Riga - Latvian President Valdis Zatlers launched a national history project Friday in the suitably historic surroundings of Riga Castle.

Zatlers recorded a brief piece of video in which he talks about Latvia from a personal perspective.

His contribution will be added to an online library of interviews with ordinary Latvians which has been created at the website www. collectivememory. tv.

The hope is that as video clips are added to the 40 currently online, an authentic aural history of the Baltic nation will be established, distinct from academic history.

Washington, Oct 24 : Amid rumours that Democratic supporters might indulge in civil disobedience and protests in case their party candidate Barack Obama is defeated in the Nov 4 presidential polls, the Police here fear riots and are preparing to control the same.

“We always try to prepare for the worst,” said Oakland Police Separtment spokesman Jeff Thomason.

Malegaon, Oct 24 : Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) has arrested three persons in connection with the blasts in the powerloom town of Malegaon on September 29.

Earlier, four persons were detained by police from Indore and Dewas and later taken to Mumbai for questioning.

Maharashtra Police suspect the involvement of Hindu Jagran Manch (HJM) in the Malegaon-Modasa blasts, a charge denied by the right-wing outfit.

The HJM said that it has no direct or indirect connection with the blasts.

The blast took place near a hotel in Bhikku Chowk, in which four people were killed and 70 others were injured.

After a descent from the international space station, the Soyuz TMA-12 capsule carrying a British-born space tourist Richard Garriott and two cosmonauts landed the earth safely at 0337GMT in north-central Kazakhstan.

Richard, acomputer game designer, conducted various scientific experiments during his 10-day stay on the orbiting station, for which he paid an estimated $30 million to the Russian government.

Search and recovery crews extracted Richard Garriott, Sergei Volkov and Oleg Kononenko from the capsule.

Beijing - The first Asia-Europe Meeting was held in 1996 in Bangkok as informal talks among 16 European Union members and 10 Asian nations.

The seventh summit this year has grown to include 45 delegations: the European Union's 27 members, 16 Asian states as well as the European Commission and the secretariat of the 10-nation Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN).

The participants represent more than half the world: 58 per cent of its population, 60 per cent of its trade and 50 per cent of its economic performance.

Jakarta, Oct 24 : The three Islamic militants convicted of the 2002 Bali bombings will be executed in early November.

According to news. com. au, a spokesman for Indonesia''s Attorney General''s office said they would be shot dead in their prison on Nusakambangan Island, off Central Java, where their high-security jail is located.

The spokesman also indicated that the Attorney General did not believe there were valid grounds for any further legal appeals by the three convicted - Amrozi, his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra.