Zagreb  - Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday send a note to the British embassy in Zagreb demanding an explanation of the Foreign Office's warning to British citizens to wary of a threat from organized crime in Croatia.

"Croatian Ministry of Foreign Affairs asked the British embassy in Zagreb to explain such warnings and publish an objective image of Croatia," Croatian foreign affairs ministry spokesman Mario Dragun told the German Press Agency dpa.

Washington - The United States would be willing to consider any proposal presented by Iran as long as it addresses international concerns about the Islamic state's nuclear activities, the US State Department said Wednesday.

"We've said we're willing to have a direct dialogue with Iran," spokesman Robert Wood said. "And if they come up with some new package with regard to their nuclear programme, we'll have to take a look and see what it is."

Washington  - One day before President Barack Obama travels to Mexico, the administration named Alan Bersin to lead efforts to police the United States' southern border and announced a new clampdown on Mexican drug gangs.

Bersin, who served in a similar capacity under former president Bill Clinton, will lead the effort to make our borders safe while working to promote commerce and trade," Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said during a visit to El Paso, Texas.

Mexico City  - Only five US presidents have visited Mexico City in the past 100 years, but one more name will be added to the list Thursday with the arrival of President Barack Obama.

Obama is set to visit the city, which was once ancient Tenochtitlan - the former capital of the Aztec civilization, on Thursday, 12 years after the last visit of then-president Bill Clinton. The city is today the second-largest in the world in terms of population, with 19 million people in its metropolitan area.

Tel Aviv - United States special envoy George Mitchell arrived in Israel Wednesday evening on the latest leg of a trip in the region to kickstart stalled peace efforts.

Mitchell met Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak in Tel Aviv shortly after arriving in the country. On Thursday he will meet new Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman. It will be his first meeting with them since they took office at the end of last month.

Havana  - Historic Cuban leader Fidel Castro accused British Prime Minister Gordon Brown of treating peers, including US President Barack Obama, "with prejudice" during the recent Group of 20 summit in London.

In an article that the Cuban Communist Party daily Granma published Wednesday under his name, Castro further accused host Brown of having behaved in a "visibly derogatory" fashion toward the representatives of the Third World.