Lusaka - Allegations by Zambia's opposition leader Michael Sata of vote rigging cast a pall over Thursday's election to choose a successor to deceased president Levy Mwanawasa and stoked fears of violence in Africa's largest copper producer.

The mood on voting day itself was calm as Zambians made their way from dawn to over 6,000 polling stations nationwide to choose a successor to Mwanawasa, who died of a stroke in August.

Madrid - Spain's Queen Sofia opposes gay marriage and doesn't understand the need for gay pride parades, according to a report in the daily El Pais about a newly published biography on the queen.

According to the report, the queen is not opposed, in principle, to homosexuals living together or forming unions. "But you can't characterize this as marriage," she told the newspaper.

She proposed alternate names - civil union, for example - for such pairings.

She also questioned the need for gay pride parades.

Patna, Oct 30: Railways Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav today announced compensation of Rs three lakhs for the widow of Dharam Dev Rai, a resident of Uttar Pradesh''s Gorakhpur district who was beaten to death on a train in Badlapur in Maharashtra, after the miscreants identified him as a "North Indian".

The incident caught media attention as it happened in the wake of the ongoing raging controversy over harassment of North Indians, particularly those from Bihar, in Mumbai.