Tehran  - The Iranian Culture Ministry on Wednesday closed down the reformist daily newspaper Kargozaran (Public Servants) over a critical report about the militant Palestinian group Hamas, the off

Berlin  - For many, it was a first stopping-off point: a place where refugees could prepare for a new life in the West after turning their backs on Communist Eastern Europe during the Cold War.

The Marienfelde Refugee Centre in south-east Berlin, which served as a temporary home for close on 2 million people during its busy 55-year history, closed Wednesday.

It was no longer needed. Refugee arrivals from Eastern Europe having dwindled to a trickle in recent years.

Operated by the West Berlin authorities and earlier by US, British and French Allied officials, the Marienfelde camp was set up in 1953 to cope with growing numbers of refugees arriving from the east.

Geneva  - In July, employees at a Geneva hotel decided to call the police to complain about the treatment of two servants at the hands of their foreign bosses, setting in motion a chain of events that would cast a dark cloud over Switzerland's relations with Libya.

The foreign bosses who were allegedly beating their servants were Hannibal, 32, and his pregnant wife, the son and daughter-in-law of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Moscow/Kiev  - Russian export monopoly Gazprom on Wednesday accused its Ukrainian counterpart of planning to siphon off gas meant for European clients. It was the latest twist in a row over money Ukraine owes to Russia for gas deliveries.

Ukrainian official were in last-ditch talks in Moscow Wednesday ahead of a promised New Year's cut-off of gas deliveries by Gazprom over a 2-billion-dollar debt.

Gazprom chairman Alexander Medvedev said the threat was made in an official letter from Ukrainian state gas company Naftogaz. He produced a copy of the letter at a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday.

New Delhi, Dec. 31 : In its year-ender assessment for 2008, the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday said that there has been a notable improvement in law and order in both Jammu and Kashmir and the North East.

However, it said that the Naxal violence during the year remained at the same level as compared to last year in terms of number of incidents and casualties of security forces.

The communal situation in the country remained largely under control.

New Delhi, Dec. 31 : Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram on Wednesday said that several decisions have been taken and measures incorporated to counter the challenge of terrorism.

Addressing his first press conference here after taking over as Union Home Minister, Chidambaram said three Bills -- The National Investigation Agency Bill, the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Amendment Bill and the Criminal Procedure Code Amendment Bill had been passed in Parliament during its winter session, which concluded recently, as the issue of terrorism was one occupying the minds of all citizens.