There were no reports of casualties in the takeover of the building, although witnesses said many of the attackers were heavily armed.

Revolutionary Guards at the embassy gates did not try to intervene during the attack, which coincided with tens of thousands of people marching through the streets of the Iranian capital on the first anniversary of the shooting of students by the Shah's security forces at Tehran University.

Western diplomats said the figure of about 100 hostages was probably correct and included women, as the embassy staff would have had little chance to escape when the crowds stormed the building. Iranians employed at the embassy were released and said the Americans were being held blindfolded in the basement.

The embassy takeover followed a series of virulently anti-American speeches by the revolutionary leader, Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, who said he hoped reports that the Shah was suffering from cancer were true.

Five days after the seizure of the embassy, thousands of demonstrators chanting 'death to America' marched on the embassy as president Anwar Sadat of Egypt, Pope John Paul II and Muhammad Ali appealed for the release of some 60 American hostages held there. Mr Sadat was ready to send his personal jet to fly the deposed Shah from New York to Egypt. Former world heavyweight boxing champion Ali reportedly offered to exchange himself for the hostages. The Pope dispatched an envoy to Iran to meet the Ayatollah.

US President Jimmy Carter sent a peace mission to Tehran, but the militant Iranians rebuffed the overture.

They also rejected a mediation bid by the Palestine Liberation Organisation, saying they would not open negotiations with anyone unless the US government agreed to release the Shah.

Some foreign students in the Chinese capital, who signed a protest petition and assembled at the Ministry of Education, were warned they were jeopardising their studies in China.

For the first time, foreign students formed national blocs to make their cases heard.

There was no comment from the Ministry of Education, which admitted it had only seven staff members to deal with complaints from all foreign students.

The students were protesting against what they saw as the arbitrary assignment of 15 students to universities in Shenyang and Tianjin .

A Brussels court sentenced a Hong Kong couple to five years' jail for smuggling heroin.

Barmaid Lo Yin-ying, 20, and house painter Man Kim-ping, 24, were arrested on the trans-Europe express train from Paris. Lo had 10lbs of heroin sewn into a pair of trousers in her bag.

Man was found in a different compartment and was linked to Lo because the serial numbers on their tickets were consecutive.

A jilted lover threw a hand grenade into a crowd of 100 people celebrating a religious event in northeastern Thailand, killing at least 12 people and injuring more than 40.

Police said the attack took place after the 21-year-old man was ignored by his girlfriend, who had started a new friendship with a police officer. He was arrested and charged with premeditated murder.

Middle-aged men looking for an enjoyable way to earn HK$120 in pocket money a day were being urged by a leading department store to apply to play Santa from mid-December to Christmas Eve. The main job of the man in red was described as 'to give gifts to children and to shake hands with them'. All applications were to be accompanied by recent photos and phone numbers.