Uzbekistan Soldiers hunted rebel gunmen and civilians took to the streets of the eastern Uzbek city of Andijan to protest what they described as massacres, as witnesses claimed up to 200 people were killed in the bloody crackdown by security forces. 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 voters began casting their ballots to elect a 300-member assembly which will decide on a package of constitutional reforms set to test the limits of the island's China policy. China Chinese Vice Premier Wu Yi urged the United States to solve a growing textile dispute through consultations after Washington ordered import quotas on a flood of Chinese textiles, state press reported. Afghanistan Afghan and foreign forces were on high alert after 14 people died in violent protests over alleged desecration of the Koran by US interrogators at Guantanamo Bay. Iraq Iraq's new government struck back at the insurgency seeking to undermine its credibility, making arrests in connection with a deadly car bombing, as it renewed a state of emergency in most of the country. Mideast The United Nations and the United States expressed concern over the flare-up of violence on the border between Israel and Lebanon, with Washington calling for Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah militia to be disarmed. Colombia Colombian authorities announced the confiscation of 13.5 tonnes of cocaine in what they say is the country's biggest single narcotics haul.