A black-clad man fired into a lecture hall packed with students at an Illinois university on Thursday, killing five people and wounding 18 before shooting himself dead, police and college officials said.

The gunman, who police said had a shotgun and two handguns, stepped onto the lecturer's stage near the end of a mid-afternoon geology class at Northern Illinois University and began shooting down the room, sending terrified and bleeding students fleeing, witnesses said. He then shot himself on the same stage.

Police on the 25,000-student college 65 miles west of Chicago said the gunman was a former student but they did not publicly identify him and said they did not know the motive in the latest in a series of shootings at U.S. colleges and high schools.

Italy faces an election by mid-April which could return media magnate Silvio Berlusconi to power after he blocked attempts to form an interim government.

President Giorgio Napolitano summoned the speakers of both houses of parliament on Tuesday and is expected to dissolve parliament by Wednesday. By law, he would then have to call an election within 70 days.

April 13 is seen as the most likely poll date, just two years after Romano Prodi narrowly beat Berlusconi in the last election.

Serbia's pro-Western President Boris Tadic won re-election on Sunday against nationalist challenger Tomislav Nikolic in a vote that will determine the country's future ties with the European Union.

The election commission said it was a narrow victory for Tadic, with a projected 51 percent of the vote.

The election was seen as a referendum on how Serbia should deal with the West after the imminent loss of the breakaway province of Kosovo. Tadic says European Union membership must remain Serbia's priority whatever happens. Nikolic advocates turning to Russia instead of the West.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani has pulled out of the Republican race for the White House after disappointing primary results in Florida.

Mr Giuliani announced he was giving his support to Arizona Senator John McCain, describing him as "an American hero".

Arnold Schwarzenegger, California Governor, will later endorse Mr McCain.

Earlier, Democrat John Edwards left the race, without backing any of his rivals, after failing to win a single party nomination contest.

At least 100 passengers are feared dead after a boat sank on Lake Tanganyika, off the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The vessel was travelling from the town of Kalemie, in the south-east, to Moba at the time.

Few details are known, but a Congolese maritime official said there were not thought to be any survivors. Thirteen bodies have so far been recovered.

Kenya's government and opposition are due to begin full negotiations to try to end the crisis resulting from last month's disputed presidential election.

President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga have each appointed three-man teams to discuss proposals drawn up by former UN chief Kofi Annan.

At earlier preliminary talks, he urged both sides to help restore calm.

Ahead of the talks, the top US envoy to Africa described recent violence in the Rift Valley as "ethnic cleansing".

Tony Blair has taken a part-time post with US investment bank JPMorgan.

Mr Blair, who stood down as UK prime minister in June last year, has been employed "in a senior advisory capacity", the bank said.

He said he looked forward to advising the bank on the "political and economic changes that globalisation brings".

It is not known how much JPMorgan will pay him, but some estimates say more than $1m (£500,000) a year. The bank said he had a "unique perspective".

President Pervez Musharraf should stand down for the sake of stability in Pakistan, a Brussels-based think-tank said in a report on the deteriorating situation following the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

"Stability in Pakistan and its contribution to wider anti-terror efforts now require rapid transition to legitimate civilian government," International Crisis Group said in its report released on Thursday.

"This must involve the departure of Musharraf, whose continued efforts to retain power at all costs are incompatible with national reconciliation."

Oil prices vaulted to a record $100 a barrel on Wednesday as violence in Nigeria, tight energy stockpiles and a weaker dollar triggered a surge of speculative buying, dealers said.

Oil's climb to the psychologically key triple-digit price helped send stocks tumbling on Wall Street and further darkened an already gloomy economic outlook in the United States, which has been battered by a housing crisis and credit crunch.

"Oil hitting $100 a barrel has sparked some concerns about the consumer and inflation," said Todd Salamone, vice president of research at Schaeffer's Investment Research.

Two high-ranking officials from the European Union and the United Nations - one British, the other Irish - have been ordered to leave Afghanistan.

The two men, based in Helmand province, southern Afghanistan, had been holding meetings with different tribes and groups, including possibly the Taleban.

The Afghan government has given them 48 hours to leave and the UN has said that it will comply with the request.

But officials hope to resolve what they have called a misunderstanding.

"We are currently trying to clarify the situation with the Afghan authorities, and we are hopeful that our staff member and the UN can continue with the essential work that is required to deliver peace, stability and progress to the people of Helmand province," said UN spokesman Aleem Siddique.