Russia has put forward "proposals" to build new nuclear power plants in Iran after the completion of the Bushehr project, local media reported Sunday quoting the Islamic republic's atomic chief.

"We have held negotiations with the Russians regarding the construction of new nuclear power plants. They have put forward some proposals," Fereydoon Abbasi Davani was quoted as saying by Resalat newspaper.

Tehran's prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi on Sunday confirmed that Iran has sentenced two American hikers to eight years in prison each, the ISNA news agency reported.

"Shane Bauer and Josh Fattal have been each sentenced to eight years in jail by the branch 15 of the Revolutionary Court," ISNA quoted him as telling a news conference. He said the verdict can be appealed in 20 days.

An Al-Qaida suspect plotted to poison tourists' water supplies to avenge the killing of Osama bin Laden, a Spanish judge said Saturday as he remanded the man in custody.

Abdellatif Aoulad Chiba, a 36-year-old Moroccan, had gone so far as to obtain manuals on poisons, toxins and explosives on jihadist websites, the judge said.

Afghanistan's election commission on Sunday threw nine lawmakers out of parliament in a bid to settle nearly a year of disputes over fraud-tainted elections that have paralyzed the lower house.

Although President Hamid Karzai tasked the Independent Election Commission (IEC) with making a final ruling, it was not immediately clear whether its decision would finally end the row or run the risk of more angry protests.

North Korea's reclusive leader Kim Jong Il on Sunday received a red carpet welcome in the Amur region where he also toured a hydro power station ahead of talks with President Dmitry Medvedev.

Kim on Saturday kicked off a week-long secrecy-wrapped visit to the Russian Far East and Siberia, a rare trip out of a country battling isolation and hunger.

A violent storm lashed Pope Benedict XVI and around one million pilgrims at an open-air service in Madrid, forcing him to cut short his speech and drenching the faithful who had waited for hours in blistering heat.

As the heavens opened during World Youth Day celebrations Saturday night, Benedict's skullcap was swept off and an assistant tried to shelter the 84-year-old pontiff with a large white umbrella.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu warned Saturday that relations with Israel will further deteriorate without an apology over a deadly 2010 flotilla raid.

"There can be no normalization with Israel if Turkey's demands are not met," the Anatolia news agency quoted him as saying during a visit to South Africa.

A major 7.5-magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of the South Pacific island of Vanuatu on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey said, but there was no immediate tsunami warning issued.

The quake struck at 3:55 am (1655 GMT Saturday) at a depth of 40 kilometers, around 60 kilometers south of Port Vila, the capital of the island nation.

The Cuban government on Saturday rejected a U.S. decision to keep Cuba on its blacklist of countries that allegedly support terrorism and accused Washington of sheltering the "real terrorists."

The Cuban Foreign Ministry said the U.S. does not have "the least moral authority or right whatsoever" to judge Cuba, citing the case of a Cuba-born former CIA operative wanted for a string of bombings and residing in Miami.

An Indian army lieutenant and a dozen suspected militants were killed Saturday in a clash along the de facto border that splits Kashmir between India and Pakistan, the army said.

The fighting erupted in the northern Gurez district when a group of "heavily-armed militants tried to infiltrate" Indian Kashmir from the Pakistani zone of the divided Muslim-majority territory, said an Indian army spokesman.