Agents with Israel's Mossad agency posed as American CIA agents in operations to recruit members of the Pakistani militant group Jundallah to attack Iranian targets, a report in Foreign Policy magazine said Friday.

Using American dollars and U.S. passports, the agents passed themselves off as members of the Central Intelligence Agency in the operations, notably in London, according to memos from 2007 and 2008, said the report.

Myanmar has released more than 300 people deemed by the opposition to be political prisoners, a minister said Saturday, after the West hailed the move as a substantial sign of reform.

Home Affairs Minister Lieutenant General Ko Ko insisted however that none of them had been jailed for political reasons, saying: "We didn't take action against anyone because of politics or beliefs."

Iranian Navy speed boats harassed U.S. naval vessels in two recent incidents in the Strait of Hormuz, a senior U.S. defense official said, confirming a CNN report.

The first incident occurred as the USS New Orleans, an amphibious transport ship, was sailing last week through the Strait of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf.

Survivors of a luxury cruise liner that keeled over off Tuscany, killing three people and leaving 70 unaccounted for, on Saturday told of scenes 'like the Titanic'.

Terrified passengers tried to get into lifeboats and at least one person reportedly jumped into the sea.

The United States has used a secret channel to warn Iran's leaders against closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz, saying that doing so would provoke a U.S. response, the New York Times reported.

Iran has threatened to close the narrow and strategic waterway -- a chokepoint for one fifth of the world's traded oil -- in the event of a military strike or the severe tightening of international sanctions.

Mali's army has deployed extra troops and military equipment to its largely-desert north where Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb operates, officials said Friday.

"The Malian army has deployed men, equipment and over 200 vehicles to the north," an administrative source said.

A mob killed two people and burnt mosques and homes in an overnight raid on a mainly Muslim village in northeastern Nigeria in the latest such violence to hit the country, residents said Friday.

"It was around 11:30 pm (22:30 GMT) when a crowd from Imbur attacked Gwalam village, setting fire on homes and mosques," resident Abubakar Hussaini said, with Imbur a largely Christian area and Gwalam mainly Muslim.

A high-level U.N. nuclear agency delegation will visit Iran in late January to try to clear up allegations of a covert weapons program and soothe tensions between Tehran and the West, diplomats said Friday.

The visit for talks led by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief inspector Herman Nackaerts would last from the 28th through the first week of February, a Western diplomat told Agence France Presse.

Turkish police launched a nationwide swoop on alleged sympathizers of Kurdish separatist rebels and arrested more than 20 people, broadcaster NTV and other media outlets said.

The operation included a raid on the Ankara office of Leyla Zana, a Kurdish lawmaker known for her pro-independence views, the television channel said.

The U.S. embassy in Bangkok warned Friday of a possible terrorist threat against tourists in the Thai capital, urging its citizens to exercise caution in areas popular with foreigners.

"Foreign terrorists may be currently looking to conduct attacks against tourist areas in Bangkok in the near future," it said in an emergency message posted on its website.