BAGHDAD (AFP) - Former Iraqi prime minister Iyad Allawi's secular Iraqiya coalition is in the lead in the predominantly Sunni provinces of Diyala and Salaheddin, an election official told AFP Thursday.

ABU DHABI (AFP) - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have signalled a "willingness" to press China to support tough new sanctions on Iran, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Thursday in a visit to Abu Dhabi.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) - Two European women were kidnapped last week in Haiti but freed on Thursday, their organization, Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) told AFP.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Cuba continues to deny its citizens basic human rights, an annual US State Department report said Thursday.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The United States voiced increasing concern Thursday over the discrimination of Muslims in Europe, particularly in Switzerland.