Uzbekistan Uzbekistan stalled over demands for an international probe of a military crackdown feared to have left hundreds dead, as President Islam Karimov denied the issue came up in telephone talks with UN chief Kofi Annan. SKorea-US-Britain Scientists in South Korea and Britain announced they had made a giant stride forward in the tantalising quest to transform cells harvested from early embryos into a cure for sickness. EU Opponents of the EU constitution in France remain in the lead with little more than a week to go before the May 29 referendum, a new poll revealed, as both sides shifted their campaigns into high gear. EU-Cuba The European Union lashed out at Cuba for expelling two EU lawmakers -- a Czech and a German -- who had entered the Caribbean island state to take part in a meeting with opposition figures. Iraq-Turkey Iraqi Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari said Baghdad would hold talks with Damascus soon to demand action against insurgents infiltrating from Syria and warned his country would not tolerate threats from its neighbours.