The Taoiseach is defending the contact he made with an AIB official to inquire about transactions under investigation by the Mahon Tribunal.

Jim McNamara told the tribunal that Bertie Ahern contacted him this year to ask about particular lodgements being investigated by inquiry, told Jim McNamara to tribunal.

Mr. Ahern was marveling what conclusive evidence the bank had that three specific lodgements made in the 1990s were foreign exchange transactions.

Mr. McNamara accepted that it was a very unusual request from the Taoiseach.

Washington, Sep 23 : The arrest of 45 people, mostly Pakistanis, in an FBI sting operation in Maryland has stunned Pakistani-Americans as they fear that it would further strengthen the negative stereotyping of their community in this country.

"People are scared. It will have a very negative impact on the entire community," said Munir Ahmad, a member of the Maryland Muslim Council.

"Some of the suspects were known in the community and people have been dealing with them," he said.

"People say that they were licensed money dealers and apparently law-abiding citizens. We don’t know what happened," Ahmad added.

Islamabad, Sept 23 : Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf’s undertaking to the Supreme Court that if re-elected by the Parliament, he would step down as Army Chief before being sworn in on November 15, is a promise that rings hollow to some, and one that has been heard before.

According to an article in the Time magazine, some lawyers and analysts see the promise as an attempt to pre-empt an apex court decision declaring him ineligible to run for President.

London: Life is a precious gift. Live happily, and relish every moment of it.

Scientists at the University of Nottingham have discovered that it’s the simple things in life, which impact optimistically on one’s pleasure sense.

Lead researcher, Dr. Richard Tunney, of the university`s school of psychology told that cheerful people liked the free and simple treats, whereas those who identified themselves as more distressed or restless picked out CDs, DVDs and meals out.

Smoking leads to lung cancer and heart disease that might be cognizant to many people. But do you know it also causes grievous respiratory circumstance in which the airways get barred? So Smokers mind it.

To a higher degree 13 million Indians are dupes of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), where the patients’ airways are blocked.

While addressing presspersons on World COPD Day, B.V. Muralimohan, consultant pulmonologist of Narayana Hrudayalaya, commanded smoking was one of the main does for acquiring COPD.

Chicago: Diabetes risk increases with lack of sleep, according a new study.

US researchers said that deep, restful sleep is good for keeping Type 2 diabetes at bay.    

In study findings, the researchers observed that slim, healthy young adults who do not experience the deepest stage of sleep known as slow-wave sleep developed insulin resistance- linked to Type 2 diabetes just after three nights.

Eve Van Cauter, a professor of medicine at the University of Chicago, said, “It demonstrates the importance of deep sleep not only for the brain, but for the rest of the body.”

Fujitsu has rolled out a 3.5G-enabled mobile companion, named ‘The LifeBook U1010’ in the Indian market, which it claimed to be the world’s smallest tablet-convertible ultra mobile PC (UMPC).
It offers users a first-class combination of function, superiority, method and infinite connection. It weighs just 630 grams.
Powered by Intel processor A110 with 800MHz of processing power, the U1010 consists of newly designed 0.2 mm aluminum plated QWERTY keyboard and sports a 5.6-inch SuperFine WSVGA display that is a Passive Touch Panel with 1024×600 pixels resolution. The U1010 has dimensions of 171mm (w) x 133mm (d) x 26.5-32.0mm (h). Besides, it has a palm resistance touch screen that permits the fingers to do the work, without a stylus.

Sana'a, Yemen  - A protester was killed in a clash between police forces and protesters trying to free detained opposition activists in the southern Yemeni province of Lahj on Tuesday, witnesses said.

They said the clash broke out after dozens of armed protesters stormed into a detention centre in the Habeel Jabre twon of Lahj, some 300 kilometres from the capital Sana'a.

Another protester and two police officers were injured in the clash, they said.

The detained activists were among dozens of people arrested after violent protests in several southern cities in the past three weeks by disgruntled youths demanding army jobs. (dpa)

This week, TopNews Stocks editor Neeta Aurora interviewed Technical Analyst Mohinder Kumar about his view on Stock Markets trends for the next six months. Below are the excerpts from the interview.

Neeta: Indian Stock markets faced correction in late January this year. What was your recommendation to clients?

A new study carried out by MSD Pharmaceuticals, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Merck and Co Inc (USA), revealed that India is home to the largest population of diabetics in the world with over 30 million people suffering from the disease.

The study claimed, “India is considered the diabetic capital in the world, with the largest population of diabetics.”

Besides, the company has also launched 'Januvia' (Sitagliptin), an approved Dipeptidyl Peptidase-4 Inhibitor for Type 2 Diabetes, in Kolkata on Thursday.

World Health Organization officials urged India to concentrate more on the precautionary aspects of malaria than discovering the treatment of the disease.

The WHO officials stated India needs to eradicate the micro killer by following up effectual means of preventing malaria.

Until now, the fight against the mosquito threat is completely centered on disease treatment.

A new study conducted by American researchers revealed that gaining weight may be not risky for sufferers of type 1 diabetes.

The results are based on the study in which the researchers at the University of Pittsburgh monitored 655 patients with Type 1 diabetes for a period of 20 years.

The researchers discovered that those who gained weight were less likely to die, as compared to diabetics having a body mass index (BMI) in the underweight range. The overweight and obese had a lesser death risk than those in the normal range.

A new study conducted by the US researchers revealed that diabetics are more prone to hearing loss than other people.

The study researchers said that it may be a good idea for diabetes patients to have a hearing test on a regular basis.

An editorial published with the study agrees, noting that "in many cases of mild to moderate hearing loss, patients are not aware of what they cannot hear."

Naples, Italy  - Italian police Wednesday arrested at least 30 people suspected of obtaining finance for Sri Lanka's Tamil Tigers rebel group.

The suspects, all Sri Lanka citizens, were picked up in raids in several cities including Naples, Rome, Genoa, Bologna and Palermo, police said.

"The suspects extorted sums from fellow Sri Lankan nationals working as housekeepers or minders for the elderly in Italy," Naples' anti-terrorism police chief, Antonio Sbordone, said.

Dubai - An Arab resident of the United Arab Emirates hired a professional killer from India to murder a man who harassed his wife, media reports said Thursday.

The plan was discovered when Sharjah police discovered the body of a man who was stabbed to death, while another was severely injured, according to the UAE Khaleej newspaper.

It said investigations showed that a man contacted a professional killer in India and agreed for him to go to the UAE to murder a man who harassed his wife in return for
4,000 Dirham (1,090 dollars).

A recent study by the researchers at Columbia University revealed that turmeric plays a major role in the prevention of Type-2 diabetes.

The endocrinologists discovered that turmeric-treated mice were less susceptible to develop Type 2 diabetes.

Moreover, the researchers also found that obese mice that were given turmeric showed considerably reduced inflammation in fat tissue and liver as compared to controls.

Mexico City - Seventeen high-ranking police officers have been fired for their role in a police raid on a disco last week that left nine teenagers and three police officers dead in a stampede, Mexico City authorities said Tuesday.

The city's Public Safety Minister Joel Ortega and police Internal Affairs boss Alberto Peralta said the officers held responsible include directors and deputy directors in several areas of the police department, including Alejandro Garmino Tejeda, who was named "police officer of the year" in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Mumbai-headquartered Pratibha Industries, a leading construction and infrastructure development company has secured an order worth Rs 179.72 crore for construction of mall podium from Lanco Hills Technology Park.

The project involves 'construction of a Mall Podium of four basements upto ground level.

The total constructed area would be 15.22-lakh sq. ft and the project would be completed in 15 months.

India recorded a deficit of Rs 104 core in its current (January-March) account in the country’s balance of payments during the fourth quarter of a fiscal due to the rise in oil prices. India's current account deficit in 2007-08 rose by 77% to touch $17.4 billion, accounting for 1.5% of GDP in 2007-08. The oil import bill increased by 34.6% to $76.9 billion in 2007-08 due to surge in crude price. However, non-oil imports recorded a growth of 30.6% only.

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Bank of Japan (BOJ) has signed a bilateral swap arrangement (BSA) on Monday. The BSA was signed by BOJ governor Masaaki Shirakawa and RBI governor Yaga Venugopal Reddy in Basel, Switzerland. It will pave a way for swapping local currencies against the US dollar for up to $3 billion. The agreement will also sort out problem of short-term liquidity and strengthen existing international financial arrangements

The agreement was come into effect on Sunday (June 29). Both Japan and India can now swap Yen and rupee against the US dollar up to $3 billion. They will hold biannual consultations on economic and financial conditions of each country with the BSA in effect.

Sofia - A military munitions depot caught fire east of the Bulgarian capital Sofia, causing several explosions but no injuries Thursday, civil defence authorities said Thursday.

Minister for Civil Defence, Emel Etem, said there was not danger to the population and the situation was "under control."

However, the Sofia international airport, which is also located east of the city, was closed down for safety reasons. Planes arriving from abroad were redirected to Plovdiv,
150 kilometres to the east.

Residents of a village near the munitions depot site were evacuated, while people were also advised to keep their windows shut. Electricity was cut off in several villages.

With further explosions still possible, the military had not yet been able to enter the depot area.

Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that India is not the only country to be affected by the inflation. All countries are facing economic problems due inflation. He emphasized that world is in middle of a dramatic change in the world price distribution. Hence Indians should get used to the high energy prices.

The economic growth rate of India may moderate to 8% during the current (2008-09) fiscal year.

Planning Commission Deputy Chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia said that the 13-year high inflation rate of 11.42 percent may result into a little lower growth rate but if necessary steps to control inflation are taken, the growth objective of 9% will not be difficult to achieve.

On the other hand the central bank expects the economy to clock a 8-8.5 percent growth in 2008/09.

For the week ended June 21, inflation rate climbed up to 11.63 percent, as against 11.42% during the last week.

The inflation rate is presently at the highest since May 6, 1995, when it was 11.11%.

Fueled by increasing food and commodity prices, this will be the 19th straight week that inflation rate has been rising above 5.5%, RBI’s target by the end of the fiscal year in March 2009.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said on Thursday that the flow of credit from scheduled commercial banks has increased between April and June 20 this year. The credit flow has increased by 25.4% during this period. The growth is slower than the corresponding period of last year.

The rise in credit is due to high demand from public sector oil firms. The oil firms are under-recovery due to subsidy on oil products. They are forced to sell petroleum products at the rate below the prevailing global rates.

Despite the fear of economic slowdown as a result of continuous rise in the crude oil prices, the net direct tax collections increased by 38.61 per cent in the first quarter.

According to a statement released by the Finance Ministry, the growth in direct tax collections in Nagpur and Kochi witnessed as high as 74.08 % and 68.98% respectively, in the direct tax collection, whereas, it was less than 50% in cities like Mumbai, Bangalore and Kolkata. In the capital city Delhi, the direct tax collection increased to 53.57%.

The 3-D games are in latest trend. The gizmo freaks always have an eye for such games and look forward for any new introduced in market. There is good news for all those who love playing 3-D games.

Recently 7seas, a Hyderabad-based gaming company, launched not just one, but seven 3D mobile games across the globe.

The names of the games are - 3D Sudoku, Planets of Sudoku 3D, Neetu The Alien Killer, Great Elude, Treasure Trove, Derby3D and Kraze.

Kraze and Derby3D are the ones which come as both single as well as multi-player. On the other hand Planets of Soduku 3D, Great Elude and Derby 3D come as multi-lingual. The languages are English, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch and German.

Deggendorf, Germany  - German police said Wednesday they had seized five luxury cars and confiscated the owners' driving licences to halt an illegal cannonball run across Europe.

The five men, from Britain and Spain, were believed to be racing from the German city of Cologne on a criss-cross route to Croatia with stops at Munich, Salzburg and Vienna.

Now eyes will help the doctors to detect patients prone to diabetes. A new screening device is designed by scientists at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Centre. It will take images of eyes and detect metabolic stress and tissue damage.  Thus the new device will give symptoms of eye diseases and these symptoms will be used to find diabetes prone persons.

The screening device tests both eyes in five minutes. It measures the intensity of cellular fluorescence in retinal tissue. The high level of fluorescence indicates eye disease.

ThinkGeek has introduced a two in one wrist watch, which can be used as storage device besides getting information of time. Actually, it is provided with in built flash drive. The watch has dimension of 29 x 25mm while flash drive has dimension of 38 x 13 x 6mm. It can store data up to 4GB.

The watch has a plastic case covered with stainless steel mask. It also offers Japanese quartz movement and black polyurethane strap. The drive can be slide out from case and further reinserted in the metal case. In brushed silver finish and convex mineral glass with shiny raised index, the watch has a beautiful look.

Nairobi  - A suspected leading terrorist with links to the international al-Qaeda terrorist network managed to escape arrest in the Kenya capital over the weekend, The Standard newspaper reported Monday.

Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, thought to be a key figure in the 1998 bombing of the US embassy in Nairobi, returned to Kenya last week from Somalia, the report said, citing police sources.

He was in hiding in his house in the coastal village of Malindi and managed to flee just an hour before police arrived to arrest him, the report said.

Cairo  - Egyptian police on the Gaza Strip border exchanged gunfire with three smugglers attempting to bring fuel and food to the strip, Cairo sources said Thursday.

The three Egyptian smugglers and one policeman were wounded in the exchange. All the wounded were taken to hospital.

The incident occurred at a tunnel used by smugglers located north of the Salahaddin gate at the Rafah crossing point on the Egyptian- Israeli border.

Smuggling of food, weapons and fuel to Gaza strip has become commonplace in the wake of the Gaza blockade by Israel which has caused shortages of basic commodities, such food, medicine and fuel for Palestinian residents. (dpa)

The increase in TDS receipts and buoyancy in corporate profits led to an increase in the direct tax collection, including corporate and personal income tax, by 46.95% to Rs 71,648 crore in April-July this year.

A finance ministry statement said, “Robust growth in direct tax collections is a result of tax education and compliance mechanism put in place by the Income Tax department in the area of tax deducted at source (TDS) and tax collection at source (TCS) and indicates further improvement in tax administration and tax compliance levels.”

The rate of inflation has increased to 12.01 percent. It is the highest rate in past 13 years. The inflation rate was 11.98 per cent in the last week. The wholesale price index (WPI)-based inflation rate is increased due to increase in the prices of as pulses, spices, eggs, fish and meat and some dairy products.

Although the rate of steel is not increased by steel companies yet the increase in the prices of cement contributed in the rise of inflation rate.

SE Investments Limited has informed that its board of directors at its meeting has approved to split / sub-divide the existing one equity share of the face value of Rs 10 each into 10 equity shares of the face value of Rs 1 each, subject to the approval of its shareholders. During the meeting, the board has appointed Harish Singh as executive director of the company for a period of 5 years. Further, it has also approved for amalgamation of Unnati Financial Services, New Delhi with the company under a scheme of amalgamation, subject to approval of the Scheme of Amalgamation by the Board of Directors of both companies.

Prague  - The Czech police detained a 19-year-old German who allegedly raised his arm in a Nazi salute at a campsite near the city of Brno Friday, CTK news agency reported.

The man had been staying at the site during Brno's motorcycle races.

The police detained him on a lead from reporters, who noticed Thursday that he repeatedly made the salute while passing a tent fitted with a Nazi-era flag.

The suspect faces up to three years in prison for hate crime.

Prague  - The Czech police have charged two civil engineers in the case of a train crash that last week killed seven and injured more than 60 passengers, police said Friday.

On August 8, a packed international express train rammed into a road bridge in the north-eastern Czech Republic that had collapsed on the tracks seconds before.

The overpass had been under reconstruction.

The men, both aged over 50, were responsible for safety during the work on the bridge, police said.

