Damascus  - Syria on Monday drew parallels between the United States' current approach to the issue of its alleged nuclear activities, and Washington's having accused Baghdad of possessing weapons of mass destruction prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

Comments published by state-owned newspaper al-Thawra, the de facto mouthpiece of the Syrian government, accused the US of pursuing a strategy of escalating tension in the Middle East and downplaying Syrian peace efforts,

London  - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown delivered a sharp warning to Russia on Monday to end its military operations in the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia.

There was "no justification" for Russia's military offensive, Brown said in a statement released in London.

It is the "clear responsibility" of Moscow to agree to a ceasefire and to end the conflict immediately.

Brown said the situation "threatens the stability of the entire region and risks a humanitarian catastrophe."

Amsterdam - Dutch Prime Minister Jan-Peter Balkenende has told his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao he is concerned about human rights violations in China, Dutch newswire ANP reported Sunday.

"This issue should be discussed. I did it before, I have done it today and I will continue to do so in the future," the Dutch prime minister was quoted as saying.

Balkende said he discussed freedom of the press, the position of human rights activists, minority rights and the situation in Tibet.

Beijing - Chinese President Hu Jintao and US President George W Bush held formal talks on Sunday, after Bush appealed for greater religious freedom during a church visit earlier in the day.

Chinese state media said Hu hosted a banquet lunch for Bush at the government's Zhongnanhai leadership compound following the talks.

But the reports gave no immediate details of the talks, which were scheduled to last 30 minutes.

Bush earlier visited Beijing's Kuanjie Church for Sunday morning worship.

Paris  - French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner on Sunday will travel to Georgia in a bid to halt the fighting in South Ossetia as part of his country's role heading the European Union presidency.

Kouchner will be accompanied by Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, who the head of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the EU presidency said in a statement on Paris on Saturday.

Delegations from the United States, European Union and OSCE were on the way to Tiblisi to discuss the fighting between Georgia and Russia.

New York  - The UN Security Council held Saturday a fresh meeting to review the situation in the breakaway South Ossetia enclave where fighting between Russia and Georgia continued for a third day.

Russia, a veto power on the 15-nation council, called for the closed-door meeting a day after the body held an open debate to hear views from Russian and Georgian representatives as well as those of council members. The council did not issue any formal statement on its position.