BAGHDAD – Iraq election winner Iyad Allawi said yesterday  he was open to alliances with any faction and wanted quickly to  form a government that would build strong relationships with its  regional neighbours.

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GAZA – Israeli troops and tanks left the Gaza Strip ysterday, witnesses said, after the bloodiest clash in the  Hamas-ruled enclave in 14 months killed two soldiers and a  Palestinian.

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BAENGNYEONGDO – South Korea yesterday all but ruled out  the chance that North Korea was involved in the sinking of one  of its navy vessels near their disputed border.

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SAO PAULO – Sao Paulo state governor Jose Serra, the main  opposition candidate in Brazil’s presidential election in  October, widened his lead over the ruling party contender as his  popularity grew among poor voters and women, pollster Datafolha  said yesterday.
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CAIRO – President Hosni Mubarak returned to Egypt yesterday, landing in Sharm El Sheikh where he will reassume  presidential powers while recovering from gallbladder surgery in  Germany, state television showed.
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BERLIN – Differences over Iran and Turkey’s bid to join the  European Union will dominate talks when German Chancellor Angela  Merkel visits Turkey tomorrow.

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WASHINGTON – U.S. President Barack Obama yesterday  announced his plan to make 15 recess appointments held up by  Republican delays, including two Treasury Department positions  and two on the National Labor Relations Board that have been  vacant for more than a year.
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BANGKOK – Thousands of Thai protesters surrounded the office  of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday, raising fears  of a confrontation after repeated threats to expel troops  guarding Bangkok’s old city.

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TAIPEI – China has added long-range missiles near Taiwan and  leads the self-ruled island in military defences, a U.S. navy  official said, suggesting that Taiwan may need new F-16 jet  fighters.

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WARSAW – Poland’s ruling Civic Platform named parliament  speaker Bronislaw Komorowski as its candidate for president yesterday, with polls showing he is likely to defeat the  incumbent conservative President Lech Kaczynski.
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NAYPYITAW, Myanmar – The leader of Myanmar’s military junta  yesterday warned against foreign meddling in upcoming  elections and said “divisive acts” could spark anarchy and  derail the transition to democracy.

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KINSHASA – Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebels  killed at least 290, and maybe more than 300 people in Congo in  a previously unreported massacre in December 2009, U.N.  officials told Reuters yesterday.