Truce holding

GOMA – An uneasy ceasefire in east Democratic Republic of Congo appears to be holding between forces of a renegade general and the government army, but the absence of political negotiations has raised questions over how long the lull in fighting will last.

Morocco elections * RABAT – Morocco’s conservative Istiqlal party won the most seats in parliamentary elections, setting it up for a leading role in the next government, according to final results released yesterday. Istiqlal (Independence), a member of the former ruling coalition, won 52 seats, ahead of the opposition Islamist Justice and Development party (PJD) with 46 seats, the Interior Ministry said.Flooding causes loss of homes * NEW DELHI – Around 2,5 million people have been made homeless in India’s northeastern state of Assam after a second wave of flooding caused by heavy rains over the last three days.Howard promise * CANBERRA – Australian Prime Minister Howard yesterday told nervous government lawmakers he can still win looming national elections, despite yet another opinion poll pointing to a comprehensive defeat for his conservative coalition.Israel resignation * JERUSALEM – The head of Israel’s National Security Council tendered his resignation in frustration at what he perceived as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s failure to include him in policymaking, political sources said Madeleine family dismiss claims * ROTHLEY – The family of Madeleine McCann dismissed the evidence against her parents as ‘spurious’ and appeal to Portuguese police to keep looking for the British girl who went missing in Portugal.Historical find * SLAGEN – Archaeologists opened the grave of a Viking queen in an exhumation that may yield clues to a suspected ritual killing 1 200 years ago.Mogadishu deaths * MOGADISHU – Mortar bombs fired by suspected Islamist insurgents killed a woman and her three children in Mogadishu in first such attacks to rock the Somali capital in weeks, the witnesses saidNampa-ReutersIstiqlal (Independence), a member of the former ruling coalition, won 52 seats, ahead of the opposition Islamist Justice and Development party (PJD) with 46 seats, the Interior Ministry said.Flooding causes loss of homes * NEW DELHI – Around 2,5 million people have been made homeless in India’s northeastern state of Assam after a second wave of flooding caused by heavy rains over the last three days.Howard promise * CANBERRA – Australian Prime Minister Howard yesterday told nervous government lawmakers he can still win looming national elections, despite yet another opinion poll pointing to a comprehensive defeat for his conservative coalition.Israel resignation * JERUSALEM – The head of Israel’s National Security Council tendered his resignation in frustration at what he perceived as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert’s failure to include him in policymaking, political sources said Madeleine family dismiss claims * ROTHLEY – The family of Madeleine McCann dismissed the evidence against her parents as ‘spurious’ and appeal to Portuguese police to keep looking for the British girl who went missing in Portugal.Historical find * SLAGEN – Archaeologists opened the grave of a Viking queen in an exhumation that may yield clues to a suspected ritual killing 1 200 years ago.Mogadishu deaths * MOGADISHU – Mortar bombs fired by suspected Islamist insurgents killed a woman and her three children in Mogadishu in first such attacks to rock the Somali capital in weeks, the witnesses said Nampa-Reuters