days under solidifying mud.The decision brought the death toll from mudslides, heavy rains and flooding to 2 055 in Guatemala alone.Forty-two others were killed in Mexico, 72 in El Salvador and 11 in Nicaragua.* VOWED – Israel vowed no let-up in its fight against Hamas, arresting scores more activists amid fears the Islamists are seeking to transfer their centre of activities to the West Bank.* WARNED – Germany’s future chancellor Angela Merkel knuckled down to the tricky task of shaping a coalition government packed with political opponents, amid warnings she may prove unable to impose her will.* BASE – Kyrgyzstan assured the United States that its troops could continue using a base in the ex-Soviet republic until the situation stabilised in Afghanistan, but said it would not jeopardise old ties with Moscow by favouring new relations with Washington.* SPACE – Two Chinese astronauts boarded their space craft at dawn to prepare for liftoff on a five-day orbital mission marking their country’s second manned foray into space, state media said.- Nampa-AFP