Female president elected in Costa Rica

With 47 per cent of the vote, Laura Chinchilla, the ruling party candidate became the first female president of Costa Rica.

As votes were way ahead of her rivals and above the 40 per cent needed to avoid a run-off, Chincilla declared victory early on Monday.

Pro-Moscow candidate to win Ukraine presidential election

Ukrainian electoral officials said Viktor Yanukovych, the pro-Moscow candidate (photo, from aljazeera.net), will win a narrow victory in the presidential election.

With more than 98% of votes counted, Mr Yanukovych had a 2.7% lead over his rival, PM Yulia Tymoshenko, media said.

Pluto caught blushing by Hubble

On the edge of our solar system, dwarf planet Pluto is becoming increasingly red, said Nasa scientists.(photo, from bbc.co.uk)

Romania agreed to be part of new US defence shield

Romanian president said his country has agreed to host missile interceptors as part of a new US defence shield. (photo, from bbc.co.uk)

The plan was approved by the defence council and still needs parliamentary approval, said president Traian Basescu.

Netanyahu : Israel to keep some settlements

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that several Jewish settlement blocs in the West Bank would always remain part of Israel. His comment upset the Palestinians and undermines US efforts to restart talks aimed at eventually establishing a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu’s remarks came hours after the visit of US envoy George Mitchell who is on a mission to restart negotiations between Israel and Palestinians that have been stalled for over a year.

MPs reject many of Karzai’s new nominees

More than half of Hamid Karzai’s new nominees for cabinet posts have been rejected by the Afghan parliament. In this new vote, 10 of 17 new nominees were rejected (photo, from bbc.co.uk). This vote came two weeks after MPs turned down most of Karzai’s first choices.

Obama : no US troops in Yemen or Somalia

President Obama told People magazine that he has “no intention” of sending US troops to Yemen or Somalia (map) in order to combat militant groups there.

Karzai submits new list of ministers to parliament

Afghan president Hamid Karzai, has presented a new list of cabinet ministers to parliament (photo, from aljazeera.net). A week ago, legislators rejected two-thirds of the president’s nominees.

Mousavi’s nephew among the dead in Iran clashes

In the Iranian capital, violent clashes between anti-government crowds and police have killed at least eight protesters. (photo, from bbc.co.uk)

The nephew of former presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi is reportedly among the four protesters shot dead in Tehran, while the others died in the northern city of Tabriz.

Ban Ki-moon : Gazans were “denied basic human rights”

More must be done in order to repair damage done by Israeli military action in the Gaza Strip (photo, from bbc.co.uk) one year ago, said UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon.

He said Gazans were being denied “basic human rights” and urged Israel to end its “unacceptable and counterproductive blockade”.