Zimbabwe came under mounting pressure today after the long-delayed result of a contentious presidential poll showed Morgan Tsvangirai trouncing Robert Mugabe but falling short of an absolute majority. As Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) rejected the official result showing their leader winning 47.9 percent against Mugabe's 43.2 percent, world capitals called for a credible run-off and an halt to poll violence.

Asian countries sought to tame the spiraling rice market, with Thailand proposing an OPEC-style cartel for exporters and the Philippines shoring up supplies while aiming to end its status as the world's largest importer. The moves came as prices for rice and other food staples have been rising rapidly around the world, sparking violent protests in Haiti and Egypt along with concerns of unrest elsewhere amid profiteering and hoarding.

Erik Youngdahl and Michelle Garcia share a dorm room at Connecticut's Wesleyan University. But they say there's no funny business going on. Really. They mean it. They have set up their beds side-by-side and avert their eyes when one of them is changing clothes.''People are shocked to hear that it's happening and even that it's possible,'' said Youngdahl, 20. But ''once you actually live in it, it doesn't actually turn into a big deal.'' In the prim 1950s, college dorms were off-limits to members of the opposite sex.