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Pop band Wet Wet Wet are to tour the UK to mark 20 years since their first hit. The Scottish stars - who had a string of chart smashes in the 1980s and 1990s - will play a series of dates in December to accompany a new album. The band will play in Belfast, Glasgow, Manchester, Sheffield, Birmingham Aberdeen, Newcastle, Cardiff and London's Wembley Arena. Wet Wet Wet, who had hits such as Sweet Little Mystery, split in 1999 but reformed in 2004 for reunion shows. Film song Marti Pellow, Gra ...

Kenya's president has sent delegates to seven African countries to try to find peacekeeping troops for Somalia. Mwai Kibaki, head of a regional body, is hoping for an 8,000-strong force. It would replace Ethiopian troops who helped Somalia's government oust an Islamist militia but whose presence, analysts say, may hinder lasting peace. A delegation from the African Union has arrived in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu, with the deployment of peacekeepers also high on its agenda. Aids effect Mr  ...

By Jon Boyle PARIS (Reuters) - Nicolas Sarkozy accepted his centre-right party's presidential nomination on Sunday and attempted to soften a hardline image that worries many voters by urging the country to embrace his inclusive vision for France. Sarkozy had words of praise for workers, women, ethnic minorities, home owners, the young and undecided voters as he projected a more compassionate side  ...

India's Ganges river at the city of Allahabad has been flushed with fresh water from upstream to improve bathing for millions at a key Hindu festival. Some holy men, or sadhus, had threatened to boycott bathing in waters they considered too polluted. Five million devotees have already gathered on the banks of the river for the 45-day Ardh Kumbh festival. Sunday and Monday are considered auspicious bathing days as the sun enters the Tropic of Capricorn. Hindus believe that bathing at Sangam,  ...

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Congressional opposition will not influence President George W. Bush's plans to send more troops to Iraq, Vice President Dick Cheney said Sunday, dismissing any effort to "run a war by committee." "The president is the commander in chief. He's the one who has to make these tough decisions," Cheney said. Cheney's defiant stance comes as both the House and Se ...

By Peter Griffiths LONDON (Reuters) - A Home Office employee has been suspended in connection with an escalating row over the department's failure to enter criminals' details on the national police computer, a spokesman said on Sunday. "An official at the Home Office has volunteered evidence in the last 48 hours which warrants disciplinary investigation," he said without elaborating. "This officia ...

GREENVILLE, North Carolina (AP) -- Police and sheriff's deputies rushed to check on churches early Sunday after fires broke out at two Baptist churches and a break-in was discovered at a third. Authorities stopped short of saying the fires were arson. But the state Bureau of Investigation, along with Greenville officials and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, planne ...

ELK CITY, Oklahoma (AP) -- A minivan carrying 12 people skidded off an icy highway early Sunday and slammed into an oncoming tractor-trailer, killing seven, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said. The eastbound van slid through the center median and struck a westbound tractor-trailer around 3:50 a.m., trooper Kera Philippi said. Five of the van's occupants were taken to a hospital, Philippi said. The  ...

Andrew Johnson's late header salvaged a point for Everton against a resolute Reading side at Goodison Park. The Royals took the lead when Stephen Hunt met Nicky Shorey's free-kick and after ricochets from Tim Howard and then Joleon Lescott, it trickled in. Victor Anichebe had a header cleared off the line by Ibrahima Sonko and Johnson shot wide when clean through. As Everton surged forward, Johnson atoned for his earlier miss and headed past the onrushing Marcus Hahnemann. Everton, boosted b ...

By Ibon Villelabeitia BAGHDAD (Reuters) - The U.S. military said on Sunday that five Iranians held by its troops in Iraq are linked to Revolutionary Guards who are arming and funding Iraqi militants but Tehran called them diplomats and demanded they be released. The row over the five tested the Iraqi government's ties with Washington as President Jalal Talabani left for Syria, another foe of U.S.  ...