• Five Europeans and eight locals kidnapped by gunmen in remote north Ethiopia are in good condition despite more than a week's captivity, the government and a local community leader said yesterday. Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin could not confirm a report by a local leader that the captives had been seized by Afar separatist rebels and taken across the border to neighbouring Eritrea.

• US plans to base a missile defence system in eastern Europe could reopen old divisions on the continent, French President Jacques Chirac said yesterday. The US wants to base the system in Poland and the Czech Republic so that any missiles fired by what it calls "rogue states" such as Iran and North Korea can be shot down.

• Russia warned Iran that the Bushehr nuclear plant could face further delays unless Tehran resolved a payment row after days of inconclusive talks. Moscow and Tehran have been bickering publicly over what Russia says are tens of millions of dollars in delayed payments for its work on Bushehr, Iran's first nuclear power station.

• Iraq wants action not words from today's regional conference and will urge Iran and the US not to use it as a playing field to settle their scores, Iraq's foreign minister said yesterday. The meeting is also a rare opportunity for officials from Washington and Tehran to meet at a time of tension over Iran's nuclear ambitions.