Beijing, Dec. 31 : Chinese President Hu Jintao has offered six proposals to promote the peaceful development of the cross-Strait relationship.

In a speech to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the mainland''s "Message to Compatriots in Taiwan" here on Wednesday, Hu said the mainland is willing to discuss with Taiwan proper and reasonable arrangement for Taiwan''s participation in international organizations, as long as this does not create a scenario of "two Chinas" or "China and Taiwan."

Islamabad, Dec. 31 : Many Pakistanis still view India as their real enemy and are far less concerned about the spread of radical Islam in their midst, the Washington Post reports.

According to the paper, the country''s powerful army also appears to be more comfortable facing its conventional cross-border adversary to the east than waging a messy counter-insurgency campaign against fellow Muslims and Pakistanis on its own territory.

Baghdad - Iraq's Defence Ministry on Wednesday signed two agreements on the withdrawal of British and Australian troops from the country, a Ministry spokesman said.

Islamabad - The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday that Pakistan's own probe had linked militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) with 10 fighters involved in last month's Mumbai attacks, a report which Islamabad has declined to comment on.

A Pakistani security official told the WSJ that at least one top LeT commander, Zarar Shah, has admitted a role in the Mumbai attack during interrogation.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Shah's admission is backed up by US intercepts of a phone call between Shah and one of the attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace and Tower, one of the sites of terrorist strikes that left more than 170 people dead in India's financial hub.

Oslo - British singer Amy Winehouse has been served a summons to an appeals court hearing in Norway in January, the Norwegian online newspaper Nettavisen reported Wednesday.

In October 2007, the soul singer, her husband Blake Fielder-Civil and another member of her entourage spent a night in police custody after a small amount of marijuana was found in a hotel room while she was on tour in Bergen, western Norway.

The three accepted a fine but subsequently appealed the fine. A likely reason offered was that they wanted to avert potential problems when visiting the United States.

Prague - As the Czech Republic takes over at the helm of the European Union on Thursday, the country's diplomats already face a big test - The EU response to Israeli air-strikes on the Gaza Strip.

Prague, a proponent of deeper EU ties with Israel, still hopes to stage the first top-level meeting between the EU and Israel in the final days of its presidency ending on June 30, officials said.

But instead of paving way for an upgrade in EU-Israeli relations, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg is likely to lead an EU delegation to deal with the latest Middle East conflict as soon as Sunday.