Johannesburg (Agence France-presse): Negotiators at the Earth Summit in Johannesburg made "significant progress" on Wednesday on a blueprint to save the planet, Danish Environment Minister Hans Christian Schmidt told journalists.

Seoul (Reuters): South Korea's parliament vetoed President Kirn Dae-jung's second nominee lor prime minister on Wednesday, dealing another blow to his plan to establish a neutral government ahead of presidential elections in December.

Tehran (Agence France-Presse): Iranian President Muhammad Khatami said on Wednesday he would submit a bill calling for greater presidential powers, particularly in the economic area, to better meet people's aspirations.

Beijing (Reuters): China and India, the world's two most populous countries, stressed their opposition to the use of force against Iraq without mentioning the United States by name.

Damascus (Reuters): Iraq said on Wednesday there was still room for a diplomatic solution to avert war with the United States, but that Baghdad had to prepare for conflict because Washington did not want a peaceful solution,

Berlin (Agencies): Indonesia has been ranked once again as one of the world's most corrupt countries by Transparency International.

Bangkok (Agence France-Presse): Adverse weather conditions across Asia could affect the region's rice harvest this year but exports are unlikely to be harmed, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said Wednesday.

Yokohama, Japan (Agencies): Australia's Ian Thorpe captured his fifth gold medal of the Pan Pacific swimming championships on Wednesday, winning the men's 100 freestyle.

London (Reuters): The relentless rise of England's Justin Rose over the past nine months was underlined by his impressive fifth-place finish in the WGC-NEC Invitational at Sahalee Country Club on Sunday.

New York (Agence France-Presse): World number one Lleyton Hewitt and second seed Marat Safin, the past two men's champions at Flushing Meadows, took dramatically different paths to the second round of the US Open here Tuesday.