World highlights

• Police blocked a prayer march by more than 300 supporters of democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi in Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon, two days after the military junta extended her house arrest for another year.

• Opposition leaders began weighing up whether to support a government led by Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern after final election results confirmed he was on track to secure a third successive term.

• Exit polls showed Spain's ruling Socialists and the conservative opposition held most of their strongholds in yesterday's regional elections after campaigns dominated by debate over the future of the Basque country.

• Civil rights and community groups criticised a proposal by British PM Tony Blair yesterday to give police broad powers to stop and question people as part of a new anti-terrorism law.

• One year after taking office, Italy's Prime Minister Romano Prodi faces his first major electoral test against a backdrop of falling popularity ratings and disenchantment with his government. Seven provinces elect governors and 862 towns their mayors.

• Syrians went to the polls yesterday to re-elect President Bashar al-Assad for a second term in a ballot for which he was the only candidate allowed to run.

• A roadside bomb killed six Afghan police officers in southeastern Afghanistan yesterday while another exploded near a convoy of foreign troops in eastern Kunar province, witnesses and officials said.