BBC Monitoring News Diary for Tuesday 16 May 2006.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Main stories at 0100 gmt

IRAQ: Trial of former leader Saddam Husayn continues (Iraqi TV)

BELGIUM: European Commission due to present final report on EU candidates Bulgaria and Romania; decision not expected until September (EU sources)

Asia-Pacific

SOUTH KOREA: UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan wraps up visit to South Korea; goes on to Japan (South Korean news agency Yonhap)

VIETNAM: National Assembly opens first session after party congress; Prime Minister Phan Van Khai expected to step down during session (Vietnamese news agency VNA)

CHINA: Fortieth anniversary of launch of "cultural revolution"; reports say that authorities have banned events to commemorate event (by Hong Kong newspaper Ming Pao)

CHINA: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Beijing to discuss Russia-China interaction with counterpart Li Zhaoxing (Russian news agency ITAR-TASS)

CHINA: Singaporean Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew in Shanghai as part of visit (-17) (Chinese news agency Xinhua)

NORTH KOREA: Working level talks between two Koreas at Mt Kumgang to discuss former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung's intention to visit North Korea (South Korean newspaper Chungang Ilbo)

SOUTH KOREA: Prosecutors expected to indict chairman of Hyundai Motor Co Chung Mong-koo and about 10 other Hyundai officials on embezzlement and breach of trust charges over a cash-for-favours scandal (South Korean news agency Yonhap)

PHILIPPINES: Three-man Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC) delegation visits (-19) to assess country's bid for OIC observer status and review progress in implementation of 1996 peace agreement with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) (Philippine newspaper Philippine Star)

SOUTH KOREA: Shigeru Yokota, father of Megumi Yokota - Japanese woman abducted by North Korea in 1977 - visits with his son Tetsuya to meet family of South Korean man Kim Young-nam, believed …