World News: G20 leaders in race to solve US-China currency battle

Leaders of the world's 20 biggest economies scrambled to reach a last-minute compromise today to resolve a currency dispute between the US and China that could trigger a global trade war.

A draft of the joint statement to be issued at the end of the Group of 20 summit suggests huge differences remain.

The main sticking point is how to deal with US accusations that China deliberately undervalues its currency to gain a trade advantage while similar charges are being levelled against Washington.

After overnight negotiations in Seoul between aides, President Barack Obama, China's Hu Jintao and the other 18 leaders filed into closed-door talks.

The leaders are still trying to make a "last-minute compromise" on the joint statement, the South Korean president's press secretary, Hong Sang-pyo, told reporters.

The dispute over whether China and the US are manipulating their currencies is threatening to resurrect destructive protectionist policies like those that worsened the Great Depression in the 1930s.

The biggest fear is that trade barriers will send the global economy back into recession.

Nursing home blaze kills ten

A FIRE killed ten elderly women and injured 17 others at a nursing home in South Korea.

Police said the victims, in their 70s and 80s, were sleeping when the fire broke out during the early hours in the city of Pohang. The blaze raged for about 30 minutes before being put out.

Sharon sent back home

Israel's former prime minister Ariel Sharon, who has been in a coma for more than four years after suffering a series of strokes, was moved to his home today.

Doctors told Israel Radio that Mr Sharon was transferred by ambulance to the sheep ranch his family owns in southern Israel, accompanied by a full medical team.

A politician who was for decades one of Israel's most controversial figures, Mr Sharon found popularity as PM between 2001 and 2006.

Suu Kyi party ready for release

Supporters of Burmese pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi gathered at the headquarters of her political party to prepare for her expected release from years of detention tomorrow.

The country held its first election in two decades last weekend.

Iran in talks over seized weapons

Iran's foreign minister has been in Nigeria for talks over a secret shipment of military-grade weapons seized at the West African nation's busiest port.

Manouchehr Mottaki's visit comes after Nigeria concluded Iran's government was behind the shipment containing artillery rockets seized last month.Nigerian diplomats believe the two Iranians accused in the plot are now hiding out in the Iranian embassy.

Mafia boss shot in sauna

An 86-year-old reputed Mafia patriarch was gunned down in the sauna of his home in Montreal, Canada.

Nicolo Rizzuto was shot through the window of the solarium by a lone gunman hiding in the woods outside, Montreal police spokesman Raphael Bergeron said.