World Highlights

¤ Nigeria launched a census but logistical hitches delayed counting in many places, increasing pressure on organisers who also have to contend with political tensions that have derailed previous headcounts.

Censuses are controversial in Nigeria because rival ethnic and religious groups have tried to use them to assert their numerical superiority and claim a larger share of oil revenues and political representation.

¤ China and Russia are united in pushing for more diplomacy to resolve the Iranian nuclear issue, China said a day after the two deflected Western moves to authorise UN Security Council threats against Iran.

After more than two weeks of discussions, the five veto-wielding members of the Security Council - China, Russia, the United States, Britain and France - have been unable to agree on a draft statement that tells Iran to stop enriching uranium.

¤ Hundreds of protesters defied Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko for a third day, massing to protest at his re-election, denounced as flawed by observers.

In a protest unprecedented in the tightly-controlled, ex-Soviet state, opposition demonstrators continued an overnight vigil and camped in driving sleet on a Minsk central square to back a call for a re-run of a vote they say was rigged.

¤ Chad's army has launched an offensive against rebels in the east as President Idriss Deby tries to reassert military control over his landlocked central African country before a May election.

Government sources in N'Djamena said the army had since Monday attacked a command post held by the SCUD rebel group in the mountains of Hadjer Marfain, south of Adre, not far from the border with Sudan.

¤ Israel reopened the main goods crossing into the Gaza Strip under foreign pressure, letting truckloads of flour, rice and cooking oil pass after Palestinian officials and aid groups warned of food shortages.

The UN aid agency which provides food to more than half of Gaza's 1.4 million Palestinians said the reopening of the Karni crossing was welcome news but that the terminal was still operating only at 10 per cent of capacity.