Dhaka - A British minister on Wednesday arrived in Dhaka to weigh Bangladesh's political situation as it prepares to return to democracy with parliamentary elections slated for December 18.

On his arrival, Lord Mark Malloch Brown - minister of state for Asia, Africa and the United Nations - met with Bangladesh's foreign affairs adviser, Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, a Foreign Affairs Ministry official said.

Brown was expected to call on the chief adviser to the military-backed interim administration responsible for holding a fair election.

Chowdhury said after his meeting with Brown that they discussed political developments toward holding a peaceful election.

Sydney - Australia on Wednesday placed further sanctions on Iran but dropped plans to hold President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to account for his anti-Semitic pronouncements.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said Canberra was "deeply concerned" at Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment and other activities as required by multiple UN Security Council resolutions.

Australia has repeatedly urged Iran to cooperate with inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to show it is only using uranium for peaceful purposes.

Smith announced financial sanctions on individuals and organizations deemed essential Iran's nuclear and missile programmes.

Islamabad - Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday left for Beijing to garner economic and commercial assistance as the security situation along the Afghan border undermines the country's relations with the United States.

The four-day visit is Zardari's first official bilateral visit since his election to the presidency in September. However, he had already met US President George W Bush on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly session last month.

Taipei - Taiwan's pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Monday announced it will stage a large-scale march next weekend to protest against a planned visit by China's top negotiator Chen Yunlin.

"The theme of our protest includes opposition to a one-China market, opposition to hollowing out of our sovereignty to China and opposition to the impotent Ma Ying-jeou government," said DPP spokesman Cheng Wen-tsan.

He said any people, including former president Chen Shui-bian, who support the theme are welcomed to join the DPP's protest on October 25.

Luxembourg - European Union foreign ministers were Monday due to discuss re-starting cooperation talks with Russia amid disagreement over whether Moscow had fully complied with a peace deal in Georgia.

Ministers arriving at their meeting in Luxembourg indicated that reaching consensus on the strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) talks would be difficult.

"We have to take it fairly slowly," said Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb. "I do not expect a decision (on the PCA) to be taken today."

Stubb chairs the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which has a military monitoring operation in Georgia.

Hanoi - Greek President Karolos Papoulias met with Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet Monday at the start of a six-day visit to the south-east Asian state.

Papoulias is the first Greek president to visit Vietnam since the two countries established bilateral ties in 1975.

"Greece in very interested in promoting relations between our two countries, and proof of this is that just as we promised, we have opened a Greek embassy in your country," said Papoulias.