Manila - Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will push ahead with a trip to the United States she cancelled earlier due to escalating violence in the country's troubled south, her press secretary said Wednesday.

According to Press Secretary Jesus Dureza, Arroyo decided to proceed with the visit to New York to attend the 63rd United Nations General Assembly and other meetings with global leaders.

La Paz - Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales and opposition governors rebelling against his reform plans agreed on Tuesday to start talks to end the violence which threw the country into a crisis.

Talks on the roadmap went ahead despite the arrest of Leopoldo Fernandez, governor of opposition-controlled Pando region. Morales accuses him of having allegedly orchestrated a massacre among his peasant supporters on Thursday, which left at least 15 people dead.

Bangkok - Thai Parliament opened a special session Wednesday to vote in a new prime minister, slated to new Somcahi Wongsawat, the brother-in-law of coup-ousted former premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Somchai on Tuesday secured the nomination of his People Power Party and its five coalition partners, who together hold 306 of the 480 seats in the Lower House.

Somchai, 61, is married to Yaowapa, the younger sister of Thaksin who was toppled by a military coup on September 19, 2006, after holding the premiership since 2001.

Bangkok  - Somchai Wongsawat, the brother-in-law of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, on Tuesday secured the full backing of the People Power Party to become the country's next premier after a party rift failed to scuttle his nomination.

"The People Power Party has reached a consensus to nominate Somchai as the next prime minister," said PPP spokesman Kuthep Saikrachang.

The PPP was scheduled to meet with its five coalition partners Tuesday night to get their backing for Somchai's nomination, which is scheduled for a confirmation vote in Parliament on Wednesday.

Sydney  - Malcolm Turnbull, elected Tuesday as the leader of Australia's opposition Liberal Party, is the conservative politician from central casting: well-groomed, well-educated, well-connected and, well, rich.

He's the wealthiest member of the Canberra Parliament, thanks to a career in business that saw him start information-technology companies and rise to the top at the local arm of the US-based brokerage Goldman Sachs Group Inc.

His years as a master of the corporate universe came after a spell in journalism and as a lawyer.

Turnbull, elected to Parliament in 2004, was environment minister when John Howard unsuccessfully sought a fifth election victory in November.

Yangon  - Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi has accepted food parcels from supporters at her home-cum-jail in Yangon, after refusing deliveries for a month to protest her detention, opposition sources said.

Suu Kyi accepted a food parcel from Ko Myint So, a member of the National League for Democracy (NLD) party which she leads, on Monday night for the first time since August 16, NLD sources confirmed.

Kyi Win, Suu Kyi's attorney who has met with her four times in recent weeks, said Monday that the Nobel peace laureate had refused food parcels "for the sake of the people, to help them obtain their rights and uphold the law."