Vienna  - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) members on Wednesday approved nuclear aid for Syria, despite misgivings of several western countries that are concerned about Syria's alleged secret nuclear programme, according to a diplomat at the meeting.

The United States, France, Britain and Australia, among others, did not want to approve the 350,000-dollar project to find a suitable location for a nuclear power plant in Syria, which is under suspicion of having secretly built a reactor at al-Kibar in its eastern desert until it was destroyed by the Israeli air force in September 2007.

Moscow  - Russia's upper house of parliament on Wednesday approved a Kremlin bill to lengthen the presidential term from four to six years.

The bill to amend the constitution was backed by 144 senators, a majority in the Federation Council. Only one senator voted against.

The Kremlin-sponsored reform was near-unanimously voted through Russia's lower house, the State Duma, on Friday.

The proposal now faces one last vote, where it must be approved by two thirds of Russia's regional legislatures - most of are dominated by pro-Kremlin party United Russia - to become law.

If passed, it would be the first change to Russia's constitution since the document was drafted 15 years ago after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Sana'a, Yemen  - The former driver of al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden arrived in the Yemeni capital Sana'a Wednesday after his release form the US military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, security sources said.

Salim Hamdan, 40, arrived on a US military plane that landed in a military base near Sana'a International Airport, the sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Hamdan was convicted by a US military commission in August of supporting terrorism and sentenced to five and a half years in prison. He is due for release in January with time served.

He was arrested by the US forces in Afghanistan in 2001, and transferred to the Guantanamo prison in 2002.

Harare/Johannesburg  - Zimbabwean riot police beat striking doctors and nurses at a Harare hospital on Tuesday and sent them running for cover in wards, witnesses said, as reports emerged of dozens

Berlin - German inflation dropped sharply in November to 1.5 per cent, the country's statistics office said Wednesday as falling oil prices and a slowdown in economic growth helped to ease inflationary pressures in Europe's biggest economy.

This month fall in annual inflation from 2.5 per cent in October is likely to help pave the way for the European Central Bank to cut interest rates at its meeting next week.

Rio de Janeiro - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Wednesday in Rio de Janeiro, to debate ways to increase cooperation and mutual investment between the countries.

Brazilian governmental advisors said that the talks were also set to include the international financial crisis, which is already having negative effects on both countries, though Medvedev said both Russia and Brazil are in a position to get over it.

"We are leaders in economic growth. No obstacle can prevent that setting. Brazil and Russia will get over the crisis," Medvedev said.