US The United States sought to stem Muslim anger over reports of the desecration of a Koran at its 'war on terror' detention camp, with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice calling such disrespect "abhorrent" and promising to punish any offenders. US The biggest anti-US protests since the fall of the Taliban spread across Afghanistan, as unrest sparked by alleged abuse of the Koran at the US jail in Guantanamo Bay left three more people dead. Uzbekistan Insurgents freed more than 2,000 prisoners and took over the eastern Uzbekistan city of Andijan, where a trial of alleged Islamic extremists had sparked anger, a human rights group said. Iraq The death toll from insurgent attacks since Iraq's government took office at the start of the month passed 400 as a car bombing in Baghdad killed at least 15 and wounded more than 80. Three US soldiers were also killed in separate incidents, according to US military reports. US A controversial British MP and a French ex-cabinet minister angrily denied charges in a US Senate report that they took huge kickbacks from Saddam Hussein's regime under the UN oil-for-food programme. NKorea South Korea's intelligence chief told a parliamentary committee there were no signs that North Korea was preparing to conduct a nuclear test, a legislator who attended the hearing said. US A Democratic lawmaker placed a "hold" on the nomination of John Bolton as US ambassador to the United Nations, in a fresh bid to derail his appointment after a senate panel, in a rare move, decided to send it to the Senate floor unendorsed. Japan A Japanese court refused compensation for three survivors of a 1932 massacre of Chinese villagers by the Japanese Imperial Army amid a row between the two countries over treatment of history. Iran Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair said he would back UN Security Council action against Iran if the country breaks a pledge over its nuclear programme, as the Islamic republic looked set to defy the European Union by resuming sensitive nuclear activities. Mideast The Palestinian Authority mooted a possible delay to this summer's legislative polls that Islamist group Hamas immediately rejected, aiming as it is to carve out a major role in the new parliament. UN A Bangladeshi soldier serving with the UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo dies from a wound he received in an ambush, the UN mission (MONUC) here said. US A US colonel who was in charge of military intelligence at Abu Ghraib prison has been relieved of command after being found guilty of dereliction of duty for authorizing the use of dogs in an interrogation of a detainee, the army announced.