An unpublished first novel by Truman Capote, long thought lost, has been found in a box of photographs and documents abandoned by the author in 1966. The handwritten manuscript of the novel, Summer Crossing, goes on sale on Friday at Sotheby’s in New York, where it carries an estimate of  000 to  000.

The Ukrainian opposition broke off negotiations with the government on Tuesday night, saying that they preferred ”people power” to further talks, as international pressure grew for fresh elections. ”We are stopping talks with the authorities,” opposition MP Taras Stetskyv told thousands of supporters gathered in central Kiev. ”We will talk with them only from the position of people power.”

Iraq’s Shia parties have built a powerful political alliance uniting moderates with extremists and seem likely to dominate next month’s general election. The coalition, formed in weeks of private negotiations, will put forward a joint list of candidates.

George Bush’s victory in the United States presidential election will be challenged in Ohio’s supreme court on Wednesday, when a group of Democratic voters will allege widespread fraud. President Bush clinched re-election by winning the state of Ohio on November 2 by a margin of 136 000 votes over the Democratic candidate, John Kerry.

A United Nations panel has called for the UN’s main decision-making body, the security council, to be expanded from 15 to 24 members, giving broader representation to developing countries. The proposal is part of a package of 101 recommendations aimed at transforming the UN in an age of terrorism and in the wake of the international rifts over the Iraq invasion and occupation.