Zagreb - The 6.2 billion kuna (1.2 billion dollars) from the sale of an additional stake of the national oil company INA to the Hungarian MOL were transferred to the Croatian central bank, local reports said Friday.

With the purchase of additional 22 per cent in INA that were held by a war veterans' fund and small shareholders, MOL now holds 47.15 per cent of the firm's capital. The Croatian government holds 44 per cent and more small shareholders the remaining 8.85 per cent.

The Croatian government is currently negotiating a swap of 19 per cent of INA shares for MOL capital, which would allow the expanding Hungarian company a majority share in the Croatian firm.

Beirut - The head of Lebanon's Christian Phalange Party Amin Gemayel warned Friday against "racial cleansing" targeting Christians in Iraq since the collapse of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2005.

Thousands of Iraqi Christians have been reported leaving their homes, particularly in the northern city of Mosul, following attacks.

Gemayel was quoted by local media as saying a caMpaign targeting Iraqi Christians was "part of a campaign to displace them, similar to the displacing of Palestinians" by Israel.

Iraq's Christians, he said, had provided the "first example of Christian-Muslim coexistence."

London, Oct 17 : The FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) has warned that citizens and nations alike have increasingly become victim to cyber crime in the past year, costing tens of millions of dollars and threatening US security.

According to a report in New Scientist, FBI assistant director Shawn Henry said that as many as two dozen countries have taken an “aggressive interest” in penetrating the networks of US companies and government agencies.

New Delhi - India has deployed its navy in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia to protect Indian commercial vessels from pirates as 18 Indian sailors were being held captive by Somali pirates, news reports said Friday.

A warship, INS Tabar, has started patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the number of ships would be increased, a Defence Ministry official told the Times of India newspaper.

The decision came after Somali pirates on September 15 hijacked a Japanese-owned merchant vessel, MV Stolt Valor, which had
18 Indians among its 22 sailors on board.

The move to guard the African waters was prompted after protests by the sailors' families seeking their release.

London  - Britain will sign up to a legally-binding pledge to cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 80 per cent by 2050, compared with 1990 levels, raising the target from an earlier 60 per cent, Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Miliband announced Thursday.

He said the move would make Britain the first country in the world to commit to such far-reaching cuts in the production of carbon dioxide and other gases blamed for global warming.

Moscow - Russian energy stocks plummeted on deteriorating global oil prices Thursday with export monopoly Gazprom loosing two- thirds of its market value as indices hit three-year lows.

Oil firms Rosneft and Lukoil led a plunge of over 11 per cent on the MICEX index, where most Russian stock's are traded, before trading was halted at 4:12 pm (1200 GMT) on Thursday.