Taipei  - Taiwan President Ma Ying-jeou, in a speech to be delivered later Sunday, is expected to discuss broadening relations with China in an attempt to forge better relations between the two countries.

Ma is to speak at Kinmen Island, a Taiwan-held islet off China's southeastern coast, while attending a rally to mark the 50th anniversary of the Kinmen Battle.

Washington  - Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama on Saturday praised Joe Biden, his pick for vice president, as a man capable of changing the culture of politics in Washington despite his 36 years in the national legislature.

"For decades, he's brought change to Washington but Washington hasn't changed him," Obama said, introducing Biden at a rally in Springfield, Illinois. "He's uniquely suited to be my partner as we work to bring our country back on track."

Tehran  - Any new sanctions would make Iran stronger and more decisive in achieving its technological goals, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Saturday in a speech in Arak, central Iran.

"You have witnessed that despite sanctions we not only moved forward in the nuclear issue but even launched a satellite-carrier," Ahmadinejad said in the speech carried live by the news network Khabar.

New Delhi/Washington, Aug 23: Foreign Secretary Shivshankar Menon will visit the US early next week to hold discussions with Americans officials in the wake of 45-nation Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) deciding to meet next month to consider a waiver for India to carry out nuclear commerce.

Menon is also expected to discuss current developments in Pakistan following President Pervez Musharraf's resignation as also the escalating violence in Kashmir during his meeting with Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns.

Singapore - Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs warned political activists from Myanmar not to ignore repeated police orders to stop illegal public protests and anti-Myanmar activities, the The Strait Times newspaper said Saturday.

A spokesman of the Overseas Burmese Patriots (OBP), a group of Myanmar activists, said the Singapore government has not renewed immigration passes for five of its members that had participated in a public protest in November.

"We do have suspicion that the rationale for the rejections might be because of the protests and our activities," Myo Myint Maung said.

Washington  - Russia has not complied with a declared ceasefire that calls for the withdrawal of soldiers on Georgian soil outside of the disputed breakaway regions, the White House said Friday.

"We are not seeing that they are in compliance right now," Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said in Crawford, Texas, where President George W Bush was vacationing.

"They have not completely withdrawn from areas considered undisputed territory. And they need to do that," Johndroe said.