Islamabad - Pakistan said Wednesday that information received from India about the Mumbai terrorist attacks was being "seriously examined."

"Pakistan remains fully determined in its investigations to uncover full facts pertaining to the Mumbai incident and is cognizant of the need for establishing legally tenable evidence," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Sadiq.

Ten gunmen killed more than 170 people in India's financial hub Mumbai in three days of mayhem beginning November 26, escalating tensions between the South Asian nuclear-armed neighbours.

Madrid - In what was taken as an indirect swipe at Israel's actions in the Gaza, Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon has announced a military ethical code of conduct to prevent the Spanish army from misusing force, press reports said Wednesday.

Chacon announced the reform in a speech in which she was seen as indirectly criticizing Israel, during an annual military ceremony on Tuesday.

The code of conduct based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and international humanitarian law was seen as trying to prevent action such as that by the United States in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and by Israel in Gaza.

Ankara - Around 40 people were taken into custody Wednesday in the latest wave of arrests connected to a shadowy nationalist gang that prosecutors claim was conspiring to overthrow Turkey's moderate Islamic government, Turkish media reported.

Those taken into custody on Wednesday included retired generals, former police officers, academics and journalists who are suspected of being connected to the so-called Ergenekon gang which allegedly had links to various murders in the past.

Taipei - Taiwan's central bank Wednesday announced a benchmark interest rate cut of 50 basis points following a sharp decline of the island's total exports in December.

"Effective from Thursday, the benchmark interest rate would be lowered to 1.5 per cent from 2 per cent," the central bank said in a press release after an unscheduled board meeting.

It stressed the cut was to reflect the sharp decline in the island's total exports, which slumped by 42 per cent in December at 13.64 billion US dollars, due to the global economic recession.

Durban - Police in South Africa on Wednesday revised the number of people killed in apparent xenophobic violence in the port city of Durban on the weekend from three to two.

Reports Tuesday had said three foreign nationals had been killed when a mob of 150 armed people stormed an apartment building inhabited by migrants from other parts of Africa. Those targeted were forced to jump from windows of the building in Albert Park.

Police said a Zimbabwean and a Tanzanian fell to their deaths, while a 23-year-old Mozambican, initially reported dead, had survived the fall and was in a critical condition in hospital.

Tehran - Iran has started extensive diplomatic efforts to stop the conflict in the Gaza Strip, Mehr news agency on Wednesday quoted Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hassan
Ghashghavi as saying.

Ghashghavi said that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has dispatched 22 envoys to several Asian and European states with the aim of "an immediate stop of Zionists'
(Israeli) aggressions and blockade of Gaza."

The spokesman did not clarify to which countries the president's envoys would be dispatched but said that the diplomatic operation would be directed by the foreign
ministry.