ROME (AFP) - Pro-goverment militia joined protesters Tuesday to try to storm Italy's embassy in Tehran, Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told a Senate hearing.

KABUL (AFP) - Avalanches in a strategic pass through treacherous mountains in northern Afghanistan killed 24 people, with up to 40 people missing and feared dead, the interior minister said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (AFP) - Iran's decision to start enriching uranium to higher levels "heightens doubts on the sincerity" of Iran's nuclear intentions, Russia's foreign ministry said Tuesday.

STRASBOURG (AFP) - The European parliament on Tuesday approved EU commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso's new cabinet, voting in favour of the team by an overwhelming 488 to 137, with 72 abstentions.

PARIS (AFP) - France is "in principle" willing to sell an amphibious assault ship to Russia but no decision has yet been made and negotiations are continuing, officials said Tuesday.