The world in brief

LITTLE ROCK — QUOTE OF THE DAY

"This new facility, God willing, will become operational soon and will blind the eyes of the enemies."

Mohammad Mohammadi Golpayegani,

a close aide to Iranian leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,

speaking of a recently revealed uranium enrichment site in the country Article, 1A

U.N. contacts with insurgents urged

UNITED NATIONS - The world body must engage more with insurgent groups in conflicts around the world to ensure that they too are respecting the Geneva Conventions, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Saturday.

He urged national governments involved in such conflicts to accept the necessity of the U.N. talking to "nonstate armed groups."

Governments battling insurgent groups have traditionally discouraged international contacts with their opponents, fearing that these could indirectly legitimize the rebel cause.

In wars ranging from Vietnam to Afghanistan, insurgents were considered terrorists by local authorities and their foreign allies, who also sought to block what they saw as foreign interference in domestic conflicts.

"Unpalatable as it might be for some states, engagement with such groups is critical," Ban said at a special U.N. session marking the 60th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions.

Korean kin apart for years reunite

SEOUL, South Korea - Hundreds of Korean families separated for more than half a century by the division of the Korean peninsula were reunited Saturday amid signs of renewed reconciliation between the two Koreas.

Kim Ki-sung, an 82-year-old South Korean, met his son and daughter whom he left behind in North Korea in 1951 when U.S.-led U.N. troops retreated during the Korean War.

"I am sorry for not taking you when I fled," Kim told his children in the emotional reunion, according to reports in local media.

Kim was among more than 120 South Koreans, most in their 70s or 80s, who traveled by bus for the three-day reunion.

Millions of families remain separated after the Korean peninsula's division in 1945 and the ensuing Korean War, which ended with an armistice in 1953, not a peace treaty.

There are no mail, telephone or e-mail exchanges between citizens of the two Koreas. They are unable to travel to the other half of the peninsula without government approval.

Computer ace testifies in murder trial

ROME - A computer expert testified Saturday in the murder trial of an American student and her former Italian boyfriend that someone had used the young man's computer, which the defense said might have erased data that could prove his innocence.

Amanda Knox and Raffaele Sollecito have denied killing Knox's British roommate Meredith Kercher in 2007, while Knox and Kercher were studying Italian in the northern city of Perugia.

Computer expert Antonio D'Ambrosio was among the last witnesses to give testimony Saturday in the trial before it resumes Oct. 9.

D'Ambrosio testified that someone had used Sollecito's home computer twice on the night both defendants were being questioned by police about Kercher's killing, according to ANSA and other Italian news agencies.

The defense said this computer use had caused some data to be lost - data that might prove Sollecito's alibi for the night, according to SKY TG24 TV. Sollecito, 25, has said he was home using his computer the night Kercher was slain.

U.S. says Burma mistreated American

RANGOON, Burma - The U.S. Embassy said Friday that it has made a formal complaint to Burma's military government after a Burma-born American claimed that he was mistreated in prison.

Kyaw Zaw Lwin was secretly arrested Sept. 3 on arrival at Rangoon airport. Dissident groups reported his disappearance but his whereabouts were unknown until he was allowed a U.S. consular visit Sept. 20 at Burma's notorious Insein Prison.

The London-based human-rights group Amnesty International said Thursday that "trusted sources" reported that he had suffered torture and other ill treatment in custody.

Burma authorities on Wednesday accused Kyaw Zaw Lwin of seeking to incite political unrest, according to reports on state radio and television. They claimed that he had confessed to plotting with dissident groups outside the country and accused him of being linked to several activists inside Burma who planned to set off bombs.