DO-OVER IN AFGHANISTAN - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon wants 200 poll officials in Afghanistan who were complicit in fraud fired ahead of the upcoming run-off election between Hamid Karzai and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. UN overseers determined the original vote count, which appeared to give Karzai the absolute majority he needed to avoid a runoff, was the product of massive ballot box stuffing. Some observers see a chance to avoid a re-vote if Karzai and Abdullah strike some kind of deal to form a coalition government. Link

THERE GOES THE NABE - A botched renovation may cost Bolivia's Akapana pyramid its status as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The 1700-year-old landmark might even collapse. The pyramid is made of stone, but someone thought tourists would like it better if it were plastered with adobe. "They decided to go freehand with the [new] design... There are no studies showing that the walls really looked like this," said a dismayed UNESCO official. Link

A FLIGHT RISK, YOUR HONOR - In what may be the least controversial decision in legal history, a court denied bail to celebrated film director and self-admitted statutory rapist Roman Polanski. Polanski was apprehended in Zurich after more than 30 years on the run. He fled the U.S. after pleading guilty to unlawful intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. Link

THIRD TIME'S THE CHARM - A Nicaraguan court has given leftist prime minister Daniel Ortega the green light to seek a third term as president. The decision-making body consisted only of supporters of Ortega's Sandinista party. The opposition Liberals are disputing the legitimacy of the ruling, which the court says is final. Ortega's decision to seek a third term is part of a trend of leftist presidents challenging term limits. Many Latin American constitutions establish a very strong presidency with strict term limits as the primary check on executive power. Honduran president Mel Zelaya was ousted by a military coup on suspicion that he planned to abolish term limits. Link

PUTTING THE "WAS" IN ECOWAS - The African trading bloc ECOWAS has suspended Niger because its president called a controversial parliamentary election. President Mamadou Tandja dissolved parliament and called an election after abolishing term limits and giving himself the right to seek a third term. Opposition leaders are boycotting the vote. ECOWAS wants Tandja to negotiate with the opposition. Link