Uzbekistan Tension simmered on Uzbekistan's eastern border with Kyrgyzstan, days after a military crackdown in the nearby city of Andijan left dozens dead and sparked unusually strong criticism of Tashkent in the West. Russia Mikhail Khodorkovsky, founder of the Yukos oil giant and once Russia's richest man, faced judgment following an 11-month trial on fraud and tax evasion charges that critics say was retribution for challenging President Vladimir Putin. US Almost one third of the oil allocations granted under the UN oil-for-food program in Iraq went to Russian parties or individuals, according to a US Senate report detailing alleged misuse of the program. US The US magazine whose story of alleged desecration of the Koran by US prison officials sparked deadly protests in Muslim countries, said that its report may have been wrong. Iraq US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has paid a surprise visit to Baghdad to give the new Iraqi government a strong vote of confidence, even as dozens of corpses were found in a grisly sign of rampant insecurity. Iran Iran warned that an emergency meeting next week with the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany may have little chance of resolving mounting tensions over its nuclear programme. NKorea North Korea held senior level negotiations with South Korea, the first in nearly a year, igniting hopes for a resumption of six-party talks to end the nuclear standoff. SriLanka Sri Lankan leaders began talks with key donors against a background of growing concern over the island's peace process and deep divisions over the distribution of tsunami aid. Ethiopia Ethiopia's opposition backed off a threat to reject nationwide results from hotly contested weekend elections it says were marred by fraud, saying their complaints were limited to key areas. Pakistan The arrest of Al-Qaeda operative Abu Faraj al-Libbi has failed to provide any clues on Osama bin Laden's whereabouts, Pakistani leader Pervez Musharraf was quoted as saying.