TOKYO (AFP) - Japan's cabinet Friday approved new sanctions against Iran, including an assets freeze on figures linked to its nuclear programme and tighter supervision of financial transactions, media reported.

MEXICO CITY (AFP) - A clash between soldiers and gang members near Mexico's northern city of Monterrey left 25 dead, local media reported Thursday.

NEW ORLEANS, Louisiana (AFP) - Crews managed to extinguish a massive blaze on a rig in the Gulf of Mexico Thursday and have not been able to locate an oil slick spotted earlier in the day, the Coast Guard said.

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Barack Obama will hold a White House press conference next week, officials said Thursday as he cranks up efforts to revive the slowing economy and as November's congressional polls loom.

OTTAWA (AFP) - A fuel tanker has run aground in Canada's far north, carrying nine million litres (2.4 million gallons) of diesel fuel that risk spilling into the Arctic waters, the Canadian Coast Guard said Thursday.