World Highlights

• Gunmen in camouflage uniforms kidnapped about 30 Iraqis in a daylight attack in Baghdad, highlighting the threat from sectarian death squads which a top US general said must be reined in. Most were released unharmed hours later in the predominantly Shi'ite Muslim Shaab neighbourhood, an Interior Ministry source and police said. No further details were available. The motive for the kidnapping was not clear.

• Arab League chief Amr Moussa said he had made progress towards a deal to resolve Lebanon's political crisis, but that there was no agreement. "There has been progress and movement on several issues. There is room for an understanding and there are issues that require more effort," Mr Moussa told a news conference before leaving Beirut.

• The head of an organisation of former Russian spies was quoted as saying Moscow abandoned its policy of assassinating enemies long ago, and that Alexander Litvinenko was probably murdered by criminals. Former KGB agent Valentin Velichko, head of the Moscow-based Russian nationalist foundation Dignity and Honour, said fellow former agent Litvinenko, who died in London on November 23 from radiation poisoning, was a traitor but was not killed by Moscow.