Reuters World News Highlights 1400 GMT, Dec 23

TEHRAN - Iranian security forces armed with batons and teargas clashed with supporters of the late dissident cleric Grand Ayatollah Hossein Ali Montazeri in two central cities on Wednesday, opposition websites said.

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WASHINGTON - A new government insurance program that would help the elderly and disabled stay in their homes is headed for passage in the U.S. Senate's sweeping healthcare revamp despite doubts about its viability and cost.

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BEIJING - One of China's most prominent dissidents, Liu Xiaobo, fought subversion charges at a trial on Wednesday that drew an outcry from local activists and foreign governments angered by Beijing's crackdown on political dissent.

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KINGSTON - An American Airlines Boeing 737 overshot the runway while landing at Kingston international airport in Jamaica late on Tuesday, and around 40 passengers were treated in the hospital, some for broken bones, authorities said.

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BOGOTA - Colombia said on Tuesday FARC guerrillas slit a state governor's throat hours after they kidnapped him during a brazen raid in one of worst rebel strikes during President Alvaro Uribe's government.

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NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO - North and South American users of Research in Motion Ltd's BlackBerry smartphone suffered widespread delays in message services on Tuesday, just a week after another outage struck the popular corporate network.

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LONDON - Some of the closest relatives of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden are living in a secret compound in Iran, Britain's the Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.

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LONDON - Michael Schumacher targeted an unprecedented eighth Formula One title after Mercedes announced on Wednesday he was coming out of retirement to race for them at the age of 41.

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HARARE - Swiss food company Nestle has suspended operations in Zimbabwe, complaining of harassment after it pulled out of a deal to buy milk from a farm taken over by President Robert Mugabe's family.

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WELLINGTON - New Zealand's economy maintained a slow recovery in the third quarter from its longest recession on record, backing market views the central bank will keep interest rates unchanged until the second quarter of 2010.