¤ British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw began a two-day visit to Beirut yesterday to shore up international support for the tiny country eight months after Syrian soldiers withdrew. He urged Syria to cooperate with a UN inquiry into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and respect the sovereignty of its smaller neighbour. Mr Straw made his comments as diplomats said Syria had agreed to allow UN investigators to interview its Foreign Minister over the killing but was still considering a request for a meeting with President Bashar al-Assad.

¤ A little-known Sunni rebel organisation said it would kill kidnapped Iranian soldiers if Tehran failed to free 16 jailed members of the Sunni Muslim group within three weeks. Al Arabiya television aired a video from the Organisation of God's Soldiers for Sunni Mujahideen (Holy Fighters) yesterday which showed what it said were eight Iranian soldiers identifying themselves before pleading with the government to comply with their captors' demands.

¤ Rescue workers at a collapsed German ice rink pulled the bodies of three more victims from the wreckage yesterday, bringing the confirmed death toll to 14, officials said. Police spokesman Hubertus Andrae said the 14th victim was a girl aged between 12 and 16. The identities of the two others recovered yesterday had yet to be confirmed.

¤ A strong earthquake hit the Gulf of California off the Mexican coast yesterday and was felt strongly in some cities, but disaster services said there were no immediate reports of damage. The US Geological Survey website said the quake struck at 0832 GMT (0332 EST) 89 kilometres from Santa Rosalia on the east coast of the Baja California peninsula.

¤ US lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty yesterday to defrauding lenders in a Florida casino ship deal. The plea was part of an agreement to help prosecutors in a Washington influence-peddling probe that could involve top Republican lawmakers.