Shanghai  - Former Argentine tennis player Guillermo Vilas plans to attend the Davis Cup final pitting Argentina against Spain next week in the Argentine city of Mar del Plata, where Vilas himself grew up.

"Yes, I am heading there," Vilas said Wednesday in Shanghai, where he was attending the Masters Cup. "I do not know when. I am returning to Buenos Aires Friday or Saturday, but I do not know when I will be arriving in Mar del Plata."

Vilas, 56, a myth of Argentine tennis, won two editions of the Australian Open, one French Open and one US Open, as well as a Masters.

Harare/Johannesburg  - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has been asked by his ZANU(PF) party on Wednesday to form a government of national unity even if the opposition does not want to be involved.

Addressing journalists in the Zimbabwean capital Harare, ZANU(PF) spokesman Ephraim Masawi said "the Zanu politburo unanimously agreed that President Mugabe form a government of national unity like yesterday. This is in conformity with the SADC (Southern African Development Community) resolution reached over the weekend."

This latest development is likely to further strain relations between ZANU(PF) and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Port-au-Prince, Haiti  - Another school building partially collapsed Wednesday in Haiti, less than a week after a school crumbled leaving more than 90 people dead.

Berlin - Germany's lower house of parliament on Wednesday passed a controversial law granting sweeping powers to federal police in the fight against terrorism.

The legislation, which has to be approved by the upper house, allows investigators to conduct video surveillance of terrorist suspects and monitor their private computers.

"We are responding to new technical developments while at the same time adhering to our basic tenets of freedom," Interior Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told deputies.

German civil liberties groups have criticized the new law, saying it will lead to a Big Brother state where the privacy of Germans' homes is no longer sacrosanct.

New York - US utility owner Exelon Corp's bid to acquire power producer NRG Energy Inc turned bitter Wednesday, with Exelon taking its 5.71-billion-dollar offer directly to shareholders after being rejected by the NRG management.

The acquisition would make Exelon the largest power producer in the United States. NRG is said to have rejected the bid partly because it believes that Exelon couldn't guarantee financing.

NRG chief executive David Crane said Tuesday that Exelon was undervaluing his company, according to Bloomberg financial news agency.

Bucharest - Romania's current account deficit grew by nearly 15 per cent in the first nine months of the year, authorities said Wednesday, the latest sign of a possible economic crunch for the European Union newcomer.

Goods imports running far ahead of exports were the main reason for the 12.7-billion-euro (16.1-billion-dollar) shortfall in the nation's broadest measure of international trade, central bank data showed.

Medium- and long-term foreign debt grew by 25.2 per cent since the start of the year, the report said.

Romania, which joined the EU in 2007, is among the ex-communist nations that has raised concern in the global financial crisis, especially after international lenders saved neighbouring Hungary from possible default.