Uzbekistan A military crackdown in the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan left dozens dead as hardline President Islam Karimov blamed Islamic extremists for the violence and denied responsibility for the bloodshed. NKorea-SKorea North Korea said it will return to inter-Korean dialogue, raising hopes in Seoul that Pyongyang might come back to six-party talks on ending its nuclear weapons programme. Indonesia An earthquake measuring 6.9 on the Richter scale rocked parts of Indonesia's Sumatra island, renewing fears of a tsunami but there were no immediate reports of casualties or damage. Taiwan Taiwan's independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party won an election for a 300-member assembly to decide on a package of constitutional reforms set to test the limits of the island's China policy. China China slammed a US decision to impose restrictions on Chinese textile exports, saying the move was a serious threat to the multi-lateral trading system and reserved the right to retaliate. US President Hamid Karzai is planning an administrative shake-up after violent Afghan protests over the alleged desecration of the Koran at Guantanamo Bay left 14 dead and 120 injured, officials said. Iraq Iraqi insurgents pressed their campaign to undermine the new government, killing at least 14 people in bombings, as fierce fighting between US troops and rebels near the Syrian border claimed the lives of four marines. Iran Candidates wishing to stand in Iran's presidential election next month had their last chance to register for a battle likely to pit top hardliners against the more pragmatic conservative cleric and race favorite Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.