Reuters World News Highlights

TEHRAN – Iran’s defeated presidential candidate Mehdi  Karoubi said on his website yetserday that some of those  arrested after the June presidential election were tortured to  death, but other inmates defended their treatment.

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KIEV – President Viktor Yushchenko yesterday defended  himself against Moscow’s charges of anti-Russian policies and  invited Russian leader Dmitry Medvedev to bilateral talks.

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RAMALLAH – Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday  rejected a complaint by former prime minister Ahmed Qurie that  he had lost his seat on the executive of Fatah in an “unsound”  party election.

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MOSUL, Iraq – Two suicide bombers detonated vests packed  with explosives in a cafe in a town near the northern Iraqi city  of Mosul yesterday, killing 21 people, a health official said,  the latest attack in a restive region.

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WANA, Pakistan – Pakistani gunship helicopters attacked  Taliban bases yesterday, killing 11 militants and keeping up  pressure after the reported death of the Pakistani Taliban  leader in a U.S. missile strike last week.