Fears of militia violence and calls for a boycott threatened today to mar Libya’s first nationwide parliamentary election.

Forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi destroyed an oil pipeline and storage plant today as they pounded rebels with artillery and gunfire in at least two major cities.

The Bangladesh cyclone death toll today rose through 3,000 with fears of many more to come.

Aid workers struggled today to help hundreds of thousands of survivors of a cyclone that blasted Bangladesh, killing a reported 1,100 people, savaging coastal towns and leaving millions without power in the deadliest storm in more than a decade.

The death toll from cyclone Sidr which hit Bangladesh’s coast with winds of 150 mph has risen to at least 1,100.