• Six-party talks aimed at dismantling North Korea's nuclear weapons will resume on December 18 after more than a year's suspension. The fifth round of talks between the Koreas, the US, Japan, Russia and host China stalled late last year over Pyongyang's objections to US financial penalties. Washington said North Korea was counterfeiting US currency and trafficking drugs.
• The Arab League won vital Syrian support yesterday for its efforts to end a standoff between Lebanon's government and a Hizbollah-led opposition, but the opposing parties said a deal still looked elusive. Arab League envoy Mustafa Osman Ismail held talks in Damascus and Beirut during the day, and sounded relatively upbeat about his progress towards ending the stalemate.
• Britain and France plan to introduce a revised UN Security Council draft resolution imposing sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment and hope to put the measure to a vote in the next two weeks. In an effort to get Russian support, the two nations, along with Germany and backed by the US, circulated to the 15 council members on Friday a new draft that narrowed bans to the most dangerous bomb-building materials and technology.
• Thousands of Chileans, some praying and many in tears, filed past the coffin of Augusto Pinochet yesterday as his family criticized the government for denying the former dictator a state funeral.
Mr Pinochet, who polarized Chile during his repressive 17-year rule from 1973-1990 when more than 3,000 people were killed in political violence, died on Sunday after suffering a heart attack a week earlier. He was 91.
• Syria and Iraq re-opened their embassies in each other's capitals yesterday, ending more than two decades of diplomatic boycott since Syria sided with Iran during the Iraq-Iran war. The flag of Iraq was raised on the roof terrace of its embassy in Damascus in a ceremony attended by Syrian and Iraqi officials. A similar event took place in the Mansour district of Baghdad outside the US-controlled Green Zone, officials said.