Quito  - Some 1,000 police officers evicted 200 indigenous people from a 70-hectare lot they had illegally occupied for more than a year, Ecuadorian media reported Thursday.

The members of the Kichwa, Shuar and Hoaorani communities had lived on the land in the Amazonian town of Puyo, some 222 kilometres from Quito, since April 14, 2007.

Force was used to remove them after an initial verbal request that the indigenous people leave the site failed to achieve the intended results. Officers brought down the walls of precarious houses and pulled people out of their homes.

According to media reports, one civilian was wounded by a gunshot during the operation.

Kabul  - The Afghan Interior Ministry said on Friday that 76 civilians, including women but mostly children, were killed in a coalition airstrike in western Afghanistan.

"Today in the afternoon during a bombardment of coalition forces 76 people, including 19 women, seven men and the rest children, all under 15 years-of-age were martyred," the interior ministry said in a statement.

Denver, Colorado  - After days of low-key protests, 100 demonstrators were arrested by police on the sidelines of the Democratic National Convention after refusing requests to disperse, police media officials said Tuesday.

Police said in a statement that a protest crowd of about 300 people had gathered near Civic Center Park near the state capitol building in downtown Denver, and "many were observed carrying rocks and other items that could be used to threaten public safety."

Denver police used pepper spray after the protestors "suddenly rushed a police safety line," police said.

In order to bring the health care to the doorstep of the common people, the Goa government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Novo Nordisk Education Foundation, Bangalore on Diabetes Care Programme on Thursday.

At the time of signing the MoU on Diabetes Care Programme, the Health Minister of the state government Vishwajeet Rane was also present.

While lecturing on the occasion, Rane said, “Diabetes is a major health hazard in the country affecting young and old. Goa has a alarming proportion of Diabetes patients.”

Sana'a, Yemen  - Three policemen were wounded in a gun battle with suspected Islamic militants in southern Yemen late Friday, local officials said.

The fighting took place in Ja'ar city, southern Abyan province, where Jihadist fighters have a strong presence. Officials said the militants were believed to be members of a group affiliated to al- Qaeda.

Ja'ar is 600 kilometres south of the capital Sana'a, and is close to the Hatat mountains where armed Islamic groups often take shelter.

Sana'a, Yemen  - Yemeni police have arrested a leading figure of the Islamic Jihad movement in the southern province of Abyan amid a clampdown on militant groups, security sources said on Saturday.

Khaled Abdulnabi was captured outside his house in the city of Ja'ar in Abyan late on Friday after police followed a suspicious car into Abdulnabi's house, the sources said.

A gun battle broke out between police forces and armed followers of Abdulnabi in streets of Ja'ar after the arrest and lasted for several hours, witnesses said.

Bogota  - Colombian police have seized 5 tons of cocaine, with a street value of about 570,000 dollars, near the country's border with Venezuela, local media reported Thursday.

The drugs were found in the municipality of Uribia, in the La Guajira region, where they were stashed. The cocaine was to be smuggled outside Colombia, media reports said, quoting regional police commander General Oscar Gamboa.

The cocaine belonged to drug baron Daniel Rendon, alias "Don Mario," Gamboa claimed. No arrests were made.

The Health Minister Vishwajit Rane inaugurated ‘The Clinic on Wheels’ for the diabetics in the state. These clinics will be equipped with all state of the art facilities to detect diabetes and offer treatment along with educational material to offer to spread awareness about the effects of the disease and how early diagnosis of high sugar levels can prevent complications at a later stage. 

New Delhi, Oct.20: The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) has welcomed the Reserve Bank of India’s decision to cut the repo rate by 100 base points to bring it down to eight percent.

Director General of CII Chandrajit Banerjee described the announcement as a step in the right direction.

"We are thankful to the RBI Governor for agreeing to this suggestion made by CII in view of the credit crisis that was starting to manifest in the Indian system, following the global liquidity crunch," he said.

A CII statement said that the credit crunch that has been visible in India of late has been the result of the twin problem of lack of liquidity in the system and the cost of credit owing to the steep interest rates.

Sofia - A Bulgarian court on Monday launched a trial against 9 people accused of embezzling millions from European Union aid funds.

The defendants were accused of stealing 14 million leva (9.6 million dollars) from funds made available to Bulgaria by the EU as part of the SAPARD (Special Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development) programme.

The defendants allegedly imported used machinery for meat processing, but forged documents so the machines could be registered as new. The EU fund was drawn upon for the cost of new equipment, with the defendants allegedly pocketing the difference.

Reykjavik/Stockholm - Iceland was reported Monday to be inching closer to secure support for a rescue package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and several central banks.

The online edition of the Financial Times reported that the plan was worth 6 billion dollars, and that the IMF was to provide some 1 billion dollars.

Other central banks in the Nordic region as well as the central bank of Japan were also part of the overall deal, the report said.

Frankfurt - Signs of confidence returning to share markets emerged Monday as stocks in Europe and Wall Street gained ground following solid rises across Asia.

By late afternoon trading, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 was up 3.7 per cent at 2349 points as an element of calm characterized share trading amid signs of an easing in the global credit crunch.

Triggered by the surge in defaults in risky US mortgages, the credit squeeze has been a key factor in unleashing the recent round of world share market turmoil.

The pickup in global shares Monday also came after a tumultuous week on stock markets and with companies around the world continuing to roll out third-quarter corporate results.

Moscow/Yerevan - President Dmitry Medvedev began a two-day visit on Monday to Armenia, caught in a precarious security deadlock in the Caucasus following Russia's recent war with Georgia.

The trips marks Medvedev's fifth meeting this year with Armenian President Serzh Sarkisian, a firm Moscow ally.

"The main provision on the agenda of Medvedev's visit will be talks in the tete-a-tete and extended formats talks with Sarkisian,"

a Kremlin official said on customary condition of anonymity Monday. "This vividly proves the high level of political dialog aimed at the further strengthening of strategic partnership."

The official added that trade and economic relations were the primary topics of discussion.

Washington - US growth will remain weak for "several" quarters as the world's largest economy works through a financial and housing crisis that has sharply reduced spending, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned Monday.

Amid fears that the US has already dipped into a recession, Bernanke told a congressional hearing that a second fiscal stimulus package could help kick-start the economy.

Congress passed a 150-billion-dollar stimulus package in the spring, offering tax rebate cheques that raised consumer spending and helped boost growth in the second quarter.

Dhaka - A total of 107 political parties have applied to register with Bangladesh's Election Commission for eligibility in December's general election, officials said Monday.

The parties applied to meet an extended deadline for the submissions. The submissions were mandated by the country's military- backed interim government, led by Fakhruddin Ahmed. The interim administration was installed in January 2007 against a backdrop of political turmoil.

The country's Chief Election Commissioner A T M Shamsul Huda said that the prime objective of the registration process was to put the political parties within a legal framework.

Amman - The interior ministers of the countries neighbouring Iraq are due to meet in Amman on Thursday to look into means for helping the Iraqi government restore security.

"The conference takes place amid extremely difficult circumstances experienced by Iraq and the rest of the region," Mokhaimer Abu Jamous, secretary general of the Jordanian Interior Ministry said as he opened a meeting of the conference's preparatory committee.

"We hope the interior ministers' conference will reflect the keenness of Iraq's neighbours on helping it to confront challenges facing the country, particularly in the security field," he added.

Valletta, Malta - A group of 43 Somali would-be immigrants was rescued Monday off Malta, authorities on the Mediterranean island said.

According to the Maltese army, the migrants used a satellite phone to alert a rescue centre in Italy that their dinghy was adrift and that they had lost their outboard engine. The incident took place 88 nautical miles south of the Mediterranean island.

The migrants - 30 men and 13 women - were later picked up by a patrol boat and are in good health, officials said.

Around 1,300 Somalis fleeing the conflict-ridden nation in the Horn of Africa have landed in Malta this year. That compares with 613 in 2007, 311 in 2006 and 146 in 2005.

Johannesburg - Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai avoided a regional meeting on the impasse in Zimbabwe on Monday, and demanded instead a crisis summit on the situation.

President Robert Mugabe was in Swaziland on Monday to give his side on the breakdown in his unity talks with Tsvangirai to a small group of Southern African Development Community (SADC) members, led by Swazi King Mswati III.

South Africa's President Kgalema Motlanthe and senior officials from Mozambique and Democratic Republic of Congo were also attending the summit, at which former South African president Thabo Mbeki was due to report back on his latest failed mediation attempt in Zimbabwe.

Finally, non-bailable warrant (NBW) has been issued against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena Chief Raj Thackeray.  The Mumbai Police have said that he might be arrested soon.

The warrant was issued for a speech made by Raj in February where he had spoken against North Indians and had also targeted Amitabh Bachchan in that speech.

The Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh was under pressure to act against the MNS chief as major political leaders condemned the actions of MNS Chief.

A Congress delegation has met the Chief Minister to demand Raj Thackeray's arrest at the earliest. Three UPA Ministers have demanded action against Raj.

Dubai-based international air carrier Emirates today announced that it will add 31 weekly services to India. This will lead the number of weekly flights to 163 by February 2009.

The carrier will introduce seven additional flights with effect from October 26 between Delhi and Dubai, increasing the total weekly frequency in this route from 18 to 25 flights.

The Emirates will add seven additional flights per week to its current 28 flights per week from Mumbai.

Sri Lankan Army on Monday captured Vannerikulam town and encircled Nachchikudha, the main sea Tiger base, after fierce fighting which left 33 soldiers dead.

Another task force of the army got close to the biggest sea Tiger base in which 11 LTTE were killed, defense ministry said.

Apparently, stepping up their attack strategy to capture LTTE headquarters, government troops overnight and this morning launched a fierce offensive to capture the Vannerikulam town for which the Tigers had put up a stiff resistance.

The new offensive brought the army a step closer to capturing the militants' de facto capital of Kilinochchi in northern Sri Lanka, the military said.

San Francisco - Google CEO Eric Schmidt is to endorse Barack Obama and start campaigning for him, he told the Wall Street Journal Monday.

The endorsement by the man widely seen as the most powerful figure in the technology world came just a day after the Democratic presidential candidate was boosted by the endorsement of Colin Powell, a widely respected former Republican Secretary of State and retired four-star general.

The report said that Schmidt will campaign for Obama starting in Florida on Tuesday. He has also been providing unofficial advice to the Democratic hopeful on energy and technology issues, and could be in line for a Chief Technical Officer post Obama has said he would create in his administration.

Mexico City - Some sixteen inmates died and 17 others were injured in a jail mutiny in the northern Mexican city of Reynosa, on the border with the United States, according to preliminary information made public by the authorities.

The state attorney in the state of Tamaulipas, Manuel Miranda, was quoted by the news agency Notimex as saying that the mutiny happened in the early hours of Monday. dpa

London - Tottenham centre-back Jonathan Woodgate insisted Monday that manager Juande Ramos still has the full backing of the team despite their dreadful start to the season.

Sunday's 2-1 defeat at Stoke, in which they picked up two red cards, conceded two penalties and lost defender Vedran Corluka to a head injury, left Tottenham bottom of the table with just two points from eight games, their worst ever start to a season.

There has been speculation suggesting Ramos is facing the sack, although it now looks more likely that it could be sporting director Damien Comolli who is ousted.

Woodgate, certainly, believes Ramos should stay. "He is still the manager and hopefully he will continue to be," he said.

Los Angeles - Richard Blackwell, the former actor and model who became the scourge of the fashion world with his annual list of "worst dressed" celebrities, has died in hospital at the age of 86, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday.

His withering evaluations of the fashion sense of movie stars, music icons and European royalty helped turn him into a household name from the 1960s through the '80s.

Some of his earliest barbs targeted style icons like Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor, whose "plump" figures and revealing clothes reminded him of "the rebirth of the zeppelin," he wrote in 1963.

Washington - International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has reportedly apologized to staff over an improper affair with a married subordinate.

Meanwhile, the IMF on Monday said an inquiry into whether he abused his position will be completed by the end of the month.

Strauss-Kahn met Friday with the IMF's executive board, which has the power to dismiss him, and has been "fully supportive" of the investigation, according to a statement from Shakour Shaalan, who leads the 24-member board.

Wellington - New Zealand's inflation rate, boosted by soaring petrol prices, hit an 18-year high of 5.1 per cent in the 12 months ending September 30, official figures revealed Tuesday.

The consumers price index rose 1.5 per cent in the September quarter, Statistics New Zealand said.

The figures came as no surprise to analysts, who said that the inflation rate was likely to have peaked with consumer prices for fuel and food already beginning to ease.

Punj Lloyd, a leading engineering procurement & construction (EPC) and project management services company has informed that PT Punj Lloyd, a wholly owned subsidiary of the company in Indonesia has secured an order worth US$ 22.48 million.

The order was awarded by PT Shell Indonesia for Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) services contract of New Fuel Terminal at Pulau Laut, Kalimantan.

The stock of Punj Lloyd closed today at Rs 167 on BSE. It touched an intraday high and low of Rs 178 and Rs 160 respectively.

Hyderabad-based infrastructure firm, Lanco Infratech has informed that the Board of Directors of its subsidiary Lanco Hills Technology Park Pvt. Ltd (LHTPPL) has decided to de-merge LHTPPL into two entities, subject to statutory and various other approvals.

With the de-merger of LHTPPL, the SEZ business would be retained by the existing LHTPPL and the non-SEZ business would be de-merged into a separate company.

The de-merger would be effective from April 1, 2008.

Many stock analysts are bearish on the Lanco Infratech stock in the short-term. They expect that the stock’s medium-term downtrend will persist until the stock crosses its resistance of Rs 105 in the short-term.

The Future Group, whose flagship company Pantaloon Retail operates over 1000 stores nationwide, has entered into an agreement with UAE-based mobile retail company Axiom Telecom, to form 50:50 joint venture company christened ‘Future Axiom Telecom Ltd.’

According to the company, the newly formed JVC will retail and distribute mobile handsets and accessories and set up service centres in India. Further it would also take charge of the 500 stores and touch points in 58 cities, which are currently running under the brand name of Mobile Bazaar and Mport respectively.

Kolkata-based Tulsyan NEC Limited, a flagship company of the Tulsyan group, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Budhrani Group of companies to set up a steel making and rolling mill in Nigeria on a joint venture basis to manufacture long products.

According to the sources, the production capacity would be around 60,000 metric tonnes per annum and the turnover for this venture is expected to be around Rs 350 crore.

Both partners intend to pump investment worth Rs 68 crore for the plant.

Tulsyan shares touched a high of Rs 65 on the BSE after the news. But later the stock ended the day at Rs 62, down Rs 2 or 3% over the previous close.

Amsterdam - Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, who was convicted for the so-called Lockerbie disaster, is terminally ill with cancer and expected to die within "weeks or months," a Dutch documentary filmmaker told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa early Tuesday.

Libyan former intelligence agent al-Megrahi, 56, was sentenced for life imprisonment in 2001 for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.

A terrorist bomb on board the aircraft brought the plane down over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing some 270 people.

The Dutch documentary maker says he was given the information about al-Megrahi by "reliable sources close to a Libyan delegation."

Panoramic Universal, a Mumbai-based company having interests in hospitality and information technology, has informed that it has acquired 51% stake in Sri Vatsa Hotels for an undisclosed amount.

The company aims to construct a four star hotel with nearly 90 rooms in the said commercial complex through SVPHL or its subsidiary or by itself.

In a separate release, Panoramic Universal has also bought remaining 21.93 % shares of Hi-Flyers Travel Services, a travel agency catering to premium corporate and HNI clients like Sharekhan, Akruti Foundation, SSKI, Jain Irrigation, Supreme Industries, Borroughs India and several other Companies.

With the acquisition, Hi-Flyers Travel Services has become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company.

