Sydney  - Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman walk the red carpet Tuesday at the Sydney premiere of a film they made together in the red dust of the Outback.

Directed by Baz Luhrmann, Australia has been praised by one critic as a love letter to the landscape that "has international blockbuster written all over it."

The 100-million-US-dollar extravaganza is set in World War II, with Kidman playing a pale-faced English aristocrat bowled over by Jackman's sun-kissed cattle drover.

It's the most expensive film ever made in Australia and carries the torch for a tourism industry shaken by bookings cancelled in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Washington  - US president-elect Barack Obama on Monday returned telephone calls to foreign leaders who had called after the November 4 elections to congratulate him for his victory.

Obama spoke with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and Turkish President Abdullah Gul, his transition team said.

Since the election, Obama has contacted more than a dozen leaders to thank them for congratulatory phone calls.

Washington  - The United States was cautiously optimistic that an agreement establishing the legal basis for US troops in Iraq will be approved by the Parliament in Baghdad, with the White House saying challenges remain in finalizing the deal.

"We're nearly there, but there are a couple more hurdles that we have to get through," White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said Monday, a day after Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Cabinet approved the agreement.

Washington  - US stocks dropped Monday after US banking giant Citigroup announced a massive job cut, extending a steady decline over the last two weeks amid concerns of a deepening recession.

Citigroup said Monday that it was eliminating about 53,000 jobs from its international workforce and cutting costs by 20 per cent after suffering huge losses in the global financial crisis.

Washington  - US President George W Bush on Monday telephoned Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi in a sign of warmer ties following an agreement to compensate victims of terrorism.

"The two leaders discussed that this agreement should help to bring a painful chapter in the history between our two countries closer to closure," Gordon Johndroe, a White House spokesman, said.

The US government confirmed earlier this month that 1.5 billion dollars had been transferred by Libya into a fund to compensate victims or their families for terrorist attacks.

San Jose  - Costa Rican President Oscar Arias and Chinese leader Hu Jintao agreed Monday in San Jose to launch talks towards a free-trade agreement between the two nations.

The heads of state met in the framework of Hu's visit to Costa Rica, the first that a Chinese leader has made to a Central American country.