Eritrea has secretly supplied “huge quantities of arms” to a Somali insurgent group with alleged ties to Al Qaeda in violation of an international arms embargo and despite the deployment of African peacekeepers, UN arms experts have concluded.

Russia on Thursday said it had delayed the start-up of Iran’s first nuclear power station to early 2008 because Tehran had fallen behind with payments for the plant, Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Egypt’s top religious adviser, Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, reaffirmed his belief Thursday that Muslims could choose their own religion after the local press carried apparently conflicting statements.