Detained Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi was today set to meet senior US State Department officials.

A BURMESE court yesterday rejected an appeal by pro-democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi against her extended house arrest, just days after the US re-engaged with the country’s ruling junta.

An American whose unauthorised visit to Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi led to her extended detention, has been released, the office of US Senator Jim Webb said today.

South Korea’s coast guard said it is drawing up guidelines on how to inspect North Korean ships suspected of carrying banned items – a move expected to enrage Pyongyang, which has warned it would consider such inspections a declaration of war.

US SECRETARY of State Condoleezza Rice has become the most popular member of the Bush administration and a potential candidate to succeed her boss in the White House.

Heightened activity detected by spy satellites around a North Korean nuclear plant has intelligence analysts wondering whether the government is rushing to produce nuclear weapons - or just bluffing.