In Brief

*RAIDS – The Us military said US-led air raids had destroyed two safe houses allegedly belonging to the network of top Islamic militant Abu Mussab al-Zarqawi in the rebel-held Iraqi city of Fallujah.

*NUCLEAR – Iran is ready to cooperate fully with the international community over its nuclear programme provided its “rights” are respected and believes dialogue is the only solution, President Mohammad Khatami said. *REJECTED – The United Nations Security Council called unanimously for Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon but Syria rejected the demand, pointing out the UN had taken no action over Israel’s deadly offensive against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.*CORRUPTION – Corruption is hobbling the fight against poverty and robbing oil-rich countries of their development potential, according to a respected annual report on sleaze.The survey by watchdog Transparency International said Haiti and Bangladesh had the worst perceived levels of corruption among public officials and politicians.*CLIMATE – Environmental and development groups joined forces in warning that global warming threatens to hit the world’s poorest people hardest and magnify existing injustices, making it impossible to reach global targets on halving world poverty by 2015.*MEDIA – Facing public outcry and strong investor pressure, a US media conglomerate has backed down from its plan to air what was billed as a lengthy expose of John Kerry’s role in the Vietnam War – less than two weeks before the November 2 vote.*KING – Thousands of Cambodians welcomed home their first new monarch in more than 60 years, King Norodom Sihamoni, who was appointed last week while in Beijing with his father.*REFORM – South Korea’s ruling party introduced controversial legislation to parliament including a measure to scrap the country’s decades-old anti-communist law, triggering a head-on collision with the conservative opposition.*JUSTICE – Spanish police arrested eight suspected Islamic extremists believed to be plotting a bomb attack on the National Court, Spain’s highest criminal court, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said.- Nampa-AFP*REJECTED – The United Nations Security Council called unanimously for Syria to pull its troops out of Lebanon but Syria rejected the demand, pointing out the UN had taken no action over Israel’s deadly offensive against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.*CORRUPTION – Corruption is hobbling the fight against poverty and robbing oil-rich countries of their development potential, according to a respected annual report on sleaze.The survey by watchdog Transparency International said Haiti and Bangladesh had the worst perceived levels of corruption among public officials and politicians.*CLIMATE – Environmental and development groups joined forces in warning that global warming threatens to hit the world’s poorest people hardest and magnify existing injustices, making it impossible to reach global targets on halving world poverty by 2015.*MEDIA – Facing public outcry and strong investor pressure, a US media conglomerate has backed down from its plan to air what was billed as a lengthy expose of John Kerry’s role in the Vietnam War – less than two weeks before the November 2 vote.*KING – Thousands of Cambodians welcomed home their first new monarch in more than 60 years, King Norodom Sihamoni, who was appointed last week while in Beijing with his father.*REFORM – South Korea’s ruling party introduced controversial legislation to parliament including a measure to scrap the country’s decades-old anti-communist law, triggering a head-on collision with the conservative opposition. *JUSTICE – Spanish police arrested eight suspected Islamic extremists believed to be plotting a bomb attack on the National Court, Spain’s highest criminal court, Interior Minister Jose Antonio Alonso said.- Nampa-AFP