Beijing - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung on Monday toured a "special economic zone" in the southern island province of Hainan as he began a six-day visit to China.

Members of the 70-strong Vietnamese business delegation travelling with Nguyen wanted to learn from China's experience in developing its special economic zones, the official Xinhua news agency reported from Hainan.

China developed the economic zones from the 1980s as insulated coastal areas designed to attract foreign capital and pilot the opening of the economy.

Nguyen visited Hainan's Yangpu economic zone on Monday and will attend a Sino-Vietnamese economic cooperation forum on Tuesday, the agency said.

Tehran - Leading reformists in Iran have urged former president Mohammad Khatami to run against Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the presidential elections in June next year.

"We want Khatami to disregard his doubts, think positively and enter the political scene," former government spokesman Abdollah Ramezanzadeh told the Iranian ISNA news agency.

Other leading reformists, such as former vice-presidents Mohammad-Ali Abtahi and Majid Ansari as well as ex-interior minister Abdol-Vahed Mussavi-Lari, have urged Khatami to take the challenge.

Berlin - German Chancellor Angela Merkel is to visit Beijing next week for the scheduled Asia-Europe summit ASEM, her deputy spokesman Thomas Steg said Friday in Berlin.

The October 24-25 meeting would give 43 nations an opportunity to discuss the financial crisis, the world economy and environmental issues, according to Steg.

Merkel, who has been pushing for stricter global regulation of financial markets, would meet beforehand with Chinese President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao.

Washington, Oct 16 : The new head of the US Central Command has launched a major reassessment of American strategy for Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, Iraq and the surrounding region.

General David H. Petraeus also warned about the lack of development and the spiraling violence in Afghanistan will likely make it “the longest campaign of the long war.”

Washington - With the US and global economy in turmoil, it was the trials and tribulations of a budding small business owner, "Joe the plumber," that took centre stage in the final debate between US presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain.

Battling for the vote of ordinary middle-class Americans just three weeks before the general election, both candidates apparently decided the economic woes facing the country were embodied in Joe Wurzelbacher, a man who made an appearance at an Obama election rally in Ohio.

Joe, who was first raised in Wednesday night's debate by McCain, had complained at the rally that he could not afford to buy his own plumbing business because of Obama's plan to tax wealthy Americans.

Brussels - European Union leaders Wednesday endorsed a major financial rescue package but remained deadlocked over plans to fight climate change, with Italy joining Poland in threatening to veto ambitious greenhouse gas cuts at a time of economic crisis.

The EU summit took place during yet another black day for the world's stock exchanges, with indexes plummeting amid renewed fears of a global recession.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown stole much of the limelight in Brussels by proposing new rules for global capitalism.

"Global financial markets present challenges that no one nation can solve in isolation," Brown told fellow EU heads of state and government.