World Highlights

• Bangladesh's president has resigned as head of the caretaker government, the official BSS news agency said after weeks of violence and accusations he was incapable of ensuring free and fair polls on January 22. The announcement of Iajuddin Ahmed's resignation came hours after the declaration of a state of emergency and daily night-time curfew in the hope of curbing growing unrest led by an alliance of parties that had boycotted the poll.

• A US air strike in Somalia missed its main target of three top al Qaeda suspects but killed up to 10 of their allies, a senior American official said. A US warplane on Monday attacked a village in southern Somalia in an attempt to destroy an al Qaeda cell accused of bombing two US embassies and an Israeli-owned hotel in east Africa.

• US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said she was ready to meet "any time, anywhere" with Iran's leadership if it suspended its enrichment of uranium. "I repeat an offer that I have made several times, today. If Iran suspends its uranium enrichment, which is an international demand and not just an American one, then the United States is prepared to reverse 27 years of policy and I will met with my Iranian counterpart any time, anywhere," Ms Rice told a news conference.

• Russia restarted the flow of oil through its main European export pipeline after Belarus dropped an oil transit duty imposed last week and agreed to return oil Moscow said it had taken illegally. "I can confirm that all oil supplies are renewed," European Union Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs told a news conference. "All member states that have been affected are receiving oil."

• Nato and Afghan troops killed up to 150 insurgents in a ground and air attack in south-eastern Afghanistan after the insurgents infiltrated from neighbouring Pakistan, the alliance said. Afghan anger over the infiltration of Taliban militants from Pakistan has soured relations between the neighbours, both important US allies in the war on terrorism.