Mexico City - Some 21 inmates died and at least 10 others were wounded in a clash between prisoners in a federal penitentiary in the northern Mexican city of Reynosa, according to preliminary information made public by authorities.

Tamaulipas state Interior Minister Jose Soberon said that the riot occurred early Monday.

Jail authorities said that the uprising was "in the process of being brought under control."

In a bid to access more refining capacity at a cheaper rates, Shree Renuka Sugars Ltd, India's biggest sugar refiner, has bought 87% stake in Gokak Sugars for Rs 69.3 crore, including debt of Rs 65 crore.

Karnataka-based Gokak Sugars has a capacity to crush 2,500 tonnes cane per day and has a 14 megawatt co-generation power plant. The company’s capacity is assumed to be equivalent to 7% of Shree Renuka's total crushing capacity.

According to official sources, the latest acquired mill is fully operational, and will add more income to Shree Renuka's business.

As per an estimate, the acquisition is expected to add Rs 12 crore in revenue annually.

Adhunik Power and Natural Resources Ltd (APNRL), a part of the Adhunik Metaliks group of companies, has signed a MoU with Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) for setting up a 1000 MW power plant in the state.

As per official sources, APNRL is setting up a 1000 MW thermal power plant based on coal as primary fuel, which is expected to be commissioned by June 2011.

The company plans to fulfill coal requirement for the power project through Ganeshpur, Jharkhand captive coal block of 65 MT, which has been allotted to the company.  

In the near future, the group plans to expand with similar projects in other states as well.

India's largest engineering and construction conglomerate, Larsen & Toubro (L&T) has decided to continue with the operations of its Mysore-based Medical Equipment & Systems (MED) business unit.

L&T’s MED has been providing a broad range of medical equipment which includes advanced ultrasound scanners and patient monitoring systems with a distribution network, which is spread throughout the country.

The company stated in an official release that, “In view of the overwhelming demand from our customers the L&T management has decided to retain the medical equipment business.”  

The decision takes into account the interest of all stockholders, including customers and distributors, the release added.

Sydney - Supported by Wall Street, the Australian stocks continued their climb in early trading session on Tuesday.

Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 4.67% higher at 9265. US Fed Chief said in a statement that the US Economy will need stimulus and we may see recession for coming quarters. However, for first time in five month, US Financial Indicators were positive.

Nasdaq Composite Index closed 3.43 per cent higher at 1770. European Markets closed positive as well.

The ASX 200 added 58 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 4,213. The positive sentiment came after Monday's 4.3-per-cent increase on the bellwether index. (With Inputs from Agencies)

Tokyo - Tokyo markets opened higher Tuesday after the Wall Street's overnight surge, sending Japan's benchmark Nikkei Average up more than 3 per cent.

At 9:12 am (0012 GMT), the key Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 277.41 points, or 3.08 per cent, to 9,283 after the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 413.21 points on hopes of easing credit crisis.

On currency markets at 9 am, the dollar was quoted at 102.10-15 yen, down from Monday's 5 pm quote of 102.22-25 yen.

The euro was quoted at 1.3337-42 dollars, down from Monday's 5 pm quote of 1.3481-84 dollars, and at 136.21-26 yen, down from 137.83-87 yen. dpa

Los Angeles - As if there wasn't enough drama in the run-up to the US elections, political junkies now have a controversial movie about the sitting president to nurse their election fever.

Director Oliver Stone's movie hit thousands of cinemas across the country over the weekend, earning a respectable 10.6 million dollars to come in fourth at box offices after the other great chronicles of the times: Max Payne, Beverly Hills Chihuahua and The Secret Life of Bees.

Tokyo - Tokyo markets continued to rise in morning trading Tuesday after Wall Street's overnight surge, sending Japan's benchmark Nikkei Average up nearly 4 per cent.

In the first 15 minutes of trading, the key Nikkei 225 Stock Average jumped 352.92 points, or 3.92 per cent, to 9,358.51, after the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 413.21 points on hopes of easing in the credit crisis.

On currency markets at 9 am (0000 GMT), the dollar was quoted at 102.10-15 yen, down from Monday's 5 pm quote of 102.22-25 yen.

The euro was quoted at 1.3337-42 dollars, down from Monday's 5 pm quote of 1.3481-84 dollars, and at 136.21-26 yen, down from 137.83-87 yen. dpa

ASUS, the Chinese brand associated with mini notebooks in India, in association with Intel has launched world’s greenest, quietest and the most cost effective desktop PC in Indian market.

The Eee Box which measures merely 1L in size consumes 90% less electricity than normal desktop PCs and is one of the quietest desktop PC with only 26 decibels sound emission.

Further, the latest gizmo features a boot technology called Express Gate that enables users to easily access the Internet, manage pictures and communicate over IM/Skype.

This revolutionary product, priced at Rs 16, 490 (excluding taxes) is targeted at the Small and Medium Enterprise (SMEs) and the Home Users segments in India.

India’s leading IT brand Hewlett-Packard, commonly referred to as HP, has introduced its Accidental Damage Protection service under the HP Total Care programme in India.

The company stated in a release that newly introduced ‘HP’s Accidental Damage Protection’ is a service that ensures hardware replacement in the event of an accident.

Further, the service also helps avoid the unprecedented cost that one incurs on repairs or replacements caused by accidents that may occur during normal operation of mobile computing products.

Bharti Airtel, India’s biggest mobile phone company by customers,, has announced a strategic outsourcing agreement with IBM to further enhance its customer service experience for its top end Platinum customers through process and technology innovation.

Under the six-year contract, IBM's managed business services unit IBM Daksh will provide voice and back-office services including customer service, collections, and customer retention from its centers.

UK-based Creativity Software has informed that it has signed a partnership deal with Universal Software Corporation to supply the market in India with its location based solutions.

Through this partnership, Creativity Software will provide its location technology solutions while Universal Software will use its presence in the market to deliver tailored solutions to mobile operators and large enterprises in the country.

Creativity Software's location based solutions include Family and Friend Finder, Vehicle Tracking, Workforce Management and Travel and Social Networking Mobile Applications. Its customer list includes global brands such as Motorola, BP, America Movil, Samsung, Pearson, Walt Disney etc.

Sydney - Australian stocks continued their climb in early trading Tuesday, buoyed by a 4.6-per-cent gain overnight on Wall Street.

The ASX 200 added 58 points, or 1.3 per cent, to 4,213. The positive sentiment came after Monday's 4.3-per-cent increase on the bellwether index. (dpa)

Amsterdam - Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, who was convicted for the so-called Lockerbie disaster, is terminally ill with cancer and expected to die within "weeks or months," a Dutch documentary filmmaker told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa early Tuesday.

Libyan former intelligence agent al-Megrahi, 56, was sentenced for life imprisonment in 2001 for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988.

A terrorist bomb on board the aircraft brought the plane down over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing some 270 people.

The Dutch documentary maker says he was given the information about al-Megrahi by "reliable sources close to a Libyan delegation."

Wellington - New Zealand's inflation rate, boosted by soaring petrol prices, hit an 18-year high of 5.1 per cent in the 12 months ending September 30, official figures revealed Tuesday.

The consumers price index rose 1.5 per cent in the September quarter, Statistics New Zealand said.

The figures came as no surprise to analysts, who said that the inflation rate was likely to have peaked with consumer prices for fuel and food already beginning to ease.

Sydney - Australian politicians learned Tuesday that the country's oldest practising lawyer had died aged 100 and that they would need to look for a new exemplar of grateful employment and retirement postponed.

When he succumbed to a stroke last week, George Bilbie was still working in the Newcastle law firm that he founded in 1944.

"I'm one of the luckiest people out there," Bilbie said a few months before his death. "When you are brought up poor, you appreciate everything you get."

Washington - International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn has reportedly apologized to staff over an improper affair with a married subordinate.

Meanwhile, the IMF on Monday said an inquiry into whether he abused his position will be completed by the end of the month.

Strauss-Kahn met Friday with the IMF's executive board, which has the power to dismiss him, and has been "fully supportive" of the investigation, according to a statement from Shakour Shaalan, who leads the 24-member board.

In the most recent of the newspaper endorsements of the presidential candidates, the Detroit Free press endorsed Democratic Barack Obama on Sunday, calling the Illinois senator, the stronger candidate.

Admitting that the country clearly needs some change, the Free Press - that endorsed McCain for the Republican presidential nomination in 2000 and this year - said that Obama is “not only proposing better ones but is also better suited to the job of getting them done.”

The newspaper also noted: “The McCain running against Obama in this general election has not been the same candidate; he has been nastier, less consistent and, since his acceptance speech at the GOP National Convention, frankly uninspiring.”

During an hour-long debate at WGVU-TV that aired live Sunday, on Public Broadcast Stations, Democratic US Senator Carl Levin and his Republican challenger, Jack Hoogendyk, reflected their sharp differences on most matters – the $700 billion bailout of Wall Street, the Iraq war, taxes, global warming, federal earmarks and health insurance.

Democrat Levin, 74, is heavily favored to win another six-year term in the Senate; while Hoogendyk, 53, is a member of the Michigan House, although term limits will force him out at the end of the year.

The duo is scheduled to meet again Monday for a final debate before the Detroit Economic Club.

In a renewed effort to secure the basis of “democratic capitalism”, President Bush announced on Saturday his plans to host emergency summits of leaders from the world’s top economies to chart out a rejoinder to the financial crisis.

Though no date has been finalized for the gathering, a White House statement said it would be held in the US “soon after” the November 4 election.

At Camp David, Maryland, the President, with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and European Union President Jose Manuel Barroso in attendance, said that the comprehensive objectives of the summits would aim at revamping the regulatory framework for global finance.

Grasse, France (dpa) - Perfume's first city of Grasse in southern France has reopened the doors of its fragrance museum, four years after they were shuttered for renovations.

The International Perfume Museum is bigger and better than ever after extensive renovations and enlargement. It now has double the floor space and a beautiful new glass gallery with a view of the Esterel mountains.

Of the museum's 50,000 items, 3,500 are now on display. The overhaul cost the city and surrounding province 14 million euros (18.81 million dollars).

The 84-year-old former chairman and chief executive of Chevron, George Keller, died Friday in Palo Alto.

A spokeswoman for the New York Times, Diane McNulty, has confirmed the news of Keller’s death.

Keller’s daughter-in-law, Emma Gilbey Keller - wife of his son Bill who is executive editor of the Times - said he died from complications of orthopedic surgery.

Keller was one of the key players in the 1980s era of deregulation, globalization, and the emergence of junk bond financing, when it seemed like no company was immune from hostile takeovers.

Balaji Telefilms has received a notice for termination of sourcing content and telecasting of one of its highly popular weekly serials – ‘Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi’ (KSBKBT) – being aired on Star Plus. The notice comes from SGL Entertainment, a part of the Star Group.

Along with KSBKBT, Balaji is producing five other currently running programs for the Star Group. In addition, the company produces two programs for 9X, one for Zee TV, and is also producing two programs for NDTV Imagine, which will be launched in this quarter.

SGL opines that the termination of the highly rated serial is in breach of contractual obligations owed by the Star Group to the company. It added that it will pursue all legal remedies available to it regarding the issue.

SpiceJet, the low-cost carrier, which was practically without a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for more than three months, on Monday announced the appointment of Sanjay Aggarwal as its CEO with immediate effect.

A company statement said that Aggarwal, who had earlier worked with the US Airways, was SpiceJet’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Strategy Officer, before the recent announcement came along.

The newly-announced CEO, Aggarwal, takes over the position from Siddhanth Sharma. On July 12, Sharma resigned from SpiceJet, and picked up a job with rival carrier, Indigo Airlines, at a time when SpiceJet was undergoing severe financial crisis, and was in dire need of cash infusion of Rs 3.45 billion from US investor Wilbur Ross.

Washington - Democratic Party presidential nominee Barack Obama has decided to drop campaigning for two days later this week for a previously unplanned visit to his ailing grandmother in Hawaii, campaign officials announced late Monday.

Obama, who lead rallies Monday in Florida, will continue his scheduled events through Thursday afternoon, when he will fly to Hawaii to visit Madelyn Dunham, 85.

Washington - Bad enough that people were being kicked out of their homes in the mortgage crisis.

But when Democratic activists got wind of a plan by Republicans in Michigan to keep foreclosure victims from voting, they went to court.

The dispute was settled Monday out of court, a peaceful end to another skirmish over voter registration and rights that was typical of the scores expected to arise leading up to the November 4 general elections.

Tokyo - Japan markets opened higher Tuesday after Wall Street surged overnight.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 233 points, or 2.59 per cent, to end morning trading at 9,238.59.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 23.04 points, or 2.48 per cent, at 950.41.

Nicosia, Oct 21 : Qatar Petroleum has awarded Punj Lloyd the engineering, procurement, installation, and commissioning of the Strategic Gas Transmission Project, worth 800 million dollars.

The project includes the laying of 211 km of a 36-inch diameter pipeline with associated stations and infrastructure.

Pattani, Thailand - Suspected Muslim militants killed five civilians and injured six in two attacks in Thailand's troubled deep South, police said Tuesday.

Six men on motorcycles, believed to be separatist insurgents, opened fire with M-16 rifles on a house Monday night in the Thung Yang Daeng district of Pattani, 750 kilometres south of Bangkok, slaying three Thai Muslims, police said.

On the same night in nearby Narathiwat, assailants attacked a pickup on the outskirts of the city, killing two Thai Muslim men and injuring six others travelling in the vehicle.

Mumbai, Oct 21 : Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was arrested in Ratnagiri late on Monday night for brutal attack on North Indian rail exam candidates by MNS workers.

A case was registered against Raj Thackeray and his supporters after MNS activists attacked centres conducting railway recruitment examination in suburban Mumbai to protest against the "inadequate representation" to locals and chased away candidates from north India.

Dili - In the high, craggy mountains south of East Timor's capital, Dili, a tangled blanket of wild, unkempt coffee trees is blooming.

If the flowers, now tiny flecks of white against the dark green trees, do well, it could mean more than 7 million dollars in the pockets of some of the poorest people on earth.

It could also mean a hot cup of coffee next year in Hamburg and school fees for a Timorese family.

San Francisco - Yahoo Inc was to announce at least 1,000 job cuts, possibly as early as Tuesday when it releases its quarterly earnings report, two newspapers reported.

The job cuts would be at least as many as the 1,000 jobs axed in January by the internet portal, which is struggling to compete with Google Inc for online advertising dollars, The Wall Street Journal and California's San Jose Mercury News reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

New Delhi - India's first-ever moon mission, due for launch Wednesday, was expected to return a rich yield of scientific information on Earth's neighbour besides being a template for international participation in space expeditions.

A 49-hour countdown for the launch of Chandrayaan-1, which means mooncraft in Sanskrit, began Monday at the Satish Dhawan Space Centre on Sriharikota Island, 90 kilometres north of Chennai.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh has left on a five-day visit to Japan and China today.

Dr. Singh will be in Japan from October 21 to October 23 for a bilateral visit and will travel to China from October 23 to October 24 for the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) Summit.

In Japan, Dr. Singh will meet his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso and hold talks on political, security and economic ties, including a free trade agreement, aiming to expand bilateral strategic relations.

Washington, October 21: An American study has revealed that the first two points that people look at to tell whether a face is familiar to them or not are around the nose.

Cognitive Scientists Janet Hui-wen Hsiao and Garrison Cottrell from the Temporal Dynamics of Learning Center at the University of California, San Diego, examined this by showing volunteers frontal-view images of faces, one at a time, and recording their eye movements.

They used an eye tracker to record the movements of the participants, which helped detect where on the faces shown the volunteers looked.

Lil Wayne has been declared lyricist of the year by BET Hip- Hop Awards. Russell Simmons was declared as the Hip-hop Icon.

