World Highlights

• China and India have agreed to reopen border trade at the historic Nathu-la pass after more than 40 years, a symbol of rapproachement between Asian giants who fought a Himalayan warin 1962. The pass, at an altitude of around 4,300 metres will open on July 6, China's Xinhua news agency reported, and handle trade between the tiny northeast Indian state of Sikkim and southern Tibet.

• Myanmar democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi marked her 61st birthday under house arrest while pro-democracy activists around the world staged protests against the military junta. At Yangon's Town Hall, a lone male protester shouted "Long Live Daw Aung San Suu Kyi" for several minutes in a rare public protest before police bundled him away, witnesses said.

• Palestinian government workers lined up at post offices in Gaza to receive cash that members of the Hamas-led administration hand-carried into the territory to sidestep a Western aid boycott. "This is only an injection to put us to sleep and then wake up in pain again," said a government employee who gave his name only as Abu Abdallah.

• The African Union and Western countries pushed ahead with plans to send foreign peacekeepers to Somalia, despite strong rejection of the idea by Mogadishu's new Islamist rulers. The move came amid rising concern over wider conflict in Somalia following the victory of militia loyal to sharia courts over secular warlords believed backed by Washington.

• The US Supreme Court said it would expand its review of a federal law banning some abortion procedures by deciding a California case on whether the law was too vague and imposed a burden on women. The review could show whether the court's two newest members, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, both conservatives appointed by President George W. Bush, vote to restrict abortion rights.