Lusaka, Zambia - The Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Thursday suspended the verification of votes cast in last week's disputed presidential election after supporters of new President Rupiah Banda and opposition leader Michael Sata traded punches.

State radio reported that a number of election workers got caught in the middle when fists started to fly at the hall where the verification was taking place.

Moscow - Russian investigators have detained a suspect who confessed to the murder of two Jesuit priests in their Moscow apartment, the Interfax agency reported Thursday.

Interfax quoted a police source Thursday as saying the Russian suspect was arrested at 6 am (0300 GMT) and was a repeat sex offender from the town of Tver north of Moscow. He was charged with four counts of rape but there were also suspicions that the 38-year-old may have been a male prostitute.

Riga - The three Baltic stock exchanges registered small losses overall Thursday, despite a handful of companies seeing sharp falls in their share prices by the close of trading.

The NASDAQ OMX Tallinn exchange in Estonia was down 0.52 per cent, and the Vilnius exchange in Lithuania was down 0.63 per cent, while the Riga exchange in Latvia actually rose by 0.25 per cent.

Vatican City - Pope Benedict XVI and the Grand Mufti of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Shaykh Mustafa Ceric, clasped hands and then hugged Thursday as the pontiff met participants at historic talks aimed at defusing tensions between Catholics and Muslims.

Brussels - Popstar Bjork said Thursday that Iceland should join the European Union to protect the country's economy and give it a greater voice in climate change talks.

"Right now, it looks like its the only way," Iceland's greatest celebrity said when asked whether she was in favour of her country joining the EU.

New Delhi, Nov 6 : Defence Minister A. K. Antony has asked defence PSU Hindustan Aeronautics Limited to be more competitive and modernize with the changing times.

Addressing the meeting of the Consultative Committee attached to his ministry held in New Delhi today, the Minister expressed the hope that with vast experience behind it, there is no doubt that the company will rise to the occasion in meeting the future needs of the services.