Kampala  - Most of the estimated 30,000 children abducted by Ugandan rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) during its two- decade-long war with the government were sold to fight in Sudan's restive Darfur province, Uganda's Daily Monitor reported Wednesday.

The children were first forced by the LRA to fight and commit atrocities. Afterward, they were sold to various rebel armies in Darfur to fight or to serve as sex slaves, the newspaper quoted Stephen Kagoda, permanent secretary in the Ministry for Internal Affairs, as telling parliament.

Riga/Vilnius - The chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff Admiral Michael G Mullen was in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, Wednesday at the end of a brief but highly symbolic visit.

He had talks with President Valdas Adamkus less than a day after his eight-car motorcade cut a swathe through Riga's evening rush hour to drop him at Riga castle to see Latvian president Valdis Zatlers.

Mullen's Baltic detour came immediately after the conclusion of talks in Helsinki where top military leaders from the United States and Russia met Tuesday for the first time since this summer's war between Russia and Georgia.

New Delhi, Oct 22 : Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil today condemned last evening blast in Imphal in which 17 people were killed and 34 other injured.

In his message, the Home Minister said, "I condemn the bomb blast which took place in Imphal. I convey my condolences to the bereaved families and pray for quick recovery of the injured."

New Delhi, Oct 22 : The lawmakers and citizens today felt proud and hailed scientists for the successful launch of Chandrayaan-1.

Lawmakers while talking to reporters here congratulated the scientists who were involved in the project.

"We are extremely happy with the success reached in this milestone space programme .We warmly congratulate all the scientists and everybody who was involved in the project," said Brinda Karat, Politbureau Member Communist Party of India (Marxist).

Union Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal said that it''s a historic achievement for the country and everybody should be proud of it.

New York, Oct 22 : Many would pass the purple flower that sprouted between two concrete slabs in a Queens backyard as another unwanted weed, but Jamaican resident Sam Lal thinks that the plant resembling Lord Ganesh holds holy powers.

He claims that the growth of unusual amaranth plant has cured his back ailments.

The plant, which is not native to the area, has a trunk that resembles the elephant-headed god.

And now Lal, a Hindu by religion, is seeing an inundation of neighbours and friends to have a glimpse of the almost four-foot-tall flower that started growing in August.

Lal, 60, claimed that it was the flower that relieved him of the pain due to a bone spur near his spine and bulging discs in his neck.

London  - Britain's first atheist advertising campaign has beaten its fundraising target in its first day, media reports said Wednesday.

The campaign, which was launched by the Guardian newspaper and supported by the British Humanist Association and atheist campaigner Professor Richard Dawkins, had received pledges worth more than 28,000 pounds (46,000 dollars) by Tuesday, five times the 5,500-pound target, the Guardian and Daily Telegraph dailies reported.

The money is to be used to advertise on buses in response to a similar campaign by fundamentalist Christians in June that featured a website which said all non-Christians would burn in Hell for eternity, according to the British Humanist Association's website.