World Highlights

¤ Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sent a sharp reminder to Hamas yesterday he had the power to dissolve the new government, but said he did not want to do so and would give the group more time to embrace peacemaking. "Hamas has to change some of its political attitudes. Let's wait a while and see if it will change," Mr Abbas told Turkish CNN.

¤ Chinese President Hu Jintao kicked off a three-nation tour of Africa in Morocco yesterday, boosting already booming ties to a continent rich in the energy and minerals his country needs to feed a fast-growing economy.

¤ UN diplomats yesterday brushed aside a call by Osama bin Laden for Muslims to rise up against the West in Sudan, and vowed to go ahead with plans to send peacekeepers to the embattled Darfur region.

¤ Senior members of Nepal's seven-party political alliance yesterday welcomed King Gyanendra's move to reinstate Parliament and said they were likely to postpone protests that have engulfed the nation.

¤ Another six people were shot dead in fresh violence in Sri Lanka yesterday, with ethnic tensions strained after suspected Tamil Tiger rebels killed six Sinhalese farmers, as fears of a new civil war mounted.

¤ A cargo plane transporting US anti-narcotics agents crashed into houses in a southern Afghan town yesterday, killing five people, including two foreigners, officials said.

¤ Pakistan reported mounting cases of the deadly H5NI bird flu virus in poultry yesterday after discovering more infected farms near the capital. "Now, we have total nine poultry farms where H5N1 virus has been confirmed," Mohammad Afzal, the agriculture ministry's livestock commissioner, said.

¤ Hundreds of Greek leftists marched through central Athens yesterday chanting slogans against a visit by US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in a foretaste of planned mass action.