World Highlights

O Chad said yesterday a "state of belligerence" existed between itself and Sudan following attacks on an eastern border town by rebels it said were armed and directed by the Sudanese government. While President Idriss Deby's government stopped short of declaring war or breaking ties with Sudan, the statement was the toughest so far against its eastern neighbour over the December 18 attacks against the border town of Adre.

O Last-minute talks between London Underground and the RMT union over a planned New Year's Eve tube strike broke up yesterday without agreement. RMT plans a 24-hour stoppage on December 31 and another on January 8/9 following a staffing dispute over safety.

O Subway trains and buses were rolling again in New York yesterday after transit workers ended a three-day strike that caused havoc in America's most populous city at the height of the holiday season and which may have cost the economy $1 billion. Transport Workers Union Local 100 leader Roger Toussaint said the union's executive board voted overwhelmingly to end the strike despite not reaching a new contract.

O Bulgaria and Libya have agreed to set up a fund for families of Libyan children with HIV as the international community seeks to save five Bulgarian nurses sentenced to death for infecting youngsters with the virus. The US, Britain and the European Commission have all signed up to the fund, Bulgaria's Foreign Ministry said yesterday.

O Thousands of Hamas supporters marched under pouring rain in Gaza yesterday to protest against US and EU criticism ahead of Palestinian elections and to pressure President Mahmoud Abbas not to delay the vote. "No to US and European dictation," said one banner. Worried at the prospect of a strong Hamas showing in the January 25 parliamentary poll, the EU joined the US House of Representatives this week in threatening to cut vital aid if the Islamic militant group wins.

O Former Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie has decided to abandon his bid for a seat in parliament less than two weeks after resigning to contest, senior Palestinian officials said yesterday. They said Mr Qurie had sent a letter to President Mahmoud Abbas to say that he wanted the elections postponed and that he opposed a plan to merge two rival lists of candidates from the ruling Fatah movement - a bid to heal a party rift. Qurie's letter said he wanted to withdraw as a candidate.

O Firefighters have put out a blaze caused by a suspected dynamite attack at two pipelines operated by Royal Dutch Shell in remote southern Nigeria and workers are fixing them, a Shell spokesman said yesterday. Eleven people died in the incident on Tuesday.

O A gas blast at a road construction site in China's southwestern province of Sichuan has killed at least 42 people, state media said yesterday. Eleven were injured in the explosion on Thursday in a highway tunnel under construction between the cities of Dujiangyan and Wenchuan. Most of the victims were construction workers, the report said.