1. Brazil’s president-elect

    Dilma Rousseff, presidential candidate for Brazil’s ruling Workers Party, was officially declared president-elect on Sunday by the Superior Electoral Tribunal (SET).

    With 93.25 percent of votes already counted, Rousseff won 55.43 percent of valid* votes and has 51.59 million votes. Her opponent*, Jose Serra, got 41.48 million votes, or 44.57 percent, according to the SET.

    2. Baghdad church siege

    Iraqi security forces stormed a Baghdad church where militants* had taken an entire congregation* hostage* for four hours, leaving at least 52 people dead, including a priest, Iraqi officials said on Monday.

    It was not immediately clear whether the hostages died at the hands of the attackers or during the rescue late Sunday night in an affluent* neighborhood of the capital.

    3. Bomb plot

    The Yemeni Security authorities on Sunday granted a conditional* release* for a 22-year-old engineering student suspected of being behind mailing two alleged parcel bombs through cargo planes bound for the United States.

    The release came a day after her arrest by the Yemeni security authorities following a tip-off* from the U.S. intelligence.

    “Americans and Saudis haven’t provided enough evidences that lawfully convict* Hanan al-Samawi,” a security official said, adding that “nothing was proved against her.”

    4. Soccer match massacre

    Gunmen opened fire on a group of people on a neighborhood sports field in northern Honduras and killed at least 14, authorities said on Saturday.

    The armed men arrived in two vehicles with large guns and started shooting at a group that was preparing for a soccer match in San Pedro Sula.

    5. Tsunami toll

    Indonesia stepped up efforts on Sunday to bring aid to those affected by last Monday’s tsunami*. The disaster was triggered* by a 7.7-magnitude earthquake near a chain of remote islands off western Sumatra, as the official death toll touched 449, with 96 others missing feared dead.

    6. New diplomatic row

    Russia’s president visited an island in the Pacific Ocean claimed by both Russia and Japan on Monday, triggering immediate protests from Tokyo.

    President Dmitry Medvedev landed on Kunashiri Island, just off Japan’s northern coast. Known in Russian as Kunashir, it is part of a group of four islands claimed by both countries that Japan calls the Northern Territories and Russia calls the Southern Kurils.

    Medvedev is the first Russian president to visit the island.

    7. Kirchner dies

    Former Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, President Cristina Fernandez’s husband and predecessor*, died on Thursday, his doctor said.

    Kirchner, who was expected to run as president in 2011, had undergone two arterial* procedures earlier this year.