NEW YORK - FORMER president Bill Clinton has offered to undergo an ethical review and identify donors to his charitable foundation if his wife becomes secretary of state, the Wall Street Journal said on Wednesday.

Aides to president-elect Barack Obama and the former first couple have been in talks since Monday to try to overcome concerns about potential conflicts of interest should Hillary Clinton be nominated as top US diplomat, the paper said.

CAIRO (Egypt) - AL-QAEDA No. 2 Ayman al-Zawahri criticised Barack Obama in the terror group's first reaction to his election, calling him a demeaning racial term implying that the president-elect is a black American who does the bidding of whites.

The message appeared chiefly aimed at convincing Muslims and Arabs that Mr Obama does not represent a change in US policies.

ROME - THE world should hold a food summit in the first half of next year to seek fairer trade and help farmers in poor countries make a decent living, the head of the United Nations food agency said on Wednesday.

Mr Jacques Diouf, head of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), said the summit would seek to reform trade, encourage greater food production in developing countries and ensure funding for infrastructure and agricultural productivity.