The rapper who belongs to New Orleans was nominated for 12 awards. He has also been honored with the title of MVP of the Year and the Alltel Wireless People's Champ at the ceremony hosted by T-Pain.

Lil told the crowd that he's expecting a bundle of joy any day now. "I got a son dropping any day. Pray for me," he said.

Manila - Philippine shares rose 2.61 per cent Tuesday, buoyed by gains on Wall Street and other Asian stock markets.

The Philippine Stock Exchange's 30-share composite index gained 53.86 points to close at 2,116.74.

A total of 1.11 billion shares valued at 1.82 billion pesos (37.91 million dollars) were traded.

Gainers outpaced losers 63 to 28 with 38 issues unchanged.

Analysts predicted the local market would continue to track developments on Wall Street and other stock markets around the world. (dpa)

Paramount has delayed the release of yet another time. The first movie to be delayed for release was Harry Potter, thereafter it was The Road; this time it is The Soloist and Defiance.

No specified reasons have been given for the delay announced at the last moment. The release of Soloist has been delayed by about four months - from 21 November to 13 March. The release of soloist has been deferred to 31 Dec from 12 Dec.

The number of E. coli cases in Ontario has increased to 159. According to a health official, the number includes both confirmed and suspected cases of the infection.

"The latest is that we have 159 cases as of this morning. Of those, 26 are lab confirmed," said Dr. Catherine Whiting, medical officer of health at North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit.

The number of confirmed and suspected cases of E. coli poisoning linked to the Harvey's restaurant on Algonquin Avenue in North Bay, about 300 kilometres north of Toronto.  The last Thursday the count was 93 but it plummeted to  131 the next day.

Wellington - The index of New Zealand's top 50 stocks rose 2.1 per cent Tuesday amid cautious gains in other Asia-Pacific stock markets.

The NZX 50 index looked set for an even better performance after morning trading saw it up 2.8 per cent after rising 3 per cent on Monday.

But the price of the biggest stock, Telecom New Zealand, suffered a reverse in the afternoon, and the index ended the day up 62 points to 2952.

According to University of BC epidemiologist, there is enough evidence to support heroin assisted addictions clinic in Vancouver

A study was conducted by NAOMI ( North American Opiate Medication Initiative, for three years on 251 addicts in Vancouver and Montreal. Most of these addicts were chronic and did not respond to other treatments.

"These people are out in the alleys, injecting heroin of unknown quality and quantity," said Dr. Martin Schechter, the study's principal investigator. "They're committing crimes, they're involved in sex work to pay for that, and they're certainly, in that situation, not going to get better."

La Paz - The government and opposition agreed to hold a nationwide referendum Sunday on the new draft constitution proposed by the president, after he agreed to term limits, a senior official said.

Rural Development Minister Carlos Romero said on Monday the agreement moves up the next general election by one year, to January 2009, which President Evo Morales would contest for his second and final term.

The past few films directed by Madhur Bhandarkar have undoubtedly left their mark and opened a new era for Indian cinema.

The critically acclaimed and National Award winning director is all set to release his latest much talked about film with an exorbitant 700 prints in India and abroad.

Tokyo - Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso on Tuesday welcomed US efforts to stabilize the global financial markets and conveyed his intention to play a leading role as Group of Eight chair in the upcoming financial crisis meeting in the US, the top Japanese government spokesman said.

Washington, October 21: Johns Hopkins scientists have found that sugar plays a significant role in how cells work, paving the way for new therapies for a number of diseases like diabetes, neurodegeneration, and cancer.

The researchers say that sugar may be as influential as phosphate in putting the proteins in cells on and off.

The conventional wisdom was that the job of turning proteins on and off fell to phosphates, which did so by fastening to and unfastening from proteins, a process called phosphorylation.

The latest research paper by the Johns Hopkins team suggests that sugar also plays a role in regulating phosphorylation itself.

Washington - Insurance giant American International Group Inc, bailed out of a cash-flow crisis last month by a loan that temporarily made the US government its majority shareholder, said Monday that it would stop lobbying in Washington.

A spokesman said that the company's Washington office would continue to monitor federal lawmaking to assess impacts on AIG, but that routine work to influence congressional legislation would stop.

In addition, the company has cancelled more than 150 posh corporate events, saving an estimated 80 million dollars. AIG management came under fierce criticism from lawmakers after the revelation that executives spend 440,000 dollars on a retreat at a luxury spa, just days after the federal loan that kept the company afloat.

In a very peaceful settlement between the star singer Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie, the custody of the children was given to Madonna.

The Pop Diva's Daughter Lourdes (12) from a previous relationship with a fitness trainer, the couple's eight year old biological son Rocco and their adopted son David will stay with their mother but Ritchie will have 'Broad Access' to  his children Rocco and David.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service has announced that it has recalled 2,758 pounds of ground beef from Vermont Livestock, Slaughter and Processing Co., LLC, a Ferrisburg, Vt., firm, because it may be contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.

Sydney - Kevin Rudd needed something to give his poll ratings pep and it came in the ghastly form of a stock market meltdown that wilted the pension plans of millions of Australians.

Now, the approval ratings of the 50-year-old former diplomat, a year into his first spell as prime minister, suggest he could walk on water.

"It puts him into the 70-per-cent range and only one other prime minister has done that," said pollster John Stirton, noting that only Bob Hawke, 36 years ago, was a more popular prime minister.

People tend to rally round their leader in a crisis. It's happened to Britain's Gordon Brown. For Rudd, as for Brown, the acclamation is particularly pleasing.

Paris (dpa) - France will inject 10.5 billion euros (14 billion dollars) into the country's six biggest banks in an effort to provide capital for business and consumer lending, Finance Minister Christine Lagarde announced late Monday.

The government is to subscribe to subordinated debt issued by the six banks but will not gain voting rights.

In all, Paris could eventually inject 40 billion euros into the financial system by this method, as part of the 360-billion-euro rescue package forged earlier in October. (dpa)

London - It is the job of David Smith to keep on top of his box of index cards marked "serious buyers."

But as tight loans and tumbling prices keep a stranglehold on Britain's once buoyant property market, hardly any of his clients bother to ring back.

Estate agents like Smith are nostalgic about the days of the property boom when interested viewers would rush to compete for appointments to see the best properties as soon as they were advertised.

Britain's obsession with home ownership in a market distorted and overheated by a drastic disproportion between supply and demand has come to a sudden stop with the credit crunch.

Hollywood comic actor Denis Leary has stirred up quite a storm with his latest book, “Why We Suck: a Feel-Good Guide to Staying Fat, Loud, Lazy and Stupid.” The book has even raised the hackles of his Hollywood colleagues, for a passage in his new book where he says the reason autism is on the rise in the U.S. is because there are “inattentive mothers and competitive dads” out there and autism diagnoses "help explain away the deficiencies of (parents') junior morons."

London, Oct 21: Eight out of ten parents think that the best disciplinary technique for badly behaved toddlers is not to smack but to ignore them, according to a new report.

The report, published by the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships at the University of Edinburgh, suggests that raising the voice or shouting is the next most effective action.

The report is an analysis of data from the Growing Up in Scotland (GUS) study and comes weeks after MPs voted against enforcing a UK-wide smacking ban.

The GUS study, commissioned by the Scottish Government, surveyed parents of 8,000 children about issues affecting their parenting style.

State officials say they've made an $8 million drug bust that involved a 17 year old girl and parents of three young children operating in Lancaster and York counties.

Attorney General Tom Corbett, after a 10-month investigation dubbed "Operation Dough Maker" announced multiple arrests including the couple and the teenager. The "dough" officials said, refers to the large amount of money changing hands for the drugs.

Corbett at a news conference today at the Manheim Township Police station said, "No community, large or small, is immune from drug abuse and drug trafficking.  Drug dealers will move anywhere there is a demand for their product."

Washington, October 21: A leading European scientist has revealed that his new research has provided significant insights into how proteins in human cells interact and “talk” to one another, and thereby led to a better understanding of how medications work.

Giulio Superti-Furga, a professor at the Centre for Molecular Medicine of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, hopes that such insights may result in more effective therapies.

"Most of the time the mechanism of action of drugs is ill understood and we often do not even know the primary target of the drugs we swallow daily. We do not know how these drugs work at the molecular level, and side effects can have serious consequences," he said.

The saying 'Old Is Gold” still holds ground even today, as one saw the launch of an album in which veteran singers Asha Bhonsle and Ghulam Ali came together.

The album promises 12 melodious power packed songs. The music for the album 'Generation’ has been given by Ghulam Ali and Son Aamir Ali.

Going down memory lane the accomplished gazal singer said "Earlier we had done the record in '84 and until now people look for it, good things never die”.

Cotabato City, Philippines- One soldier was killed Tuesday in a clash with Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines, a regional military spokesman said.

Major Randolph Cabangbang said the firefight between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels erupted in Mamasapano town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila.

"The fighting is ongoing," he said. "We have one killed in action, but we withheld his identity pending notification of his relatives."

A British scientist has disclosed the secret to stay healthy and live longer.

Professor Gary Williamson, professor of 'functional foods' at Leeds University, has suggested that people should consume ‘lifespan essential’ foodstuffs on a regular basis to lead a long and healthy life.

Prof Gary has revealed 20 functional foods rich in naturally occurring chemicals, known as polyphenols, which have been associated to various health benefits, including protection against heart disease.

The 'Rock On’ team is again in the limelight for different reasons. A large scale concert has been organized by Arjun Rampal and Farhan Akhtar who starred together in the latest hit film 'Rock On’.

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), Oct 21 : Chandrayaan-1, India''s spacecraft mission to moon will be launched tomorrow from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikotta.

Presently, Chandrayan-1, is undergoing final checks, prior to its launch at 6.20 a. m on Wednesday.

The spacecraft would be carrying 11 payloads (scientific instruments) and weigh about 1,380 kg at the time of its launch, according to reports.

Chandrayaan-1 satellite would orbit the Moon at an altitude of 100 km mapping the topography and the mineralogical content of the lunar soil.

A moment of glory flew in the air for Royal Bengal Tigers, when in the Indian Cricket League match held at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday; they defeated Mumbai Champs with 12 runs.

Skipper Craig McMillan from Bengal Tiger, won the toss and the team opted to bat first. Following this they had a great start as Hamish Marshall and Deep Dasgupta shared an 84-run partnership in 9.5 overs.

Mumbai, Oct 21: Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh today said that the decision to arrest Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray was not a sudden decision, and that nobody was above the law.

"This is not a sudden decision. We took this decision because nobody is above law. Law is same for everyone,” said Deshmukh while talking to reporters here last night.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : Before embarking on his Japan and China visit, Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh today said that a strong India-Japan relationship would play a significant role in the emerging Asian security architecture, and added that it will contribute to "peace, stability and prosperity" of Asia and the world.

In his departure statement, he said, "I consider our bilateral relations with Japan to be one of the most important bilateral relationships we have. India and Japan are two major countries in Asia, sharing many similar interests and subscribing to common values."

London, Oct. 21 : A former American pilot has revealed that more than 50 years ago, he was ordered to shoot down a UFO in British airspace.

Recalling the event, 77-year-old Lieutenant Milton Torres told The Times that on May 20, 1957, he received an order to fly his Sabre jet from the Royal Air Force base in Kent and fire on sight at an unidentified object that his superiors had judged to be hostile and probably Russian.

The dot indicated an object about the size of a B52 bomber about 24 kilometres away and Torres set a course, rockets at the ready, to catch it. But thereafter, the aircraft vanished. The blip on the radar was gone too.

Torres spoke about his top secret mission following the declassification of Ministry of Defence files.

It was a proud moment for Mahesh Bhupathi and his Bahamian partner Mark Knowles, when they had a straight-set win over Swede-Zimbabwean pair of Jonas Bjorkman and Kevin Ullyett in Madrid, and thus made in the finals of ATP Madrid Masters.

It took little more than an hour for the fourth seeded Indo-Bahamian pair to beat the fifth seeded Swede-Zimbabwean pair by 6-2 6-4 to make it into the finals.

Now Bhupahti and Knowles will compted with seventh seeds Marcin Matkoswki and Mariusz Fyrstenberg of Poland.

London, Oct 21 : Gay sex can produce offsprings, at least in the case of beetles, says a new study, which found that the ‘kinky’ activity gives males a chance to indirectly fertilise females they may never encounter directly.

Biologists have speculated that homosexual copulation in beetles might help males practise for straight sex, or they might offer males a way to assert dominance over one another.

In order to test these explanations, Sara Lewis, an evolutionary ecologist at Tufts University in Boston and colleagues investigated flour beetles (Tribolium castaneum)

Gaya, Oct 21: Police have recovered a huge cache of arms hidden by Maoists in Bihar's Gaya District.

Acting on a tip-off, the police seized the explosives from a water tank in the Bhalua forest area of the district.

"We recovered a 250-litres tank. On opening it was found it had 200 detonators, 126 tiffin bombs, timers and few wires. It was dumped so that they could easily take out and use it," said R. Mallar Vijji, Superintendent of Police.

India is all set to create history by launching its first unmanned moon mission on Monday, Chandrayaan-1, which had been making news from quite sometime now.

From past few days, the rehearsals for the launch of this mission had been ongoing at Sriharikota and finally the 49-hour countdown has initiated that will end in the launch on Wednesday.

With the aim to provide extraordinary experience to the customers of Airtel digital TV, its Direct To Home (DTH) TV service, Bharti Airtel gladly announced today that it has entered into an innovation and technology partnership with Infosys Technologies Limited (Infosys). Bharti Airtel is considered to be the India’s greatest integrated telecom services provider.

Taipei - A senior Chinese official was assaulted Tuesday by a group of pro-independence activists during a visit in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan, threatening to undermine high-level China-Taiwan talks planned for this month in Taipei.

Zhang Mingqing, vice chairman of the Association of Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS), was mobbed by a group of activists led by city councilor Wang Ting-yu of the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party during a sightseeing trip in Tainan.

ARATS is a state-funded mainland agency charged with dealing with the island in the absence of formal diplomatic ties.

Washington, October 21: A team of Austrian and American researches has discovered that ripening bananas appear bright blue under black light.

Scientists at the University of Innsbruck and Columbia University say that the blue glow is connected to the degradation of chlorophyll that occurs during ripening.

Lead researcher Bernhard Krautler says that, in this process, colourless but fluorescing breakdown products of chlorophyll are concentrated in the banana peel.

The usual appearance of bananas is mainly the result of the natural pigments carotenoids, which appear yellow under normal light.

However, when exposed to UV light, known to partygoers as black light, ripening bananas appear blue instead.

Recently, two ultra portable multimedia projectors dubbed as the Epson EB-1725 and EB-1735W were announced to be launched soon by Epson, which has been specially created for people who travel quite often or need mobile presentations.

The weight of these projectors, which provide about 2000:1 contrast, is 1.8 kgs.

The new projectors, which give the options of standard or widescreen presentations, have been equipped with 3,000 ANSI lumens of brightness.

Dharamsala, Oct 21 : Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, arrived here on Monday days after undergoing successful surgery to remove gallstones at a Delhi hospital.

Hundreds of Tibetans greeted their leader as he passed roads leading out of the airport. Floats were put up and Tibetans showered flowers on him.

Young and old, all waited eagerly to catch a glimpse of the Dalai Lama.

"We the Tibetans in Himachal Pradesh, all came to welcome our leader here. He has been in Delhi for few days," said Nodup Wangdu, a Tibetan exile.

With the aim to study the weakening solar wind that protects planets in the solar system from dangerous cosmic rays, the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (Ibex) was launched by Ibex.

The Ibex spacecraft will carry out very extremely high-altitude orbits above Earth over the next two years, in order to examine and capture first images of processes taking place at the interstellar boundary - the farthest reaches of the solar system.

