Reuters World News Highlights at 1330 GMT, Nov 27

MUMBAI - India's prime minister pointed a finger on Thursday at "external linkages" for the attacks in Mumbai that killed more than 100 people, as militants holding hostages in a Jewish centre offered to hold talks.

- - - -

BANGKOK - Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat declared a state of emergency on Thursday at two Bangkok airports besieged by anti-government protesters, a minister said, as rumours of a coup swirled round the capital.

- - - -

BAGHDAD - Iraq's parliament passed a law approving a controversial security pact with Washington on Thursday, paving the way for a U.S. troop withdrawal by the end of 2011, state television showed.

- - - -

LONDON/SINGAPORE - China warned on Thursday its economic downturn was deepening and pressure grew on the European Central Bank (ECB) to make a big cut in interest rates to help contain the global financial crisis.

- - - -

COLOMBO - The defiant leader of the Tamil Tiger rebels said in his annual address on Thursday that a military onslaught against him would be defeated, as air force jets bombed a rebel radio station for the second year running.

- - - -

BEIJING - China on Thursday said French President Nicolas Sarkozy's planned meeting with the Dalai Lama forced it to postpone a China-EU summit and warned Sarkozy that his country has a big stake in close ties with Beijing.

- - - -

KINSHASA - Europe heard growing appeals on Thursday to rush a military force to east Congo until the arrival of U.N. reinforcements, from which diplomats said Kinshasa wants to exclude Indian troops.

- - - -

PETACH TIKVA, Israel - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert came under pressure from his own party on Thursday to step aside after the attorney-general announced he was considering indicting him on fraud and bribery charges.

- - - -

MOSCOW - Islamist militants claimed responsibility on Thursday for killing a mayor in Russia's North Caucasus, an attack that prompted security services to warn that violence in the region could destabilise the entire country.

- - - -

KABUL - A suicide car bomber struck a convoy of foreign troops near the U.S. embassy in Kabul on Thursday, killing four civilians, the government said.