BEIJING, Nov 17, 2007 (AFP) - North Korea is fully cooperating with US weapons experts supervising the disabling of the communist country's principal nuclear site, New Zealand's foreign minister Winston Peters said Saturday.

'They receive full cooperation at this point of time,' said Peters, who is in China following a two-day visit to Pyongyang.

JERUSALEM, Oct 21, 2007 (AFP) - Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni charged on Sunday that weapons were still being smuggled from Syria to the Shiite Muslim Hezbollah, undermining the UN mission in Lebanon.

'Continued smuggling of weapons and ammunition from Syria damages UNIFIL's ability to dismantle Hezbollah's armaments and will do so in the future as well if the smuggling continues,' she told Claudio Graziano, the UN force commander.

BEIJING, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - China said Thursday it was playing a 'constructive role' in its relations with Myanmar, but did not respond to calls by a rights group to impose an arms embargo on the Southeast Asian nation.

In a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao, Human Rights Watch also urged China to impose targeted sanctions on Myanmar and pressure it to begin a dialogue with opposition groups seeking democracy.

BANGKOK, Oct 18, 2007 (AFP) - Human Rights Watch on Thursday sent a letter to Chinese President Hu Jintao urging him to slap an arms embargo on Myanmar to help prevent abuses by its military rulers.

China is a major supplier of weapons to the military regime in Myanmar, which last month violently suppressed anti-government protests led by Buddhist monks across the country formerly known as Burma.

BEIRUT, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Lebanese Prime Minister Fuad Siniora has asked for UN and Arab League help in halting what he said was the flow of illegal arms into the country from Syria, according to a letter seen by AFP.

In a plea to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and Arab League Secretary General Amr Mussa, Siniora also accused the Shiite Muslim party Hezbollah, which is supported by both Syria and Iran, of arming opposition groups.

BANGKOK, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Nations such as China, Russia and India are helping prop up Myanmar's military junta by supplying them with weapons, Human Rights Watch said Thursday as it appealed for an arms embargo.

The New York-based watchdog called on the UN Security Council -- currently meeting in New York -- to impose and enforce a ban on the sale of arms to Myanmar, which it said used the weapons to commit abuses against its people.

DAKAR, Oct 11, 2007 (AFP) - Civil wars and conflicts cost Africa some 300 billion dollars in the 15 years until 2005, the equivalent of funds poured into the continent in international aid over the same period, a new study has shown.

'The cost of conflict on African development was approximately 300 billion dollars between 1990 and 2005,' according to the research published Thursday by a group of non-governmental organisations.

'This is equal to the amount of money received in international aid during the same period,' it said.

DAKAR, Oct 10, 2007 (AFP) - Civil wars and conflicts cost Africa some 300 billion dollars in the 15 years until 2005, the equivalent of funds poured into the continent in international aid over the same period, a new study has shown.

'The cost of conflict on African development was approximately 300 billion dollars between 1990 and 2005,' according to the research published Thursday by a group of non-governmental organisations.

'This is equal to the amount of money received in international aid during the same period,' it said.

MAPUTO, Oct 6, 2007 (AFP) - Dozens of families were evacuated Saturday after an arms depot exploded at Inhamizua, near Mozambique's second city Beira, damaging houses but not causing any casualties, the military said.

The blast was caused by farmers burning stubble around the depot, defence ministry spokesman Joaquim Mataruca said.

'There were no injured or dead. But there was quite a lot of damage to homes nearby,' he said.

LONDON, Oct 5, 2007 (AFP) - British defence group BAE Systems said Friday it has been chosen as the preferred bidder to supply trucks to the Australian army in a deal expected to be worth up to 653 million pounds (1.33 billion US dollars, 941 million euros).

The company beat off DaimlerChrysler and MAN to win the contract to supply more than 3,000 medium and heavy trucks to the Australian Defence Force over a six year period, commencing in 2009.