DIPLOMACY. China, France ?seriously concerned? about N.Korea. China and France jointly expressed ?serious concern? yesterday over the North Korean nuclear test crisis, saying the row should be resolved through urgent diplomacy. In a joint declaration after talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and visiting French President Jacques Chirac, the two urged North Korea to return to six-party disarmament talks involving the two Koreas, Japan, Russia, the United States and host China. China and France ?support Security Council resolution 1718 and urge the Democratic People?s Republic of Korea (North Korea) to scrupulously abide by its commitments on the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula, and desire that all parties undertake to seek a peaceful resolution of the problem through dialogue and negotiation?, the two sides said. North Korea?s nuclear test on October 9 drew regional condemnation and UN sanctions under resolution 1718, backed by China, the reclusive state?s long-time supporter.

CONGO. Candidate debate scrapped. A debate between the two presidential candidates in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been cancelled ahead of this Sunday?s final round vote. Incumbent President Joseph Kabila and his challenger Jean-Pierre Bemba failed to agree on the terms of the debate. Mr Bemba wanted a live face-to-face discussion but the president wanted seperate pre-recorded interviews to be edited together before airing. Meanwhile, the UN mission in DR Congo has appealed for calm before the poll. The United Nations has its biggest force anywhere in the world in the DR Congo, where it is monitoring a peace agreement between warring factions signed in 2002. UN spokesman Jean Tobie Okala condemned a number of isolated incidents which have taken place since the start of the election campaign. Tensions are high because the two candidates were belligerents in the civil war and both still have loyal armed forces.

ADOPTION ROW. ?Look after my boy?, Malawi father tells Madonna . The father of the African boy that Madonna plans to adopt has pleaded with the singer not to send his child back to Malawi, saying he still supports her bid to take custody of the one-year old. ?My message to Madonna is that she should not be discouraged, be strong. As we agreed and we expect that after three to four years the child shall come back for us to see him,? Yohane Banda told Reuters Television late on Wednesday. ?You (Madonna) should not be shaken or disturbed by this because there are no ill intentions,? he said. Banda was responding to Madonna?s remarks to US talk show host Oprah Winfrey broadcast on Wednesday, when she expressed concern over the controversy surrounding her planned adoption of Banda?s son David.

USA. Bush warns Iraqis that American patience has limits. President George W. Bush said on Wednesday American patience over Iraq had its limits but pledged not to put unbearable pressure on the country?s leaders, after a protest by Iraq?s prime minister. With less than two weeks before Nov. 7 elections in which doubts over Iraq could cost Bush?s Republicans control of the US Congress, Bush sought to explain his Iraq policies to Americans and smooth over new frictions with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki. Worries over increasing sectarian violence in Iraq have become a top issue for American voters ahead of the elections. The concerns, accompanied by calls to withdraw American troops, are driven by a mounting US military death toll that reached 90 so far in October, the deadliest month for a year.

TECHNOLOGY. ?Tower of Babel? translator made. A ?Tower of Babel? device that gives the illusion of being bilingual is being developed by US scientists. Users simply have to silently mouth a word in their own language for it to be translated and read out in another. The researchers said the effect was like watching a television programme that had been dubbed. The translation systems that are currently in use work by using voice recognition software. But this requires people to speak out loud and then wait for the translation to be read out, making conversations difficult. But the new device is different. Electrodes are attached to the neck and face to detect the movements that occur as the person silently mouths words and phrases. Using this data, a computer can work out the sounds being formed and then build these sounds up into words. The system is then able to translate the words into another language which is read out by a synthetic voice.