TEHERAN - IRANIAN President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday defended his hotly disputed re-election as security forces cracked down on opposition protestors in Teheran, where fresh violence erupted.

Police said they have rounded up a total of 170 people over the massive post-election protests and street riots which erupted in the Iranian capital after Mr Ahmadinejad's defeated challengers complained of fraud and vote-rigging.

TEHERAN - MORE than 100 reformists were arrested on Saturday night after President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's presidential election victory led to street protests, leading reformist Mohammad Ali Abtahi told Reuters on Sunday.

A judiciary spokesman said they had not been arrested but were summoned and 'warned not to increase tension'. They were later released, he said.

WASHINGTON - PRESIDENT Barack Obama is ready to roll out an overhaul of the intricate rules and systems that govern troubled US financial institutions, proposing the most ambitious revision since the Great Depression.

The goal is to prevent a recurrence of the economic crisis that erupted in the US and exploded last fall with devastating consequences still reverberating around the world.