London, Oct 21 : Being environmentally aware is one thing, and being obsessed with it, is another, say US psychiatrists, who warn that extreme environmental awareness may be creating a generation of “carborexics”.

In a new survey, it was found that seven per cent of Americans come into the category of “dark green”— hard core recyclers and carbon footprint worriers.

However, scientists claim that there is a thin line between these behavioural traits qualifying for eco-leadership or bordering on the obsessive-compulsive.

A report in the New York Times detailed all manner of lifestyles that might be considered carborexic.

Florida (United States), Oct. 21: Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama on Monday accused his republican rival John McCain of launching an "ugly" bid to stave off defeat, while campaigning along with Hillary Clinton in the crucial swing state of Florida.

With just 15 days to go before the election, Obama implored supporters to flood early voting stations in the state and vote for him rather than McCain.

In 2000 and 2004, the state had voted Republican.

Islamabad, Oct 21: Financial Adviser to Pakistan Prime Minister, Shaukat Tareen has said that the government has devised an action plan that would help bring in 3 to 5 billion dollars in foreign reserves within 30-45 days.

The government has abolished subsidies in an attempt to overcome fiscal deficit, the Daily Times quoted him as saying.

He added that if the government sought assistance from IMF, it would be cheaper to steer the country out of economic crisis, he said. (ANI)

Recently NASA experts told that outer space smells like fried Steak and like a hot metal and welding of a motorbike.

All these strange smells were reported after the astronauts came back from space walk.

Now, Steven Pearce of British fragrance firm Omega Ingredients, commissioned by NASA will reproduce these smells in the laboratory with the aim to help the astronauts to prepare for their missions. Hopefully, these smells would be created by the end of this year.

Mirpur, Oct 21 : India and Pakistan are due to open cross border trade from today. Truck loads of commodities from both the countries will cross the Line of Control (LoC) dividing Kashmir. It is being described as yet another confidence building measure between the two neighbours.

The decision to allow limited trade, taken only last month, symbolises attempts to solve the Kashmir dispute by creating ‘soft borders’ allowing free movement of goods and people.

Tokyo - Japan markets ended higher Tuesday after Wall Street surged overnight.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average gained 300.66 points, or 3.34 per cent, to close at 9,306.25.

The broader Topix index of all first-section issues was also up 29.27 points, or 3.16 per cent, to 956.64.

The Tokyo market sentiment picked up after US Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's remarks on Monday that a fresh economic stimulus package "seems appropriate" helped boost Wall Street shares. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped 4.67 per cent.

Tokyo - Japan's House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a bill to extend the military's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean for another year after January 15.

The bill proposed by the government enables the Japanese Maritime Self-Defence Forces to continue refueling international warships involved in the US-led war in Afghanistan.

The opposition parties say the special law violates Japan's pacifist constitution.

The opposition-controlled House of Councillors was expected to vote down the bill on October 29. But it will likely receive final parliamentary approval after the more powerful lower house approves it in a subsequent vote the following day.

New Delhi - Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday embarked on a trip to Japan and China, where he was scheduled to attend the seventh Asia-Europe summit.

During his official engagements in Japan, which begin Wednesday, Singh is to hold talks with the country's new prime minister, Taro Aso, to assess the global economic crisis and ways to deal with it.

The two leaders were also to discuss cooperation on political and security issues and hold talks to finalize a broad-based economic partnership.

The Indian government can ease norms of foreign direct investment in the country. It is seriously discussing the matter to liberalize the rules for FDI. The Indian financial system is facing liquidity crunch following global financial crisis. It would soon take more steps to safe Indian interests from global slowdown.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) and the finance ministry are working on the idea to ease cap on FDI in single-brand retail. Thus, 100% foreign investments are possible in coming days. It is noted that Indian norms permits only 50 per cent FDI in single-brand retail. The proposed steps may lead to increase foreign funds inflow in India and ease liquidity crisis.

Washington, October 21: A new study has revealed that children and adults who are referred for patch testing of allergens are equally likely to have allergic contact dermatitis, but they have the tendency to react to different allergens.

The study report in the Archives of Dermatology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, highlights that skin reactions to allergens are common among children.

Trinamool Congress chief, Mamata Banerjee has demanded apology from TATA chief Ratan Tata. She criticized him for his derogatory remarks in his letter.

TATA has written an open letter to the people of the state describing circumstances that led to relocation of his dream car project from the state. The letter was published in all leading newspapers of Kolkata. He specifically mentioned the negative role of Trinamool in Singur pull out.

Many leading airlines are considering salary cuts of their employees to reduce operating cost. Earlier, they want to start a retrenchment drive to deal with the crisis in the aviation sector. But they seem to drop idea after stiff opposition from the political class of the country. Jet Airways has already taken back its sacked staff.

Athens - All flights to and from Greece will be suspended for several hours on Tuesday during the latest nationwide strike which will also shut down banks, schools, public transport and enforce a news blackout to protest drastic economic policies.

Air traffic controllers were due to stop work for four hours, as of noon, as part of the strike called by Greece's two largest unions, private sector federation GSEE and public sector ADEDY, representing more than half of the country's 5 million workforce.

The Uttar Pradesh Government has revised sugar cane prices for the current season on Saturday. The farmers would now get Rs 15 more than the prices of last year. The State Advised Price (SAP) for common variety sugarcane would be Rs 140 a quintal after recent revision of prices. It was Rs 125 per quintal last year. SAP for rejected variety would be Rs 137.50 a quintal which earlier stood at Rs 122.50.

Khar (NWFP), Oct 21 : As many as 15 Taliban were killed when security forces used heavy artillery, fighter jets and helicopter gunships to target suspected hideouts in Bajaur Agency, last evening.

After the attacks in the Chinar, Charmang, Kohi, Babra, Zorbandar, Hashim and Loyesam areas of the tribal region, helicopters dropped pamphlets asking tribesmen to support the government against Taliban. Government troops now control Salarzai and Utman Khel tehsils and parts of Khar, reported the Daily Times.

Lahore Badshahs won the first tie match in the Indian Cricket League (ICL) Twenty20 Championship by 31 runs. The team has already lost two consecutive matches to the Ahmedabad Rockets at the Sardar Vallabbhai Patel stadium.

Ahmedabad Rockets faced Badshahs in the absence of Inzamam Ul Haq and Azhar Mahmood. The team set a target of 136 for nine wickets in allotted 20 over.

Washington, Oct 21 : Scientists from University of Rochester Medical Centre have revealed that respiratory rhythms can help predict chronic insomnia and sleep disruptions.

In the study conducted over women with metastatic breast cancer, the researchers found that breathing, heart rates and cortisol levels can help predict insomnia.

Lead author Oxana Palesh, Ph. D., research assistant professor at Rochester''s James P. Wilmot Cancer Centre said that identifying the body''s parasympathetic nervous system, a branch of the autonomic nervous system that controls breathing and heart rates and the body''s response to stress, act as a contributor to poor sleep, which is a persistent problem for women with breast cancer.

IIM is not justifying with the economically weak but meritorious students. It is revealed by a penal constituted by the ministry of Human Development and Resources in its recent report. The penal raised fingers on the admission guide lines followed in various IIMs.

It has demanded some concessions for the meritorious students. IIMs should revise their policies regarding scholarships and fees structure for economically backward students.

The former chairman of Maruti Udyog Ltd, Mr. R C Bhargava said that norms should be revised for scholarships, fellowships, free ships and other forms of financial assistance given to students for admissions in top management institutes of the country.

Washington, Oct 21: People who engage in pompous displays of collective pride in a football game or political rally might be trying to hide their insecurity and a low social status, says a new study.

Psychologists from University of California, Davis have revealed that group pride might actually be a sign of group insecurity than strength.

The research team led by Cynthia Pickett, associate professor of psychology at UC Davis found that groups that boast, gloat and denigrate outsiders tend to be of low social status or vulnerable to threats from other groups.

In contrast, those that express pride by humbly focusing on members'' efforts and hard work tend to have high social standing.

Guwahati, Oct 21 : President Pratibha Patil arrived in Tezpur in Assam''s Sonitpur District on Tuesday where she will lay the foundation stone of the Tezpur Medical College.

The college will be built by the Assam Government at a cost of around 160 crore rupees at Tumuki village, 20 kilometers away from Tezpur.

This will be the fifth medical college in Assam. The State Government has allocated 35 acres of land in Tumuki to set up the medical college.

Richard Kemper, a Hillsborough County middle school teacher was among 13 people who were arrested in an internet prostitution sting in Polk County.

The Polk County Sheriff's Office said the popular classified Web site Craigslist targeted men who used the site to look for sex. They were then lured to an undercover house in Winter Haven.

Kemper, 50, was arrested after he offered an undercover agent $ 150 for sex. A software developer, paint-store manager, citrus buyer and truck driver were others arrested.

 Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said, "Our message is pretty straightforward, if you want to engage in prostitution, stay out of our community."

London, Oct 21: Women office workers prefer spending more time with their computers than their husbands or boyfriends, reveals a new American research.

The study found that the ladies spend almost three times as much time with their computer than with their partners.

According to a poll of almost 3,000 Americans, women spend an average of 9.3 hours a day with their PC, compared with 3.6 hours with their other halves, reports the Telegraph.

Bangkok - A Chinese-led consortium with a concession for oil exploration on Myanmar's Ramree Island has left hundreds of local islanders landless and unemployed and their environment befouled, a human rights group said Tuesday.

Blocking Freedom, a report compiled by the environmental and human rights group Arakan Oil Watch, said a consortium led by the China National Offshore Oil Company Ltd (CNOOC Ltd) left behind such a trail of abuses and environmental contamination on Ramree Island that outraged locals attacked their facilities last year.

The report was the first to be released on Chinese onshore oil exploration activities in Ramree Island, Myanmar's largest island, in Arakan State, now called Rakhine. 

Yangon - Myanmar's state media on Tuesday blamed a bomb blast that killed a 26-year-old man over the weekend on the victim himself, described as a former Buddhist monk who had participated in the September 2007, "saffron revolution."

Thet Oo Win died in a bomb explosion at his home in Shwepyitha township in Yangon at 5:30 pm on Sunday.

A police investigation into the incident found various bomb-making paraphernalia including a 9-volt dry cell battery fastened with a wire, a damaged pieces of lithium battery, six electric detonators and ammonium nitrates at the victim's home, claimed The New Light of Myanmar, a military mouthpiece.

New York, Oct. 21 : Democratic presidential nominee and White House frontrunner Barack Obama has announced that he will suspend his campaigning for 36 hours to visit his ailing grandmother Madelyn Dunham in Hawaii.

According to the New York Times, Dunham, 85, is gravely ill. Campaign spokesman Robert Gibbs declined to specify the nature of her illness, other than to say it was quite serious. Dunham lives in Honolulu.

Washington, Oct 21: A US military team, dubbed as “Red Team” for challenging conventional thinking over terrorism, has said that words like ‘jihad’ and ‘Islamist’ were needed in discussing terrorism in the 21st Century, and that the federal agencies that avoid these words were “soft-pedaling” the link between religious extremism and violent acts, reported the Washington Times.

According to the daily, the report titled “Freedom of Speech in Jihad Analysis: Debunking the Myth of Offensive Words” was written by unnamed civilian analysts and contractors for the US Central Command.

Oslo - The global financial crisis has affected the Norwegian aluminium and power generation group Norsk Hydro's third quarter sales and earnings, the group said Tuesday.

Third-quarter turnover was 23.98 billion kroner (3.65 billion dollars), down 9 per cent from the third quarter of 2007.

Underlying earnings before financial items and tax (EBIT) were down 8 per cent in the quarter to 1.49 billion kroner, the group said.

"The global financial crisis and uncertainty in world commodity markets have affected our results for the third quarter and will continue to do so in the coming quarters," Hydro Chief Executive Eivind Reiten said in a statement.

New York, Oct. 21: Fifty three percent of American voters claim that Illinois Senator and Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has far greater appeal than his Republican rival John McCain.

However, according to a New York Times report, 33 percent say they have an unfavorable view of Obama.

As far as McCain is concerned, only 36 percent of the voters view him favorably, while 45 percent view him unfavorably.

Washington, Oct 21: A recent discovery by scientists suggests that the most effective treatment for leukemia may rely on a combination of targeted drugs, rather than a single miracle drug.

An anti-leukemia drug called imatinib is currently the most popular therapy for chronic myeloid leukemia (CML).

CML is associated with the abnormal fusion of a portion of chromosome 21 with a cell growth-promoting enzyme called ABL, which makes the enzyme perpetually active.

Imatinib slows down the spread of cancer by blocking the enzyme''s activity.

However, the drug doesn''t work in everyone and resistance often develops, most likely because the drug only targets mature cells, leaving self-renewing cancer stem cells behind.

The Supreme Court has given nod to the CBSE’s proposal to have multiple choice objective type tests in both the preliminary and final exams for filling up the 15% of the seats of various medical colleges in India that are open to applicants across the country irrespective of their domicile.

A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam permitted the CBSE to implement the new pattern after it confronted problems in the present system of tests.

Washington, Oct 21: A couple of days after former US secretary of state Colin Powell crossed party lines to commit his support for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, the latter has said that if he won the election, he would invite the former to be one of his key advisers at the White House.

“Powell will have a role as one of my advisers,” the Daily Times quoted Obama as saying in a TV interview last evening.

Obama said that Powell was welcome to campaign for him and might have a place in his administration, if he won the poll.

On Sunday, Powell had endorsed the Democratic presidential candidate on NBC’s “Meet the Press” programme

London, October 21 : An English man is dragging a furniture company to court, claiming that a “toxic sofa” they had sold to him left him with a permanent heart condition.

Barry Green, 63, a resident of Plymouth in Devon, claims that he had to spend a week in hospital with blisters, breathing problems, pneumonia, and eventually heart failure.

The father-of-four bought the brown leather couch worth 545 pounds from Land of Leather a year ago, but soon began to suffer health problems.

He is now seeking damages from the firm and its manufacturers, Chinese firm Eurosofa, via a High Court legal action.

Seoul - Shares plunged Tuesday on the Seoul stock exchange on concerns over the economy despite a government stabilization package worth 130 billion dollars to prop up the troubled financial market. South Korea's currency dropped against the US dollar.

The benchmark Kospi index fell 11.53 points, or 1 per cent, to close at 1,196.1.

Declining issues outnumbered advancers 496 to 325.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market declined 2.12 points to 350.97.

Perth, Oct 21: A New Zealand biotech firm has been given the go-ahead to inject pig cells into humans as part of a trial to tackle diabetes.

New Zealand Health Minister David Cunliffe has given green light to the ASX-listed Living Cell Technologies to conduct the two-year controversial trial.

"It is extremely exciting for lots of people, especially the diabetics, because it gives them new hope," Perth Now quoted company founder David Collinson, as saying.

He said the 2 million dollars would kick off at Auckland''s Middlemore Hospital with eight patients in Feb 2009.

Collinson hopes that by 2010, drugs used in the trial would be made available in some parts of the world.

Melbourne, Oct 21: Men should stay miles away from mobile phones if they don''t want to screw up their plans of fathering a child, for a new research has shown that males who talk for hours on cellphones may damage their sperm.

An experiment on semen revealed evidence of DNA damage after 16 hours of exposure to radiation similar to the output of a mobile phone.

To reach the conclusion, researchers at the University of Newcastle built a device to irradiate sperm at the same radio frequency as mobile telephone calls.

Washington, Oct 21: Algerian scientists have found a simple solution to the growing problem of water pollution— Orange peel.

For a long time, highly coloured industrial wastewater has been a serious environmental problem as it not only discolours waterways, but also blocks sunlight for photosynthesizing plant species in the water.

