Washington  - Finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven (G-7) leading industrialized democracies pledged Monday to take whatever action was necessary to ensure the stability of the global economy.

"We are ready to take whatever actions may be necessary, individually and collectively, to ensure the stability of the international financial system," the group said in a statement issued after a conference call.

New York  - An international group formed to assist the Palestinian Authority said Monday it had made progress in gaining political and financial support, but much more remained to be done before a Palestinian state is established.

PA's Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said donor countries have delivered their pledges this year to help the Palestinian people. More than 1.3 billion dollars of the total of more than 7 billion dollars have been received.

New York  - The Security Council on Monday condemned "in the strongest terms" a terrorist attack on a hotel in Pakistan's capital that killed some 50 people over the weekend.

The 15-nation council extended sympathy to the victims of the "heinous act of terrorism" during a meeting in New York, adding that terrorism remained one of the most serious threats to peace in the world.

Beirut  - A Hezbollah delegation is due to hold a meeting with anti-Syrian ruling majority Saad Hariri at the latter's home in Beirut in the coming 24 hours to try to mend fences between the two sides, a source close to Hezbollah said.

"The aim of the meeting is to invite Hariri to meet with the movement's Secretary General Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah," said the source who requested anonymity.

Washington  - The United States is consulting with China and other nations to persuade North Korea to reverse its effort to restart work at its nuclear reactor facility, the US State Department said Monday.

North Korea resumed activities in August at the Yongbyon site and on Monday moved to have international seals and monitoring camera's removed so it could re-establish the facility that was to be disabled under a disarmament agreement with Washington and four other countries.

Islamabad  - Unknown gunmen on Monday kidnapped Afghanistan's designated ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Khaleq Farahi, in the country's North West Frontier Province, police said.

The attackers ambushed the envoy's car in the up-market Hayatabad area of the provincial capital Peshawar.

"The driver was killed and the ambassador was abducted by the gunmen," said an official at Hayatabad police station.

Television footage showed the official vehicle with a diplomatic registration plate CC-01-25, bearing bullet holes and blood splatter.