The head of the UN nuclear agency arrived in Tehran yesterday for talks in which he is expected to urge the Iranian government to allow unfettered inspections of its nuclear sites, Iran's state-run radio reported.

　　Mohamed elbaradei, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is scheduled to meet Iranian President Mohammad Khatami and the head of Iran's nuclear program. ElBaradei has said he wants Iran to sign an additional protocol to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

　　Turkey rows with US

　　Turkey's president Ahmet Necdet Sezer said yesterday that Turkey had the right to demand a "satisfactory explanation" from its NATO ally over the detention of 11 Turkish special forces by the United States. Senior Turkish and US generals met to lay out grievances and launch an inquiry into the July 4 incident in which US troops took 11 Turkish special forces into custody - along with 13 Iraqi civilian staff and security guards - in the northern Iraqi city of Sulaymaniyah.

　　Burundi erupts

　　At least 13 people were killed and dozens of others wounded yesterday as fighting between Hutu rebels and the Tutsi-dominated army continued in southern neighborhoods of the Burundi capital Bujumbura for a third day, the army spokesman said. Four civilians were killed by rocket-propelled grenades fired by the rebel National Liberation Forces, or FNL, who have been battling with the army since Monday.

　　Vacation canceled

　　German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has canceled plans to vacation in Italy, a government spokesman said yesterday, after an Italian official branded German tourists "hyper-nationalist" arrogant blondes. Schroeder decided that the on-going flap between Italy and Germany would make it hard for his family to have a restful and quiet vacation together, Schroeder's spokesman Bela Anda said.

　　Vip tommy appeals

　　Indonesia's most famous prisoner - the youngest son of ex-dictator Suharto - asked a court yesterday to review his 15-year prison sen-tence on charges of ordering the assassination of a judge. Looking healthy and relaxed, Hutomo Mandala Putra, often called Tommy, sat quietly in the tightly guarded Cilacap District Court in his first public appearance since he was jailed last year on the notorious remote prison island of Batu. Tommy's lawyers lodged court documents calling for a judicial review of his sentence.

　　Baby boy stolen

　　A newborn boy was stolen from a government-run hospital in the Indian capital, New Delhi. It was the third such incident at the hospital in six months, Indian newspapers reported yesterday. Swapping of girl babies for boys and outright stealing of newborn boys from hospitals is not unusual in India, where most parents prefer male children.

　　Singapore chills out

　　Singaporeans out on the town will soon be able to drink until dawn and dance on the bars under new laws set to shake up this famously straight-laced, tightly controlled country. Regulations that allow bars to stay open for 24 hours and let patrons dance anywhere within nightspots - including on previously out-of-bounds bar-tops - will be passed by the end of the year, police said in a statement yesterday.