But, now scientists have said that nothing more sophisticated than orange peel could be used to remove acidic dyes from industrial effluent.

Washington, Oct 21: A team of Japanese scientists has discovered footprints they believe were made by the legendary yeti said to roam the Himalayan regions of Nepal and Tibet.

“The footprints were about 20 centimetres (eight inches) long and looked like a human’s,” said Yoshiteru Takahashi, the leader of the Yeti Project Japan.

Takahashi was speaking after he returned with his seven-member team from their third attempt to track down the half-man-half-ape, tales of which have gripped the imaginations of Western adventurers and mountaineers for decades.

Canada is set to be the first country to categorize BPA as risky, with the federal government adding it on the country’s list of toxic substances. This move will possibly lead to a ban on the sale of baby bottles which contain BPA and see reduced usage of BPA in canned infant formula.

The toxic classification, issued in the Canada Gazette, the official newspaper of the Government of Canada, makes Canada the first country to classify the organic compound used in many food and drink packaging applications, making plastic hard, as risky.

Ljubljana - Security was discreetly stepped up in Ljubljana Tuesday morning, hours ahead of the first visit to Slovenia by the Queen of England to the independent Slovenia in the afternoon.

The Ljubljana airport would shut down to other traffic shortly before and after the 2 pm (1200 GMT) arrival of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Streets near the hotel where Queen Elisabeth II and her husband would spend the night would also be closed to traffic, but otherwise life in the Slovenian capital went on as usual.

The visit was arranged on invitation by Slovenian President Danilo Turk.

The Obama campaign said on Monday that the Democratic presidential candidate will take off two days from his campaign to go to Hawaii this week, to visit the ailing grandmother who helped raise him.

Obama is canceling events, scheduled for Thursday, in Madison, Wisconsin, and Des Moines, Iowa. Instead, he instead will go to an event in Indianapolis, Indiana, on Thursday, from where he will fly to Hawaii to see his grandmother. He will return to the campaign trail on Saturday.

Arvind Adiga, who recently won the prestigious Booker prize for his debut novel ‘The White Tiger’, is on a roll as he declared that his second novel is nearing completion.

But Adiga, who is 33 years old, didn’t disclose any further details about his upcoming book.

He said, “I like books that have ideas in them and that move and that entertain.”

‘The White Tiger’ is a supreme page turner, highly original in presenting ‘the dark side of India’.

Washington, Oct. 21: U. S. President George W Bush has decided not close down the prison facility at the Guantanamo Bay naval base near Cuba, citing that there are too many legal and political risks for taking such a step.

According to the New York Times, Bush has also never considered proposals drafted by the State Department and the Pentagon that outlined options for transferring the detainees elsewhere.

New York, Oct. 21: A New York Times analysis of donors who have handed over cheques of 25,000 dollars or more to the fund-raising committees of the Obama and McCain campaigns, has found that most of it came from the securities and investments industry.

According to the paper, the contributions have come from various firms embroiled in the recent financial crisis like Bear Stearns, Lehman Brothers and AIG, and it adds that the joint fund-raising committees have been utilized far more heavily in this presidential election than in the past.

The ‘Vote Early for Change’ rally in Fort Lauderdale on Monday saw Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton join forces, insisting on Floridians to use their swing state influence to bring back a Democrat in the White House.

With fists pumping and arms clasped around each other’s back, the two Senators looked like old friends. As thousands in the crowd cheered their appearance together, Obama vowed to tap Clinton’s passion for health-care reform in case he becomes the President.

Belton (US), Oct 21 : US Republican presidential candidate John McCain has reportedly launched a fresh attack on his Democratic rival Barack Obama, warning the voters that the latter was “shifty, job-killing socialist” who wasn’t ready to take on the challenges facing the next US President.

Announcing his policies, he said if he won the election, he won’t raise taxes on anyone, particularly the small business owners.

Paris - Ministers and representatives from 18 members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) began meeting in Paris on Tuesday to tackle international tax havens.

Convened by France and Germany, the participants will attempt to force tax havens to open their accounts to investigators looking for depositors who avoid paying taxes on their incomes.

The issue has been made more pressing because of the global finance crisis.

Pascal Saint-Amans, the OECD official in charge of the fight against tax havens, told the daily Le Figaro, "How can we pretend to rebuild a healthy financial system if we do not put an end to these dark pockets?"

Jakarta - Indonesian police detained one man believed to be linked to terrorist activities Tuesday and seized bomb-making materials at a house in suburban Jakarta, the country's police chief said.

General Bambang Hendarso Danuri said counterterrorism police conducted the raid at a rented house in the northern suburb of Plumpang, the state-run Antara news agency reported.

The officers seized dozens of bullets, 3 kilograms of explosive material believed to be TNT, bomb-making manuals, pipes and cables.

The Chief Executive of Google Inc., Eric Schmidt will actively hit the campaign trail this week on behalf of Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, after having kept a low partisan profile till now, in the 2008 election.

Making the announcement in Monday’s Wall Street Journal, Schmidt said his planned endorsement of the Illinois senator is a ‘natural evolution’ from his role as an informal adviser to the Obama campaign. He noted that he has been advising the campaign on technology and clean-energy issues for most of the summer.

Alexandria (US), Oct 21: After former US secretary of state endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama in the Nov 4 elections, the White House said last evening that US President George W. Bush has “greatly respects” for Colin Powell.

White House spokesperson Dana Perino said that every American had the right to decide whom to support in an election.

It has been a splendid session for stocks thus far. Indian equities have moved up sharply due to continued buying action witnessed across board.

Both Sensex and Nifty have recorded thumping gains. Realty, consumer durables, IT, power and oil & gas gained a lot.

BSE Midcap and Smallcap gained 1.67% and 1.70% respectively.

Today, the 30-share index, BSE Sensex opened positively at 10,428.11, up 205.02 points, as against its previous closure in which it gained 247.74 points.

Frankfurt - Hanover RE Group issued a profit warning Tuesday as the round of market turmoil and hurricanes undercut the world's fourth biggest reinsurer's earnings.

German-based Hanover said in a statement a sharp fall in equity prices and an above-average burden of catastrophe losses led to a decline in profit to 30 September.

With the capital market crisis intensifying as the year has unfolded, Hanover said its profit forecast for the full 2008 financial year was "no longer attainable".

Islamabad, Oct 21: US Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, Richard Boucher has said that the “Friends of Pakistan” will not offer hard cash to the strife-torn country to fight terror, because in the past it had been witnessed that the agreements (between Pakistan government and the militants) were not enforced properly and timely and “this helped the terrorists”.

“This will not be a cash advance. It is a strategic group to combine efforts being made by Pakistan and its friends. The goal is not to put money on the table, but to look as to how to supplement Pakistan’s efforts,” said Boucher after attending the “Friends of Pakistan” meet in Islamabad.

Johannesburg - At least six people were believed to have died in a plane crash near Johannesburg Tuesday.

The Piper Saratoga propeller plane got into difficulties shortly after take-off from Rand Airport, east of Johannesburg, prompting the pilot to request an emergency landing.

Before reaching the runway, the aircraft, which had set out for the central Free State province, crashed to the ground and burst into flames, radio reports said.

The cause of the accident was unclear.

Take-offs from airports around Johannesburg, which is situated at 1,600 metres above sea level, are always challenging in the southern hemisphere's summer because the air is thinner. (dpa)

Paris - Buoyed by a strong Wall Street showing and the French government's announcment on a capital injection for its banks, shares in Paris were up sharply in early trading on Tuesday.

One hour after opening, the benchmark CAC 40 gained 2.56 per cent, to 3,536.76, with gainers outnumbering decliners by nearly 6 to 1.

Banking stocks led the surge after the French government announced late Monday that it would inject 10.5 billion euros (14 billion dollars) into the country's six-largest financial institutions by the end of the year.

Islamabad, Oct 21: Deposed Pakistani chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry has said he had many “secrets in his heart” and would share some of them with the public on November 
3 during his address to the Rawalpindi Bar Association.

We are all aware of the unbelievable accomplishments of the legendary Kishore Kumar who became a household name in the 70's and 80's and even today.

Percept Picture, who is making a biographical film on Kishore Kumar, has offered the lead role to Aamir Khan.

Rudy Ray Moore, a raunchy 1970s comedian died Sunday evening at an Akron nursing home from complications of diabetes. He was eighty-one.

Moore, who featured as a fast talking pimp in a 1975 film called Dolemite, in later years also collaborated with 2 Live Crew, Big Daddy Kane and Snoop Dogg.  Featuring blunt sex routines onstage, his subject matter along with his style and swagger made him a cult figure in the world of hip-hop.  Yet, unlike his contemporaries - Eddie Murphy, Redd Foxx and Richard Pryor, he never quite managed to cross over to mainstream white audiences.

Kathmandu, Oct 21: Nepal and India have agreed to amend the bilateral trade treaty within three months.

The agreement was reached during the two-day Inter Governmental Committee (IGC) meeting between commerce secretaries of the two countries in New Delhi on Monday.

“There has been understanding on issues in which the two countries want change in the trade treaty,” said Purushottam Ojha, Secretary at the Ministry of Commerce and Supplies and head of Nepali delegation.

Kabul, Oct 21 : The Taliban have reportedly shot dead a Christian lady social aid worker in Kabul, identified as 34-year-old Gayle Williams, accusing her of spreading her religion.

According to a report in The News, the aid worker, a South African-British national, helped handicapped Afghans, while working for the woman’s aid group ‘Serve’ (Serving Emergency Relief and Vocational Enterprises).

Brooke Burke who injured her foot on this season’s Dancing With The Stars was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre for X-rays and examination.

Kathmandu, Oct 21 : Nepali Congress acting president Sushil Koirala today accused the Maoists of delaying the Constitution-making process by inviting debates on People''s Republic.

Speaking at a function here, Koirala accused the Maoists of trying to establish a totalitarian and one-party-rule communist system in Nepal.

Koirala reiterated that his party is not in mission to bring down the current coalition government, adding the increasing tension within the coalition partners will cause the fall of the government.

Koirala also claimed that the Maoist leaders have failed to assure the international community that they are committed to democracy, multi-party system, human rights and freedom of the press, Nepalnews reported. (ANI)

Kathmandu, Oct 21 : Nepal Prime Minister Prachanda and UML General Secretary Jhalanath Khanal today agreed to form a special cabinet committee at the soonest to carry out the army integration process.

According to Minister for Peace and Reconstruction Janardan Sharma Prabhakar, the two leaders agreed that the committee would start the process of integrating the army at the earliest.

During the meeting, they had agreed to bring in opposition party and experts also in the committee.

The Jury may have deliberated, but it seems it wasn’t enough as the Judge in Britney Spears’ driving-without-a-license trial has ordered the ‘hopelessly deadlocked’ jurors to keep deliberating.  The 10 – 2 stale mate saw the panel go home Monday night without having reached any verdict.

Spears, 26 involved in a hit and run last year that was caught on camera, reached a private settlement with the other car’s owner.  However, while the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office did not slap Spears with hit and run charges, they did charge her for driving-without-a-license charge.

Kathmandu, Oct 21: The lawmakers of the Terai-Madhes Democratic Party (TMDP) boycotted the meeting of the Constituent Assembly (CA) for the third time here today.

The TMDP has been boycotting the Constituent Assembly session, since it started after a gap of 20 days on Sunday, protesting against the murder of its two activists in Kapilvastu.

The TMDP lawmakers have demanded that Prime Minister Prachanda furnish clarifications on the issue, Kantipur reported. (ANI)

Missouri (United States), Oct. 21: Republican presidential candidate John McCain has defended his running mate -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin against attacks from the "feminist left." at a rally in the northern suburb of St. Louis, where Obama drew 100,000 on Saturday.

The bane of Hollywood celebrities, fashion maven – Mr. Blackwell renowned for his annual ‘worst-dressed’ list, died on Monday aged eighty-six. Unwell since August, Richard Blackwell, born Richard Selzer was reportedly in a coma due to a fall in his Los Angeles home.  According to his publicist - Harlan Boll, the former actor and fashion designer died in hospital on Sunday afternoon in hospital from complications from an intestinal infection.

Washington, Oct 21: In a new study, scientists have figured out the baffling method of propulsion of tiny aquatic snails, which makes them walk on water.

According to a report in National Geographic News, Eric Lauga, a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at the University of California, San Diego, led the study.

“How the snails were dragging themselves across a surface that they could not even grip was absolutely perplexing to us,” said Lauga.

“Hanging on to the water’s surface is not the issue for the snails. They are naturally buoyant, because they are so small,” he added.

Even so, the snails need traction to move across the slippery surface.

Kevin Cogill, 27 from Los Angeles charged with violating federal copyright law, has pleaded not guilty to placing nine tracks on the website - http://www.antiquiet.com, from rock band - Guns N' Roses upcoming and as yet, unreleased album called ‘Chinese Democracy’.

If, found guilty, Coghill released on bail, faces 3-years in federal prison and 5-years if it is found that he posted the songs on the Internet for commercial gain.

According to FBI, Cogill posted the 9-songs from the album 10-years in the making on his website in June, though they were removed later.

Mumbai, Oct 21: Mumbai police today issued a gag order under Section 144 against Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray banning him from addressing a press or public gathering, or carrying out any procession for the next two months.

Police today resorted to lathicharge to disperse the MNS workers who were protesting outside Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate court where Thackeray will be produced following his arrest.

About 150 protesters were detained by police and taken away from the court in western suburb of the city.

Beijing, Oct. 21: The global meltdown has affected China''s booming economy too.

A CBS report says that while the Chinese economy is still growing, it is doing so at its slowest pace since 2003.

It quoted the National Statistics Bureau as saying on Monday that the economy has expanded by just nine percent in the third quarter, the slowest rate since 2003. By comparison, the economy grew 10.6 percent in the first quarter and 10.1 percent in the second quarter of 2008.

The government is still drafting specifics of broad plans to help counter the chill on the world''s fastest growing major economy.

New York, Oct 21: Russia has reportedly rejected Republican presidential candidate John McCain’s request for donations for poll campaign, saying the country does not finance political acts in foreign countries.

McCain has requested Russian Federation’s United Nations mission in New York in writing to fund his poll campaign. But, in a terse response to the solicitation of money, the Russian mission said: “We do not finance political activity in foreign countries.”

Washington, Oct 21: In a long-term study, scientists have suggested that contrary to popular belief, moderate increases in temperature and increased nitrogen from acid rain actually improves forest productivity, providing there is sufficient moisture. 

The research, which was undertaken for 20 years in the northern hardwood forests of Michigan, was carried out by scientists at Michigan Technological University’s School of Forest Resources and Environmental Science.

The scientists reached a surprising conclusion that moderate increases in temperature and nitrogen from atmospheric pollution actually improve forest productivity.

Washington, Oct 21: A new research has indicated that the predominant form of mercury found in the blood of marine mammals and fish-eating communities, could be more damaging to seals than has previously been thought.

Published in BioMed Central’s open access journal Environmental Health, the research shows that Methylmercury (MeHg) harms T-lymphocytes, key cells in a seal’s immune system.

Similar results were also found for human lymphocytes.

Mercury exposure is known to occur as a result of man-made pollution and natural events such as volcanic eruptions.

Latest sensation Shweta Kumar is having a wonderful 2008.
Shweta’s debut film ‘Karzzz’ is still rocking the movie theaters and it wouldn’t be wrong to say that Shweta has become a heartthrob amongst the younger generation.

Shweta, who was pretty much covered from head to toe in most part of ‘Karzzz’, said that she doesn’t have any problem about getting into different attire if the character demands.

Baghdad, Oct. 21 : The Iraqi Cabinet has begun a meeting here to reportedly review a proposed security pact with the United States that would keep American troops in the country for three more years.

