Bangkok - Pojaman Shinawatra, the former wife of Thailand's fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra, has appealed a court verdict that found her guilty of tax evasion and carried a sentence of three years in jail, her attorney said Friday. The appeal was accepted by the Criminal Court Thursday and sent to the Appeals Court, lawyer Viraphat Srichaiya said.

The Bangkok Criminal Court found Pojaman guilty July 1 of deliberately avoiding payment of 546 million baht (15.9 million dollars) in taxes on the transfer of 4.5 million shares in the family-run Shin Corp to her stepbrother Bannapot Damapong.

Pojaman and Bannapot had claimed the shares were a "gift" and, therefore, not taxable.

Helsinki - An extra passenger was Thursday added to the passenger list after the surprise birth of a baby girl onboard a flight operated by Finnish carrier Finnair, reports said Friday.

The in-flight birth, a first for Finnair, occurred at an altitude of 11,000 metres over Kazakhstan. The plane had left Bangkok for Helsinki.

"The pilot had considered an emergency landing in Moscow, but there was no immediate need," Finnair spokeswoman Hanna-Kaisa Nurmi told local media.

A physician and two nurses onboard assisted cabin crew with the birth. Via satellite telephone they were also able to consult with experts on the ground.

The mother, a Swedish national, and baby were reported to be in good health.

Bangkok - A Thai court on Thursday sentenced a woman with a history of mental disorders to eight years in jail, commuted to four, for stabbing four schoolgirls at a prestigious Bangkok private school in 2005.

The Bangkok Criminal Court found Jitrada Tantiwanichayasuk, 36, guilty of planning in advance a knife attack on four girls at Bangkok's St Joseph's School on September 9, 2005, that left at least one of the victims in critical condition although she later recovered.

Bangkok  - In one of the first blows to be felt from the "Hamburger Crisis" in Thailand, General Motors Thursday announced plans to close its Thailand plant for two months, paying employees 75 per cent of their wages.

"If we don't close down we will have an oversupply," said GM spokesman Chartchai Suwannasevok, confirming the US giant's plan to close its plant in Rayong province for the months of December and January.

Bangkok  - An early-morning explosion killed one protestor and injured 24 others at Government House, which has been occupied by anti-government demonstrators for the last three months, police said.

A bomb was lobbed into the compound of Government House, landing near the stage where the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) holds its daily rallies, at about 3:30 am, said Police Major Chuttipong Trakulthonmg of Dusit Police Station.

"We still don't have all the details because the PAD won't allow us in," said Chuttipong.