Washington  - Hillary Clinton has decided to accept the job of secretary of state in president-elect Barack Obama's administration, the New York Times reported Friday on its website.

Clinton has been rumoured for weeks to be the top candidate for the job and has been going through an extensive vetting process by the Obama transition team, along with her husband and former president Bill Clinton.

Clinton reportedly accepted the job after holding additional discussions with Obama about his foreign policy priorities and her role in the administration.

Washington  - President-elect Barack Obama has settled on James L Jones as his national security advisor, the top foreign policy post in the White House, CNN reported Friday, citing sources in Obama's transition team.

Jones, a decorated retired Marine Corps general who commanded US and NATO forces in Europe earlier this decade, is still undergoing a vetting process before being officially offered the position.

Ljubljana  - The Slovenian parliament Friday voted 50 to 36 for the country's new cabinet, led by the Social Democrat Borut Pahor.

The new premier pledged to focus his government on finding "the way out of the financial and economic crisis," the Slovenian news agency STA reported.

"We must take it (the crisis) as a challenge and work as a team," Pahor said as he presented his cabinet to the parliament.

Pahor, 45, has built a youthful cabinet with five women, two of whom control the defence and interior ministries. Of the 18 ministers, seven are non-partisan experts.

New York  - A three-member United Nations panel is scheduled to visit Bangladesh next week to assist the caretaker government there in organizing parliamentary elections, the UN said Friday.

The Bangladeshi government requested UN help to assess the situation and make preparations for the elections in December. The panel will visit the country Sunday to November 29.

The UN said the panel will "assess the preparations and conduct of the elections through visits to Bangladesh before and during the elections."

Manila  - A plane carrying Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has made an emergency landing in Japan after her husband fell ill on the flight, officials said Friday.

Arroyo was on her way to Lima, Peru to attend the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation leaders' summit.

Her husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, fell ill on the flight, with some officials saying he had a heart attack. Other officials said he suffered an upset stomach.

Mr. Arroyo underwent heart surgery in Manila last year.

"Our information is that the president's plane made an emergency landing in Osaka, Japan at 11 pm Philippine time because of the condition of the first gentleman," Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said.