TEHRAN - Iran said on Saturday its nuclear stance had not changed and it was ready to hold talks with world major powers over its disputed nuclear programme based on international regulations.

- - - -

BOGOTA/PARIS - Colombia showed a video on Friday of the rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other hostages where their anger turned to ecstasy as theater-trained military agents duped and overpowered leftist rebels.

- - - -

TAIPEI/SHANGHAI - Historic regular flights between Taiwan and China began on Friday, in a show of conciliation between the long-time rivals that could bring large numbers of mainland Chinese visitors to the island.

- - - -

HARARE - Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, defiant despite growing African condemnation of his re-election, said on Friday the opposition must drop its claim to power and accept that he was the rightful head of state.

- - - -

ULAN BATOR - Troops began pulling back from the streets of the Mongolian capital on Saturday ahead of the lifting of a state of emergency that had been declared after rioting over alleged election fraud.

- - - -

MINSK - About 50 people were wounded early on Friday by a home-made bomb that sprayed nuts and bolts into a crowd at an open-air concert in Belarus's capital attended by long-time ruler President Alexander Lukashenko, officials said.

- - - -

JERUSALEM - Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak on Friday sought the demolition of the houses of two Palestinians behind recent deadly attacks against Israelis after the attorney-general said the move was legally viable.

- - - -

SEOUL - South Korean police said they expect about 35,000 to gather on Saturday for a protest against a U.S. beef import deal and the polices of the new president, whose government has faced a crisis due to the weeks of street rallies.

- - - -

WARSAW - Poland spurned as insufficient on Friday a U.S. offer to boost its air defenses in return for basing anti-missile interceptors on its soil but said it remained open to talks with Washington.

- - - -

WASHINGTON - Jesse Helms, a die-hard anti-communist firebrand who championed a wide range of conservative causes in his 30 years in the U.S. Senate, died early on Friday, aged 86, his foundation said.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.