BBC Monitoring News Diary for Sunday 13 August 2006.

(From BBC Monitoring International Reports)

Main stories at 0100 gmt

CUBA: President Fidel Castro turns 80; the Cuban charge d'affaires in Nicaragua, Manuel Guillot, said on Saturday that Castro will be "resting" and will not be appearing in public; Venezuela's Hugo Chavez said he would be travelling to Cuba on Saturday night to help celebrate Castro's 80th birthday; Castro had called for official celebrations to be postponed to 2 December in his announcement on 31 July that he was provisionally handing power to his brother Raul after he underwent surgery for gastrointestinal bleeding (Cuban television Cubavision TV; Panamanian news agency ACAN; AFP)

EGYPT: Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki visits for talks with Egyptian counterpart Ahmad Abu-al-Ghayt; talks to focus on Iran's request for Egyptian-Iranian front in support of Hezbollah and stronger anti-Israel stand; Egypt says region must not have any more tension (Egyptian newspaper Al-Jumhuriyah)

Asia-Pacific

ASIA-PACIFIC: South Korean Foreign Minister Ban Ki-moon visits New Zealand and Australia from Argentina; meets counterparts Winston Peters and Alexander Downer for talks on North Korea and other issues (-16) (South Korean news agency Yonhap)

AUSTRALIA: Troops take part in exercises ahead of Iraq role; live …