KABUL - Afghanistan‘s ruling Taleban movement on Monday dismissed reports that the anti-Taleban alliance had recaptured its key Bagram air base.

DILI - The United Nations on Monday declared the registration process for East Timor‘s August 30 ballot on independence a success, saying it had already registered almost all the expected voters.

CAIRO - Talks between two rival Palestinian factions aimed at achieving a united stance in peacemaking with Israel ended early on Monday with agreement to press ahead with the rapprochement.

AMMAN - Jordan said on Monday it hoped talks in Amman with a high-level Syrian delegation, the first in nearly a decade, would give new impetus to ties that have improved dramatically since the beginning of the year.

RIYADH - Arab ministers meeting in Saudi Arabia have called for greater co-operation among Arab states in the fight against terrorism.

BEIJING - A Chinese court sentenced two pro-democracy activists to lengthy jail sentences on Monday for „subverting state power“, the latest victims of a broad crackdown on challengers to Communist Party authority.

SEOUL - Ten people, including three couples, were buried in a mudslide in South Korea on Monday bringing the number of people killed or feared dead after a weekend of torrential rain to 28.

JAKARTA - Indonesia‘s election commission postponed a meeting on Monday on whether to approve the much-delayed results of the June 7 parliamentary poll, in a bid to give political parties more time for talks.

PRISTINA - The U.N. chief in Kosovo condemned a bomb attack on a new Serbian Orthodox cathedral early on Sunday and a church leader alleged it was part of a systematic campaign by Albanian extremists.

NEW YORK - U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark, who is stepping down early as NATO commander, clashed with Gen. Mike Jackson, the British commander on the ground in Kosovo, after the alliance‘s victory there.

MOSCOW - Russian Defence Minister Igor Sergeyev and U.S. Defence Secretary William Cohen have agreed to postpone a planned meeting this week.

JOHANNESBURG - South African President Thabo Mbeki on Monday held private talks with Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba as part of his stepped-up diplomatic campaign to end war in the former Zaire.

JOHANNESBURG - Public Service and Administration Minister Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi said on Monday she was confident a public sector wage dispute could be settled, as South African civil servants returned to work after a two-day strike.

LUANDA - The Angolan government appears to be gearing up for a long-awaited offensive against UNITA rebels.

WASHINGTON - Far apart on tax proposals, Congressional Republicans and Democrats on Sunday began drawing the battle lines for anticipated bitter negotiations this fall on the size, shape and timing of tax cuts.

BOGOTA - Marxist rebels have bombarded a small mountain town in northwest Colombia with home-made missiles, killing up to 15 people and destroying at least 40 buildings.

NEW YORK - Weekend thunderstorms cooled much of the U.S. mid-section on Sunday, ending two weeks of oppressive heat that claimed more than 125 lives, but the East Coast remained so hot that one farmer said his tomatoes were „cooking on the vine.“

CEBU, Philippines - All but four of 243 people on a Philippine ferry which caught fire at sea have been rescued, mostly by fishermen, averting a major maritime disaster.