Official results from the presidential election in Austria show that the incumbent Heinz Fischer of the Social Democrats has as expected been reelected for a second six-year term. The final count gave Mr Fischer almost 80% of the vote for what's a largely ceremonial post. A far-right candidate, Barbara Rosenkranz, got just over 15%.

Fierce fighting has been reported in Sudan near the border between Darfur and the autonomous south. A spokesman for an Arab tribe allied to the government in Khartoum said 55 of his men had died in fighting inside Darfur on Friday against soldiers of the former rebels who now control southern Sudan. On Sunday, the southern army said it had been attacked for a second time inside its own territory. James Copnall sent this report from Khartoum.

The former southern rebels, the SPLM, say they have been attacked again in Balbala, inside southern Sudan. A southern army spokesman said the second attack on Sunday afternoon had forced his troops to abandon their position. He said his men had previously fought off an attack by heavily armed men with mounted machine guns and mortars which he blamed on the northern army. A northern armed forces spokesman told the BBC his men hadn't been involved in any fighting.

This is the World News from the BBC.

The Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted angrily to the broadcast of a cartoon by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, warning of the fate of the captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit. Mr Netanyahu called it a despicable action. The three-minute message shows Gilad Shalit being returned to Israel in a coffin and calls on Israeli leaders to exchange Palestinian prisoners for his release.