The Cabinet must sign off before the draft agreement goes to Iraq''s parliament.

The country''s biggest Shiite alliance and some Sunni lawmakers have expressed opposition to the pact.

Government spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh says the Cabinet meeting began Tuesday with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki chairing the session.

The spokesman says it''s doubtful the ministers will take a decision on Tuesday. (ANI)

Riyadh, Oct. 21:Saudi Arabian authorities have indicted 991 suspected militants on charges that they participated in terrorist attacks carried out in the kingdom over the last five years.

News agency reports quoted the country''s Interior Minister, Prince Nayef, as saying on Tuesday that over the past few years, the kingdom has been "the target of an organized terrorist campaign linked to networks of strife and sedition overseas."

The Saudi Press Agency further quoted Prince Nayef as saying: "This campaign targeted the way of life, economy and principles of Saudi society and sought to create chaos,'''' he added. ''''It has direct links to a deviant group that adopts the (mind-set) of al-Qaida.''''

Washington, Oct 21 : Geologists from the University of Utah in the US have identified an amazing concentration of dinosaur footprints that they call “a dinosaur dance floor,” located in a wilderness on the Arizona-Utah border where there was a sandy desert oasis 190 million years ago.

The three-quarter-acre site, which includes rare dinosaur tail-drag marks, provides more evidence that there were wet intervals during the Early Jurassic Period, when the US Southwest was covered with a field of sand dunes larger than the Sahara Desert.

Located within the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, the “trampled surface” has more than 1,000 and perhaps thousands of dinosaur tracks, averaging a dozen per square yard in places.

London, Oct. 21 : An Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report has found that the gap between rich and poor people in the United Kingdom is one of the widest in the developed world.

According to The Telegraph, the gap in earnings widened by 20 per cent between 1985 and 2005.

While both the richest and poorest have been getting richer, the bottom has experienced a growth in earnings three times as large as the top, the OECD report said.

Washington, Oct 21 (ANI): The world’s most advanced microscope has been unveiled at the McMaster University in Canada, an instrument so powerful that it can probe the spaces between atoms.

“The resolution of the Titan 80-300 Cubed microscope is remarkable, the equivalent of the Hubble Telescope looking at the atomic level instead of at stars and galaxies,” said Gianluigi Botton, director of the Canadian Centre for Electron Microscopy, professor of Materials Science and Engineering, and the project’s leader.

“With this microscope, we can now easily identify atoms, measure their chemical state and even probe the electrons that bind them together,” he added.

Washington, Oct 21 : A team of scientists have conducted sophisticated mapping of the soil landscape on an extinct American volcano.

The volcano that featured in the research was the Capulin volcano, which formed approximately 62,000 years ago, and is the youngest volcano in the Raton-Clayton Volcanic Field in New Mexico, US.

The cone rises 396 m from the plain, reaching an altitude of 2,495 m above sea level. The base of the volcano is 6.4 km in circumference, and the crater is 126 m deep and 442 m across.

Four different flows of lava can be observed across the monument, indicative of different eruptive events.

New York, Oct. 21 : Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama is outspending Republican rival John McCain in TV ads by nearly four to one, according to the independent Campaign Media Analysis Group.

The New York Daily News quoted Sarah Niebler, deputy director of the Wisconsin Advertising Project, as saying that Obama would smash President Bush''s 2004 record of 188 million dollars in TV spending any day now.

Last week alone, Obama broadcast some 50,000 30-second spots on national, local and cable TV channels, according to the Campaign Media Analysis Group.

According to a new research, there is a link between obesity and some kind of bacteria in human gut. As bacteria support digestion in human gut but some kind of bacteria can influence the obesity level. Person with obese bacteria might gain more weight.

Researchers found in their study that a molecule named as Gpr41, activated by two types of bacteria helps in slow down the movement of food through the gut. In this process human body absorb more nutrients or calories from food and gain weight.

The study was based on mice and it showed that those bred without Gpr41 were slimmer than others although they fed the same quantity of food. The study also points the way to a possible method of controlling weight, said the researchers.

After suspension of four priests of the famous Guruvayur temple, the assistant priests are on a go slow strike.

According to the sources, A devotee had bought ‘appam’ from the counter of the temple on Thursday and he found a cigarette butt in that ‘prasadam’. He reported to the temple management of finding the cigarette butt in ‘prasadam’. Following his complaint, the managing committee of the Guruvayur Devaswom suspended the four priests who were involved in the preparation of ‘appam’

Washington, Oct 21 : Using a natural cosmic lens, astronomers have gained a rare glimpse of the violent assembly of a young galaxy in the early Universe, which suggests that the galaxy has collided with another, feeding a supermassive black hole and triggering a tremendous burst of star formation.

The astronomers used the National Science Foundation’s Very Large Array (VLA) radio telescope to look at a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years from Earth, seen as it was when the Universe was only about 15 percent of its current age.

Between this galaxy and Earth lies another distant galaxy, so perfectly aligned along the line of sight that its gravity bends the light and radio waves from the farther object into a circle, or “Einstein Ring.”

According to a leading psychiatrist, 20th century is look like the ‘age of paranoia’. These days general public feels threatened. Paranoia is more common among them because of media and the threat of terrorism.  

Dr Daniel Freeman, from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London, believes, one in four people regularly suffer irrational fears of being threatened or in danger. “These days, we daren't let our children play outside; we're suspicious of strangers; security cameras are everywhere. We seem to have entered an age of paranoia. And the indications are that things may only get worse,” he claims.

The fashion fads could not have asked for more. Fashion fever is in the air, as two mega fashion weeks concludes in Delhi, Mumbai is the next spot to check out for, as the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) makes a mark this Monday.

The LFW will showcase 75 designers with their collections. The designers who have just got free from their shows in the capital are now gearing up for the same in Mumbai. While some designers are happy about their preoccupation others find it stressful.

After stealing the hearts of many through his flicks and action packed stunts, the Star Akshay Kumar’s ongoing movie fest will conclude in style. The Star Gold is going to telecast ‘Chandni Chowk to Bollywood – a Journey of a SuperStar’ on 26th October at 8pm which will be hosted by Sajid Khan.

Kathmandu, Oct 21 : The Nepali Congress (NC) has raised objections to the government decision to allocate a budget for the newly set up Ministry of State Restructuring and demanded that the ministry be scrapped immediately.

"The establishment of the Ministry of State Restructuring seriously contravenes Article 138 of the Interim Constitution and the jurisdiction of the Constituent Assembly," Kantipur quoted NC leader Dr. Minendra Prasad Rijal as saying.

The splitting up of the couple was in the air for quite some time though now the better half of Maria is claiming that everything is fine between the two. Actor Arshad Warsi who married the famous VJ Maria says he will settle up the issue nicely as soon as he gets free with the ongoing shooting for Vishal Bhardwaj's at Wai.

Bodhgaya, Oct 21 : Monks in Bodh Gaya have staged a demonstration against barricading of the sacred Bodhi tree by the Bodhgaya Temple Management Committee (BTMC).

Monks alleged that a scientist of Forest Research Institute (FRI) had submitted to BTMC a report stating that offering of prayers by the monks just below the sacred tree would stop intake of oxygen to its roots, drying down it in due course of time.

They marched down towards the Bodhgaya management office, raising slogans for removal of the barricades around the sacred tree.

Washington, Oct 21 : A new study has determined that reducing the number of deer in forests and parks may unexpectedly reduce the number of snakes, salamanders and insects in that area, thus suggesting that these creatures thrive in areas with higher deer populations.

The study was carried out by researchers at Ohio State University and National Park Service, who found that higher deer activity is modifying forest ecosystems in unexpected ways.

Out of several species of snakes, salamanders, and invertebrates studied, a greater diversity of animals were found in areas with deer populations than were in areas with no deer activity.

Washington, Oct 21 : US Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama is expected to suspend his campaign trail for one full day this weekend to see his seriously ailing grandmother, who raised him as a child along with his mother and grandfather.

Senior advisor in Obama’s campaign programme, Robert Gibbs said she was released from hospital late last week but had not improved.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : The World Trade Organisation Secretariat has said that India leads all WTO member-countries in implementing anti-dumping measures followed by European Union and Indonesia during the first six months of 2008.

“Concerning application of new final anti-dumping measures, India reported applying 16 new measures, thereby registering an increase of 78 per cent during January-June over the same period last year,” the WTO said in its report.

India applied for six of the 16 new measures on products in the chemicals sector, it said.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday held that if a Parliamentry Review Committee gives the finding that the offence against the accused cannot be tried under Prevention of Terrorism Act (POTA), then trial under the anti-terror law cannot proceed.

However, the state can always file an appeal against POTA review committee, said the bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan pronouncing the verdict.

Karachi, Oct 21 : Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Chief Altaf Hussain has hailed President Asif Ali Zardari’s recent visit to China, saying he deserves “great appreciation” for his efforts to bring the country out of economic crisis.

According to a MQM statement, Hussain felicitated the President in an hour-long telephone conversation (with him) on his recent successful visit to China.

London, October 21 : An Oregon hiker rescued from a mountain, where he survived for five days with a broken ankle, has revealed that he ate centipedes, ants and even a poisonous wolf spider to survive.

Derek Mamoyac, 27, fell badly while descending 12,300-ft Mount Adams in Washington state on October 12.

It was supposed to be a one-day trip, and he had not informed his family about it.

When he failed to turn up for work the following morning, his family reported him missing.

Mamoyac tried descending the mountain by crawling on his knees, but he had to stop when it became too painful.

He revealed that he drank water from creeks.

Guwahati, Oct 21 : President Pratibha Patil today said that there is an urgent need for augmenting medical institutions in the country.

Laying the foundation stone of the Tezpur Medical College in Sonitpur district of Assam, Patil said the country has at present 271 medical colleges out of which about 31,000 medical graduates pass out every year.

Palamu (Bihar), Oct. 21 : District administration in Palamu in Jharkhand has recently started a novel postcard scheme to attend to the problems of local residents, especially those living in far off villages of the district.

The main objective of the postcard scheme is to establish direct contact with the public and address their problems. Both the administration and public are enthusiastic about this scheme. It is being made successful with mutual cooperation.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : Union Minister of Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav today said that Indian Railways is the lifeline of the nation and it is necessary to run fast moving trains in view of ever increasing passenger and freight traffic.

Amritsar, Oct. 21 : Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today criticized Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) President Raj Thackeray for indulging in extremism through his party''s anti-north Indian tirade.

MNS activists have attracted widespread criticism from across the country for recently beating up several North Indian youths, who were to appear for interviews for Indian Railways'' Grade IV jobs.

Expressing concern over the unusual face of politics emerging from Maharashtra, Badal said: "He (Raj Thackeray) is doing wrong. If the tension escalates, it could break the country."

Mumbai, Oct 21 : Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray has been sent to judicial custody till November 4 by a suburban magistrate’s court in Bandra.

He was produced before the judge after being arrested by Mumbai Police from Ratnagiri earlier on Tuesday. He will stay in Kalyan jail.

The Police also imposed a two-month gag order on Raj thus preventing him from addressing public rallies and talking to the media.

Washington, Oct 21 : Laser hair removal therapy can be effective only when used separately than when used as a combination treatment, according to a new study.

During the past decade, laser hair removal has become a popular and accepted method used to reduce the growth of unwanted hair that have profound psychological effects and also appear to be safer.

The research team led by Dr Seyyed Masoud Davoudi, of the Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran, analysed the results of the participants who underwent treatment at a private laser skin centre and received a total of four treatment sessions at eight-week intervals.

London, Oct 21 : Iranian security forces have arrested two pigeons for apparently spying near its Natanz nuclear facility.

According to the Etemad Melli newspaper, one of the pigeons captured near rose water production plant in the city of Kashan in Isfahan province had metal rings and "invisible" strings attached to it.

It is believed that the bird might have been communicating what it had seen with the equipment it was carrying.

Kuala Lumpur, Oct 21 : Armed pirates in speedboats have hijacked an Indian dhow with 13 crew members off the northern coast of Somalia, a maritime official has said.

The cargo-laden vessel was en route to Somalia when it was seized over the weekend, said Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, on Saturday.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : Photo electoral rolls will be used all over the country, except in the north eastern states, Chief Election Commissioner N Gopalaswami said.

Addressing the National Police Academy in Hyderabad, Gopalaswami said that though the process of issuing electoral photo identity cards started in 1995, 100 per cent success has never been achieved for several reasons.

He said a list of missing voters was also being prepared in each polling station to ensure the eligible persons did not lose their voting right.

The CEC said multi-level checking of electoral rolls was being undertaken to compare the 18-plus population as per census data with the number of registered voters.

Islamabad, Oct. 21 : Lawmakers in Pakistan, it seems, don''t have the stomach for battling militants.

Former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif is reported to have sent a letter on Monday to Prime Minister, Yousaf Raza Gilani, calling for dialogue with militants.

The letter suggested a halt in military operations while negotiations were given a chance, according to Ahsan Iqbal, an aide to Sharif.

Sharif, according to the New York Times, believes that there is no harm in talking with the militants, though he has sought to differentiate between them and the Taliban, and Al Qaeda.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora today said that the present volatility in the global economy has affected India and though the Government is trying its best to overcome the present difficult times, it is the duty of each one of us to use the hydrocarbon fuels prudently and in most efficient way.

Speaking at a function here, Deora said unless we adopt such technologies which help us to increase fuel efficiency leading to conservation of the fuels, it would be enormously difficult for us to sustain this level of growth.

New Delhi, Oct 21 : Minister of Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes has informed the Lok Sabha that Uttar Pradesh tops in child labour prevention followed by Rajasthan and Bihar as the maximum number of children in the age group of 5-14 year were rescued and rehabilitated.

During the year 2007-08, Fernandes said 71,479 children were withdrawn from work and enrolled in special schools under the National Child Labour Project (NCLP) in Uttar Pradesh.

Uttar Pradesh was followed by Rajasthan and Bihar where 39,601 and 34,650 children were withdrawn from work and enrolled in special schools.

Amritsar, Oct. 21 : The Punjabi Durbar programme of Radio Pakistan has been having a staple diet talking about the status of Sikhs in India. Now the radio has a new object to patronize - the Dalits in India.

In broadcasts directed to the border areas in Punjab, the Punjabi Durbar programme has blamed the Government of India for neglecting the Dalit community, including the scheduled casts and tribes.

This has provoked anger among the scheduled castes and tribes in the border areas.

Srinagar, Oct 21 : India and Pakistan restored cross-LoC trade on Tuesday by launching truck services on the Srinagar- Muzaffarabad and Poonch-Rawalkote roads, scripting a new chapter in bilateral ties.

Jammu and Kashmir Governor N N Vohra flagged off goods laden trucks making the resumption of trade ties between the divided parts of Kashmir after 60 years.

Three trucks carrying fruits and vegetables were also flagged off by H H Tayabji, Adviser to the Governor from the Rangar International Trade Terminal in Chakan-de-Bagh in Poonch District.

London, Oct 21 : A man had paid a whopping 30,000 pounds for a water tower that he wished to convert into a "modern and funky pad" to share with his girlfriend, only to find he could reach there by helicopter or plane.

First time buyer Ashley Parsons has been told that driving or walking to the disused Ministry of Defence water tower could actually land him in prison, for his future love nest stands on private land.

The company that bought the land around the water tower refused to grant him with retrospective access rights because the directors do not want the tower to be redeveloped.

"It''s a horrible feeling but it won''t stop me and I''m glad I went ahead with the purchase,” The Telegraph quoted Parsons, as saying.

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), Oct 21 : The weather in Sriharikota will hold the key for Wednesday''s proposed launch of Chandrayaan-1, India''s spacecraft mission to moon.

The space port has reported lightning activity and inclement weather, and any further lightning tonight may lead to a postponement of the launch from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre.

