World highlights

O US Vice President Dick Cheney defended his accusations that Russia was backsliding on democracy and bullying its neighbours, even as he praised oil-rich Kazakhstan's autocratic leader on a visit. Mr Cheney's gentle approach to Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, who has never won a free election, stood in contrast to his sharp rebuke of Russian leader Vladimir Putin delivered at a summit of Baltic and Black Sea heads of state on Thursday.

O The United States defended its treatment of foreign terrorism suspects held abroad, telling a UN committee it backed a ban on torture and stressing there had been "relatively few actual cases of abuse". John Bellinger, the US State Department's top legal adviser, said Washington was "absolutely committed to uphold its national and international obligations to eradicate torture".

O An Israeli air strike killed five Palestinians at a training camp used by militants in the Gaza Strip further dampening peace prospects in the region. The Israeli military said the strike targeted a camp used by the Popular Resistance Committees (PRC), an umbrella group of militants that often fires makeshift rockets into Israel.

O Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, keen to both boost his support in French-speaking Quebec and to counter separatist forces there, said Canada would allow the province to play a role in the United Nations' cultural agency, Unesco. Mr Harper's announcement in Quebec City fulfils a promise he made in the run-up to the January 23 federal election, when his Conservatives won a narrow victory in large part due to unexpectedly high levels of support in Quebec.

O Iranian leaders were defiant in the face of growing pressure by Western nations to have a resolution, demanding Iran curb its nuclear ambitions, ready by Monday. Influential cleric Ahmad Khatami told worshippers at Friday prayers in Tehran that any country which chose confrontation with Iran would regret the move "forever".