Tehran  - Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday rejected an offer by US President Barack Obama to open a new era in relations until Tehran could see real changes in US policies.

"The new US president sends us a Persian New Year greeting message but in the same accuses us again to support terrorism and to be after nuclear weapons," the supreme leader said in a televised speech in the city of Mashad in north-eastern Iran.

Beijing  - Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez arrived in China on Saturday for a six-day visit during which he will hold talks with his Chinese counterpart and witness the signing of several cooperation agreements.

Vazquez is scheduled to hold talks with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Wu Bangguo, the official number two in China's ruling Communist Party.

The two sides will sign several bilateral cooperation agreements during Vazquez's talks in Beijing, the Chinese foreign ministry said, without giving details.

Taipei  - El Salvador's president-elect Mauricio Funes, who has reportedly considered closer trade ties with China, has assured Taiwan of continued relations, it was reported Saturday.

Funes sent an envoy to Taiwan's embassy Friday to deliver his message of support, the Liberty Times reported.

Hanoi  - Vietnam and China have signed an agreement to establish a hotline between the countries' leaders for discussions of urgent disagreements, Vietnamese state media said Friday.

The state-run newspaper Vietnam News reported the agreement was signed in Hanoi Thursday as part of a visit by Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo.

The hotline has been under discussion since a June meeting between Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Beijing.

Jakarta  - Indonesia's defence minister accused Singapore of obstructing an extradition treaty because it fears it would have to hand over businessmen who sought refuge in the city-state with huge amounts of illegally gotten money, a news report said Friday.

Juwono Sudarsono also said a defence cooperation agreement with Singapore, negotiated simultaneously with the extradition pact, appeared to have collapsed as well, according to The Jakarta Post.

"They [the agreements] are frozen," Juwono told the Post.

Beijing  - China might convert more naval vessels to patrol disputed areas of the South China Sea to counter illegal fishing and "other countries' unfounded territorial claims," state media said Thursday.

China faces new "challenges and complications" in the South China Sea, the official China Daily quoted a senior fisheries official as saying, pointing to recent claims by the Philippines and Malaysia to disputed islands and a standoff with a US naval surveillance ship.