Greece is being hit by a 24-hour public transport strike in the latest protest against government austerity measures. Train, bus and taxi services have been crippled and air traffic controllers will stop work for several hours. There will also be a mass protest of public sector workers later in Athens.

Death row inmate Troy Davis has been executed in the US state of Georgia for the fatal shooting of policeman Mark MacPhail in 1989. Davis' death was delayed for hours while the US Supreme Court considered an 11th-hour appeal for clemency.

Hundreds of Afghans have gathered in Kabul to mourn High Peace Council chief Burhanuddin Rabbani and protest at his killing by a suicide bomber on Tuesday. Kabul was gridlocked as streets were sealed off around Rabbani's home, where ex-colleagues arrived to pay respects.

At least 35 human bodies were found in a roadway during rush-hour traffic in the Mexican coastal state of Veracruz Tuesday, the state attorney general said. Police in the eastern state found two trucks carrying the bodies near a shopping mall in the municipality of Boca del Rio, Attorney General Reynaldo Escobar Perez said.

US President Barack Obama will urge his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas to drop a bid for UN recognition of statehood later on Wednesday. Mr Obama will also meet Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu amid frantic diplomacy aimed at averting a crisis.

Government forces in Yemen have continued firing shells at a protester camp in the capital, witnesses say. Explosions rocked Sanaa all night, and at least two people had died in the shelling, according to doctors.

United Nations (CNN) -- The Israeli prime minister on Monday appealed for direct peace negotiations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, to be started in New York and continued in Jerusalem and Ramallah. "Unilateral measures are not the way to advance peace between us," said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referring to an Abbas plan to submit a member application for a state of Palestine to the United Nations Security Council on Friday.

Italy has had its sovereign debt rating cut by Standard & Poor's, the latest move in the deepening European debt crisis. S&P cut its rating by one level to A from A+, adding that the outlook for the country was "negative". It cited fears over Italy's ability to cut state spending and bring its finances in order, particularly given the country's growth prospects.

More civilians have died in political unrest in Yemen's capital Sanaa, a day after 26 people were shot dead at a rally in the city. Witnesses said security forces once again opened fire on protesters, who had promised to carry on their campaign to oust President Ali Abdullah Saleh.

President Barack Obama is to unveil plans to cut the US deficit by $3 trillion (£1.9tn) over the next decade. A White House official said his proposals include an overhaul of the tax code that would raise $1.5tn. The official said the president would not agree to cuts in health care for the elderly if there were no provisions for rich Americans to pay more tax.

Greece should not be the "scapegoat" for the debt crisis in the eurozone, the country's Finance Minister, Evangelos Venizelos, has said. He added that European and international institutions were using Greece as an "easy excuse" to "hide their own lack of competence to manage the crisis". Mr Venizelos is due to discuss Greece's next release of bailout funds later.

Libya's interim government forces say they have made progress in their attack on Sirte, a stronghold of forces loyal to Col Muammar Gaddafi. However, the advance has been slow and there is fierce resistance from loyalist forces. There are also reports of heavy fighting in another Gaddafi stronghold, the town of Bani Walid.

US President Barack Obama is planning a higher minimum tax rate on the richest Americans to ensure they are taxed at the same rate as the less wealthy. White House officials said Mr Obama would provide details of his proposal on Monday when he reveals his long-term plan to reduce the budget deficit.

Reno, Nevada (CNN) -- The number of people killed when a pilot lost control of his vintage plane and crashed into spectators during an air race over Reno, Nevada, rose to nine Saturday. Seven people died on the tarmac, including the pilot, and two more died in hospitals, Reno police said. Officials had previously put the death toll at three. Close to 70 people were injured in the incident, which occurred Friday.

British PM David Cameron and French President Nicolas Sarkozy are in Libya,

At least 20 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on the funeral of a tribal elder in north-west Pakistan, police say. More than 45 others were wounded in the blast in Lower Dir near the Afghan border, the local police chief said.

Jerusalem (CNN) -- The unilateral declaration of a Palestinian state would have "dire consequences," Israel's foreign minister warned Wednesday, a day after Palestinians said they would take the proposal to the United Nations. Avigdor Liberman did not elaborate in his comments on Israel Radio, but said previous Israeli concessions like the withdrawal from Gaza had not resulted in peace.

Afghan forces have killed the last insurgents who attacked the US embassy, Nato headquarters and police buildings in Kabul, after a 20-hour stand-off. The Afghan authorities say a multi-storey building where the gunmen were holed up has now been cleared.

(CNN) -- Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has apparently released a new message to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terror attacks, in which he praises the Arab Spring as a "devastating blow" to the United States. The hour-long video, posted Monday on websites run by supporters of the terror network, includes an audio broadcast purportedly from al-Zawahiri and a video message from Osama bin Laden, recorded before his death in May.

Suicide bomb and gun attacks have hit central Kabul, with a string of blasts targeting the US embassy and one death reported in a suicide attack in the west of the Afghan capital. Gunmen are holed up in a high-rise building overlooking the city centre, exchanging gunfire with police. The Taliban say they are behind the attacks.

Two Americans jailed for spying in Iran will be released in two days, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has told US media. Shane Bauer and Joshua Fattal were imprisoned for eight years last month. The pair, in custody since their arrest in July 2009, had claimed they strayed into Iran accidentally while hiking near the border.