Sana'a, Yemen  - Yemeni authorities have no intention of yielding to demands made by tribesmen holding a Dutch couple hostage east of the capital Sana'a since last week, the government spokesman on Tuesday.

"The government firmly rejects yielding to any conditions or dictations," Hassan al-Lawzi, the information minister and government spokesman, told reporters after the Cabinet weekly meeting.

"What is sought is the handover of the hostages unhurt," al-Lawzi said.

Lima - Peru's onet

Amsterdam - Theatres should not be permitted to reserve seats exclusively for women, Dutch integration minister Eberhard van der Laan said on Tuesday.

Van der Laan was commenting on a Rotterdam theatre's new policy of reserving 50 seats on its first rows exclusively for women during certain performances.

The theatre said the new policy should bring religious Muslim women to the Dutch theatre who would otherwise not to do so to avoid sitting next to a man.

Mumbai, Apr 7: Samajwadi Party activists allegedly distributed money to prospective voters in Mumbai.

There were allegations that Shahid Azmi, brother of Abu Asim Azmi reportedly doled out money during the procession. However, Azmi refuted these allegations.

"I don''t know anything. Money can''t be distributed. There is no question of distributing money," said Abu Asim Azmi, a candidate of Samajwadi Party from Mumbai North West constituency.

Skopje  - Presidential and local elections in Macedonia were an improvement over previous, violence-plagued polls, though some problems persist, the organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) monitoring mission said Monday.

The runner of the ruling VMRO-DPMNE, Georgi Ivanov, won by a landslide Sunday, after equally dominating the first-round vote two weeks earlier. He became the country's fourth president since it split from former Yugoslavia nearly two decades ago.

Managua  - An unknown attacker fired four shots at Nicaragua's Attorney General Hernan Estrada on Monday, but the official escaped with only light injuries, authorities said.

The attack occurred as Estrada was exercising at a gym near his home in the capital. He was injured in the neck.

Local media reported it was the first attack in decades on a high government official.