AFGHANISTAN: Three Taliban suicide bombers targeted Nato tankers at the border with Pakistan today, sparking a gun battle with police.

Officers in eastern Nangarhar province said the attack took place in the car park of the Nato outpost near the Torkham border crossing.

Two of the attackers were killed by police while one blew himself up.

Around 37 Nato fuel tankers were destroyed by explosions set off during the battle.

EUROPEAN UNION: The European Court of Justice ruled today that a French woman who stopped working during pregnancy in Britain was entitled to income support.

It said that some migrants who leave their jobs are entitled to the same benefits as workers in their host country. 

It applies to cases of vocational training, involuntary unemployment or temporary inability to work.

TURKEY: An Istanbul court today ordered a retrial of more than 200 military officers who were sentenced to up to 22 years in jail for plotting to topple Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s government in 2003.

The court ruled that the officers, including former army, air force and navy chiefs, be released from prison.

It said the officers’ rights were violated during trial, which was marred by allegations of fabricated evidence.

ISRAEL: A Tel Aviv court sentenced former Jerusalem mayor Uri Lupolianski to six years in prison today for his part in a corruption scandal involving ex-premier Ehud Olmert.

Mr Lupolianski was convicted in March of accepting bribes worth two million shekels (£341,000) from promoters of Jerusalem’s Holyland residential complex.

Last month, the same court sentenced Mr Olmert to six years in jail for accepting bribes.

AUSTRALIA: An atheist campaigning to keep religion out of the education system won his second victory yesterday when the nation’s highest court ruled that it was unconstitutional for the federal government to fund a programme that provides chaplains to schools.

Ron Williams began his legal battle against the programme after his six-year-old son came home from Darling Heights State School singing gospel songs in 2010.

SPAIN: New King Felipe VI took part in the first official act of his reign today, receiving the red sash of captain general of the armed forces from his father Juan Carlos.

Mr Bourbon was formally proclaimed king yesterday and promptly accepted his father’s hand-me-downs — including the sash and the crown.

But the new monarch had to have a very “low-key” ceremony so as not to clash with the tough times most Spaniards have had to cope with.

IRAN: Diplomats following nuclear talks between Tehran and six world powers have said that two days of negotiations have failed to narrow differences standing in the way of agreement.

The key dispute centres on uranium enrichment, which can produce both domestic reactor fuel and the fissile core of a warhead. The US and its allies want deep cuts in Iran’s enrichment programme. 

Tehran, which insists it does not want nuclear arms, is resisting.

SRI LANKA: Muslims shut down their shops in the capital Colombo today to protest against attacks by violent Buddhists and demanded the government punish those responsible.

The protest was called by the Muslims Rights Organisation and the group’s president Ibrahim Nisthar Miflal said more than 1,000 shops closed for the day.