According to ISRO Chairman G. Madhavan Nair, rain has led to count down related activities being shifted from the outdoors to the control room.

Colombo  , Oct 21 : JVP (People’s Liberation Front) General Secretary Tilvin Silva has reportedly accused the Indian government of throwing a fresh lifeline to the LTTE as the army stepped up pressure on Kilinochchi.

Asserting that the government would eventually “give in to Indian pressure”, he attacked the SLFP leadership and its allies, particularly the breakaway JVP faction the National Freedom Front
(NFF) for blaming the ruling DMK for triggering chaos.

New Delhi, Oct. 21 : Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora will meet with representatives of state-run oil companies and private airlines on Wednesday in a bid to resolve their dispute over unpaid fuel bills.

Baghdad  - The US-led multi-national forces are to hand over the security of the province of Babel to the Iraqi government in two days' time, Babel governor Salem Saleh al-Moslemawy said Tuesday.

In remarks reported by the Iraqi al-Buratha news agency, al- Moslemawy told a press conference that the ceremonial handover would take place on Thursday.

Babel, south of Baghdad, would become the 12th of Iraq's 18 provinces to be handed over by the US military to Iraqi control.

Copenhagen - A Danish district court on Tuesday convicted two men of planning a terror attack and manufacturing explosives.

The two, aged 22 and 21, were arrested in September 2007 in Copenhagen.

During the proceedings it emerged that the Danish security intelligence service (PET) had kept them under surveillance for several months.

The PET had been tipped off that the older suspect had visited an alleged al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan and installed a secret camera in his flat. The men's phone conversations were also tapped.

Police also seized a hand-written manual that bomb experts said described how to make explosives.

The men allegedly tried to make the explosive triacetone triperoxide (TATP).

Sofia - Bulgarian archaeologists have discovered a large gold chain made 4,000-6,000 years ago, in the Bronze Age, media reports said Tuesday.

The 1.5-metre chain, made of 320 links, was found along with gold and silver artefacts in a grave in southern Bulgaria.

The find may shed more light on the ancient period of which there is very little knowledge, the head of Bulgaria's National Historic Museum said. (dpa)

Madrid  - A work stoppage by judges and judicial secretaries Tuesday paralyzed a large part of Spain's court system.

The judiciary was protesting what it saw as government interference in its work and a lack of resources.

Judicial secretaries stopped working for three hours and judges, who were not allowed to stage a formal work stoppage, held meetings during that time.

The protesters were accusing Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's Socialist government of interference in urging the highest judges' organ to adopt stronger sanctions against a Seville judge for failing to jail a paedophile who then killed a five-year-old girl in January.

New Delhi  - India's benchmark Sensex ended 4.5 per cent higher on Tuesday buoyed by a cut in a key lending rate and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's assurance that the fundamentals of the Indian economy were strong.

The 30-share sensitive index which gained 247.74 points on Monday, added another 460.30 points in trading Tuesday to close at 10,683.39, up 4.5 per cent.

Singapore - Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong will make an official visit to China from October 22 to 27 in conjunction with his attendance at the ASEM (Asia-Europe Meeting) VII Summit, the government announced Tuesday.

Lee will be accompanied by Mrs Lee, Minister for Foreign Affairs George Yeo, Minister for National Development Mah Bow Tan, Minister for Trade and Industry Lim Hng Kiang, members of parliament and senior government officials.

In Beijing, Prime Minister Lee will meet with Chinese President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao, National Standing Committee (NPC) Chairman Wu Bangguo and Vice Premier Li Keqiang, as well as other senior Chinese leaders, said the Singapore Foreign Ministry.

Stockholm - Assa Abloy, a locks and security solutions group based in Sweden, said Tuesday it would consider moving a plant out of an industrial zone in an Israeli-occupied portion of the Palestinian West Bank after receiving criticism from Swedish human rights groups.

A group of Swedish human rights organizations earlier Tuesday published a report criticizing the company for operating the plant in the disputed zone in the town of Barkan.

The report, Illegal Ground: Assa Abloy's Business in Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the plant "contravenes both domestic Israeli law and a number of provisions in international law."

Dhaka- Bangladesh's interim government plans to reduce the fuel price by 8 to 12 per cent in the wake of the crude oil price fall on the global market, an official said Tuesday.

The decision will be finalised at a meeting of the council of advisers to be headed by the chief adviser to the interim government of Fakhruddin Ahmed sometime next week, he said.

Tehran  - An Iranian woman who had been studying in California was arrested by Iranian police, reportedly for making unauthorised video interviews with women activists in Iran, the Tehran press reported Tuesday.

The daily Kargozaran reported that Esha Momeni, member of the Change for Equality campaign, was transferred to the notorious Evin prison after her arrest last week.

Momeni reportedly planned to make a film about women in Iran in general and woman activist Parvin Ardalan in particular.

Ardalan, 41, last year initiated a plan to collect one million signatures in Iran to amend the prevailing law on women's rights, which are not equal to those of men.

Jakarta - Indonesia's parliament on Tuesday ratified a regional charter committing South-East Asian nations to the principles of democracy and human rights, and envisaging a single free-trade area by 2015.

The ratification bill was approved by all 10 factions in the House of Representatives. It will take effect after it is signed by the president.

Indonesia was the last member of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to ratify the charter after the Philippines signed up earlier this month, clearing the way for its formal adoption at a summit in Bangkok in December.

The charter commits the group to promote human rights and democracy, sets out rules for members and transforms ASEAN into a legal entity.

Tripoli  - Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi had by Tuesday not responded to the previous day's call for his return to politics.

Around 5,000 young Libyans took part in a pro-Gaddafi demonstration in central Tripoli on Monday. The youth organization members, wore orange t-shirts and shouted: "We need you to build the future of Libya."

They also urged Moamer Gaddafi to ensure his 36-year-old son became politically active again.

Tallinn - Estonian taxpayers have been subsidizing the Estonian first lady's love of rollerblading to the tune of nearly 30,000 kroons (2,500 US dollars), it was reported Tuesday.

A report in the Estonian business daily Aripaev said the public money was spent on plane tickets and accommodation for Evelin Ilves, wife of Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves, on recent trips during which she took part in rollerblading marathons.

The office of the president confirmed to dpa Deutsche Presse- Agentur that the figures quoted by the press were accurate, but noted that the trips had included "official duties" as well as the freewheeling events.

Kiev  - Relatives of a mostly-Ukrainian crew held hostage aboard a ship off the Somali coast are preparing to pay a ransom demanded by pirates, a crew spokeswoman told the Ukrainian Fakty newspaper on Tuesday.

Pirates aboard the MV Faina over the weekend displayed 18 Ukrainians, two Russians, and one Latvian sailor to US warships on station nearby off the north Somali coast, and photographs made public by the Americans seemed to show all the sailors in good health, said Olha Grizheva, mother of one of the hostages.

"We have the money to pay a ransom to bring them back home, we collected much of it in donations from ordinary people," Grizheva said. A "major political party" donated the remainer of the ransom, according to the article.

London- Five men were arrested Tuesday in Birmingham for allegedly planning a terrorist attack, according to police officials.

The men, aged 29 to 36 years, were arrested in five separate raids, the police said.

Authorities said no terrorist attacks had been close to execution and that there was no public danger. (dpa)

Copenhagen  - A Tunisian national held on suspicion of planning to murder a Danish newspaper cartoonist will not be deported. However, his movements will be restricted, news reports said Tuesday.

The Danish Refugee Appeals Board ruled that the man risked possible mistreatment or other degrading punishment if sent back to Tunisia.

The man was one of two Tunisians arrested in February after the Danish security and intelligence service PET said it had uncovered a plot to murder cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.

MMoscow  - Five Russian soldiers were killed and six injured in an ambush in the Cacausus republic of Dagestan on Tuesday, Russian news agencies reported.

A three-vehicle column of Interior Ministry troops was attacked about 40 kilometres from the republic's capital of Makhachkala, agencies quoted an unnamed law-enforcement official as saying.

The attacks come after one of the most serious assaults on government troops by insurgents over the weekend in the neighbouing republic of Ingushetia.

Beijing  - Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung continued his first tour of China Tuesday, arriving in Beijing for several days of summits and signing ceremonies.

During his stay, Dung is scheduled to meet with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao. The two are to sign documents about cooperative projects between the two countries, according to Nguyen Vinh Quang, Vietnam's minister to China.

Dung is also set to participate in the seventh summit of the Asia- Europe Meeting (ASEM), scheduled for October 24-25.

Amsterdam - The Dutch Schiphol Group and French aviation company Aeroports de Paris (ADP) have signed a cooperation agreement, which includes cross-investment of 8 per cent, the parties announced on Tuesday.

Schiphol is investing 530 million euros (711 million dollars) in ADP while ADP is investing 370 million euros in Schiphol. The top managers of the two companies will take seats on each others' managing boards.

Schiphol, which operates Amsterdam's Schiphol airport, said the cooperation will strengthen the position of both companies.

Brussels - The European Union's executive body on Tuesday gave its blessing to the German government's rescue of troubled mortgage bank IKB, the country's first major victim of the current financial crisis.

The European Commission "has approved, under (EU) treaty state-aid rules, a 9-billion-euro (12.1-billion-dollar) restructuring package for German bank IKB," a statement released in Brussels said.

The bail-out "will allow for the restructuring of the bank, while the significant scaling back of IKB's activities will limit the distortion of competition created by the state support," it said.

Dhaka,  - Bangladesh's military-backed government may relax the prolonged state of emergency early November to hold the country's stalled parliamentary polls in December, an adviser to the interim administration said on Tuesday.

After a meeting with a European Commission delegation in Dhaka, the country's foreign affairs adviser said that the government would make an announcement relaxing the emergency rule in November, when a 10-member EU-core team will visit Bangladesh to assess the election atmosphere.

Astana  - Kazakhstan has decided to pull its troops out of Iraq after five years of fighting alongside the US army, the Central Asian state's Defence Ministry said Tuesday.

Kazakhstan had deployed about 30 mine-clearing troops in Iraq a few months after the US-led invasion in the spring of 2003.

"At the request of the Iraqi government and in connection with the considerable stabilisation of conditions there, Kazakhstan's troops will come home," the ministry said in a statement.

Riyadh  - Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef Bin Abdel Aziz confirmed Tuesday that the trial of 991 terrorist suspects is underway.

The number is significantly higher than the 70 defendants reported in Saudi media Monday. Legal proceedings are believed to have started on Monday.

The minister said the defendants were responsible for more than 30 attacks in the conservative Muslim kingdom since May 2003, the Saudi News agency reported.

Windhoek  , Namibia - Namibia's government is calling for the repatriation of dozens of skulls that have been stored in German universities since the colonial era.

The Namibian government in a statement on Tuesday said it designated the National Monuments Council to deal with the matter in which it wants Germany "to pay for the repatriation of the remains and all related costs."

Tokyo, Oct 21 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh arrived here on Tuesday for summit talks with his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso during which they are expected to discuss a joint strategy to overcome the global financial crisis and possible cooperation in the civil nuclear energy sector.

Dr. Singh visit will bolster the India-Japan strategic and security ties. Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone accorded the Prime Minister a warm welcome upon his arrival at the Tokyo International Airport.

Manama, Bahrain - The speaker of the Iranian parliament, Ali Larijani, arrived in Bahrain Tuesday to start a three-day tour of Gulf nations.

Larijani's arrival coincided with the start of a two-day meeting in Manama between the United States and Persian Gulf nations focused on maritime security. That is a continuous issue because of previous threats by Tehran to shut down the vital Strait of Hormuz if Iran should ever come under attack from the United States or Israel.

Moscow/Minsk - Moscow will give Belarus a two billion dollar credit to purchase Russian natural gas Minsk cannot otherwise afford, the Belapan news agency reported Tuesday.

Russian Finance Minister Aleksei Kudrin announced the loan at a Moscow press conference. At least half of the money would be transferred to the Belarusian government by the end of 2008, he said.

Onboard Air India One, Oct 21 : On the eve of dialogue between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso, New Delhi has blamed Tokyo for deferring the implementation of comprehensive economic partnership agreement (CEPA) that can prove to be a shot in the arm for the bilateral trade between the two countries.

The current trade between the two countries stands at 10 billion dollars and is expected to reach 15 billion dollars by 2015.

New Delhi, Oct 21: Deccan Aviation Limited has been directed by the State Consumer Commission to pay a passenger Rs 30,000 as compensation for putting him into inconvenience by abruptly cancelling its Kullu-Delhi flight for four days at a stretch.

The Commission said that the airlines-service provider was responsible to keep the flights in perfect order and not to put the passengers in unnecessary inconvenience and mental stress by keeping them waiting or sending them back as they might be having some urgent business engagements or assignments.

Mumbai, Oct 21 : Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) chief Raj Thackeray would spend the night in jail, following the denial of bail by the Bandra Metropolitan Magistrate court, in connection with the attack on Railway board examination centres.

The MNS chief was sent to judicial custody till November 4 on Tuesday.

Special Public Prosecutor Majid Memon said, “Thackeray would probably spend the night in jail.”

Strasbourg, France - European Union governments should take over strategic industries which have been hit by the global financial crisis to keep them out of foreign hands, French President Nicolas Sarkozy told the European Parliament on Tuesday.

"Stock exchanges are at historically low levels. I wouldn't like European citizens to wake up in a few months' time and realize that European companies belong to non-European capitals," Sarkozy told the parliament as the current holder of the EU's rotating presidency.

Vienna - The World Bank Group has launched a new office in Vienna on Tuesday to help a wider range of countries in Eastern Europe and Central Asia attract direct foreign investment.

Expanding its previous work in Vienna that was focused on the West Balkan region, the World Bank's investment climate advisory service FIAS is expanding to countries such as the Ukraine and Armenia, programme coordinator Margit Mischkulnig said.

"It's going deeper and wider," she said.

Sao Paulo  - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva believes the ongoing financial crisis will lead to the election of Democrat Barack Obama as US president.

"This crisis, among other benefits it will cause, will get Obama elected as president of the United States. It will get a black man elected, which is no small matter," Lula said late Monday, during an awards ceremony for outstanding personalities held in Sao Paulo and sponsored by the magazine Carta Capital.

Johannesburg  - South African Finance Minister Trevor Manuel said Tuesday he was confident the country would ride out the international financial storm and announced a increase in government spending, while predicting slower growth.

Presenting his annual medium-term budget policy statement, Manuel said: "The storm has arrived, it is fiercer than anyone could have imagined, and its course cannot be predicted. But we saw the signs early and we took appropriate action. We can say to our people... the thunder will pass."

Sriharikota (Andhra Pradesh), Oct 21 : With the final countdown progressing without any hitch on Tuesday, India’s maiden unmanned moon mission -- Chandrayaan-I -- is all set to lift off on Wednesday to launch a two-year space odyssey that will catapult the country into an exclusive club of moon-faring nations.

Sri Nagar (Uttarakhand), Oct 21 : Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi has slammed MNS chief Raj Thackeray for his anti-north Indian campaign and accused him of indulging in divisive politics.

“What Raj Thackeray is doing is wrong. This is dividing the country,” Rahul said, while interacting with the students of H N Bahuguna University at Sri Nagar in Uttarakhand on Tuesday.

He was asked what was the Maharashtra government doing to prevent attacks on north Indian students who had gone there to appear in a Railway examination.

Srinagar, Oct 21 : As many as 28 pick-up vans loaded with goods crossed the “Aman Sethu” (peace bridge) on Tuesday as cross-LoC trade resumed between the divided parts of Kashmir after decades of closure.

In all, 13 truck loads moved across from this side carrying apples and spices while 15 pick-up vans loaded with rice, spices, rock salt, dry dates and raisins drove to this side from across the border.