Amman  - Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Bashir met Monday with a visiting delegation of German lawmakers and stressed Berlin's role in pushing forward the peace negotiations between Israel and its Arab neighbours.

"The minister underscored the importance of the European Union's role, particularly that of Germany, both on the international and regional levels, in spurring the Middle East peace process and giving a hand to the Palestinians and Israelis to enable them reach a peace agreement," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

Dhaka  - The leader of one of Bangladesh's major parties warned Monday that groups might boycott national elections scheduled for December unless her party's demands to improve the elections are met within 48 hours.

Kampala  - An agreement expected to end two decades of civil war in the north of Uganda is expected to be signed November 30, now that the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has finally agreed to peace, Ugandan officials said Monday.

"(LRA leader) Joseph Kony has agreed to turn up to sign the agreement," Ugandan army spokesman Major Paddy Ankunda told a news conference.

New York  - South Africa's Academy Award winning actress and activist Charlize Theron said Monday that a woman is raped every 26 seconds in her country, a situation she described as "quite horrific."

Appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Theron took over her new job as United Nations Messenger of Peace to lead the campaign to end violence against women.

Skopje  - The Macedonian government launched a complaint against Greece before the International Court of Justice for blocking Skopje's entry into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the Macedonian Foreign Ministry said Monday.

"Macedonia has filed an application with the registrar of the Court to bring Greece into compliance with its legal obligations under the Interim Accord of September 13,
1995," read the statement on the ministry's website.

Berlin  - Chancellor Angela Merkel held talks Monday on the future of ailing carmaker Opel as a debate flared on the company's request for state aid.

Opel is seeking credit guarantees from Berlin to counter a financial squeeze, triggered by dwindling sales and problems with its parent company General Motors.

Taking part in the meeting at the chancellor's office were Opel chief executive Hans Demant, the head of GM's European operations Carl-Peter Forster and the head of the company's employees' council Klaus Franz.