World Highlights

¤ An explosion at a militant Hamas rally killed at least 10 Palestinians, including children and gunmen, in the Gaza Strip yesterday in the first deadly incident in the territory since Israel completed its withdrawal. Hamas accused Israel of attacking the procession of military vehicles and thousands of marchers chanted for revenge.

¤ The European Union submitted a resolution yesterday to the UN nuclear watchdog calling for Iran to be reported to the Security Council over nuclear plans the West fears aim to produce atomic weapons, diplomats said. The Europeans intended to force a vote on the issue at the 35-nation governing board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) despite intense opposition from Russia, China and a minority of other countries, an EU diplomat said.

¤ An Istanbul court's decision to block a conference on the World War One massacre of Armenians has embarrassed Turkey at a sensitive moment and angered EU states just 10 days before the planned start of EU entry talks. But conference organisers moved yesterday to circumvent the ruling, which banned it from two universities. A spokeswoman for a third Istanbul university said they would host the event.

¤ Indonesia's president said yesterday it was vital the international community fought bird flu together, adding his government was doing all it could to halt a virus that has killed four people in the vast Asian country. Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said authorities across the world's fourth most populous nation were checking all vulnerable areas, such as zoos and bird markets. Reuters