Amsterdam - Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen on Tuesday called upon Muslim countries on to make sure the film An Interview with Mohammed, by Iranian-born Ehsan Jami, will not result in violence against Dutch nationals or Dutch companies.

Verhagen said he discussed the matter on Tuesday with ambassadors of Muslim countries in The Hague.

The foreign minister says he fears Muslim extremist groups might use the film as an excuse to commit violence against Dutch targets.

Budapest  - Delays and cancellations are expected when workers at Budapest's Ferihegy International Airport begin an indefinite strike at 6 am (0500 GMT) on Wednesday.

A spokesman for Budapest Airport told the state news agency MTI that there are 250 flights scheduled in and out of Budapest Wednesday.

Krisztina Nemeth, a spokeswoman for the Hungarian national airline Malev said she could not say how many flights will be affected, as Malev had not yet been officially informed of the strike.

Kiev  - Ukraine's long-running political crisis took a step towards resolution on Tuesday as the previously warring parliament factions elected a compromise candidate to lead the legislature.

A total of 244 members of the 450-seat parliament supported Volodymyr Litvin, head of the tiny Litvin Block Party, as parliament's new speaker, the Interfax news agency reported.

Harare  - Zimbabwe's Information Minister Sikhanyiso Ndlovu on Tuesday accused the West of causing the cholera epidemic that has claimed nearly 600 lives in order to justify military intervention in Zimbabwe.

"After squeezing and strangling the country with sanctions and contaminating it with cholera and anthrax, the West is seeking to use the window of opportunity provided by the disaster to justify military intervention," said Ndlovu. "The cholera situation is under control."

"We have enough chemicals to purify the water. We have got enough foreign currency to buy (new water) pipes," Ndlovu told a press conference.

New York  - The United States said Tuesday it was ready to strengthen the United Nations' capability to play a "central role" in fighting terrorism around the world.

The position taken by Washington's envoy to the UN, Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, come days after the terrorist attacks in Mumbai, India's financial centre, that killed close to 200 people.

London - British opposition leader David Cameron on Monday called for early elections to act as a type of referendum on the different economic programmes of the country's major parties.

Cameron, head of the British Conservative party, criticized the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown for creating massive public debt in pursuit of an economic stimulus package.