International

By IANS/RIA Novosti,

By DPA, Kabul : Around 30 people, including "a big number" of civilians and several Taliban militants, were killed in a clash with international forces in western Afghanistan, a provincial governor said Tuesday. The violence erupted Monday afternoon when Taliban militants attacked police posts in Shiwan and Gunj Abad, two villages in Bala Bulok district of the western province of Farah, provincial Governor Ruh-ul-Amin said.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By IANS, New York : The US stocks traded lower Thursday as investors doubted what European leaders can achieve at Sunday's summit, Xinhua reported.

By Bernama, Phnom Penh : The bilateral armed clash at the border area in October will not stop Cambodia from attending the upcoming ASEAN Summit in Thailand, Chinese news agency XINHUA quoted an official as saying. "We will not boycott the summit in December, even as we have border dispute," Phay Siphan, secretary of state of the Cambodian Council of Ministers told a seminar here. The clash in October killed two Cambodian soldiers and wounded two others, after Thai troops entered the disputed area over sovereignty claim.

By DPA Beijing : Chinese President Hu Jintao and Taiwan's vice president-elect Vincent Siew Saturday held landmark talks that were expected to set the tone for future Taipei-Beijing ties. The meeting was the highest-ranking contact between the two countries since both split at the end of a civil war in 1949. The 20-minute meeting was "very frank, friendly and achieved results", Siew said in a brief statement after the talks on southern island resort of Hainan. Taipei's position was that the two sides should "face reality, envision the future and put aside differences", Siew said.

By RIA Novosti Moscow : Italy has pledged 360 million euros ($565 million) to help Russia destroy its stockpiles of chemical weapons by 2012, a Russian senator said Wednesday. Russia signed the Chemical Weapons Convention, which bans the development, production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of chemical weapons, in 1993 and ratified it in 1997. The country is to destroy all its declared arsenal of 40,000 metric tons of chemical weapons by 2012.

By IANS, London : The draft of the communique expected at the end of the G8 summit in Japan next week reportedly goes back on the promise to provide universal access to AIDS treatment and prevention by 2010, a move denounced by international NGO ActionAid here Tuesday. The NGO has also denounced the reported backtracking on the G8's 2005 commitment to increase development aid to Africa by $25 billion a year.

By KUNA

By RIA Novosti, Moscow : Promises made by U.S. leaders cannot be trusted, former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev said in an interview with The Daily Telegraph published on Wednesday. "The Americans promised that NATO wouldn't move beyond the boundaries of Germany after the Cold War, but now half of central and eastern Europe are members, so what happened to their promises? It shows they cannot be trusted," he said in Paris.

By IANS, London : A woman in the US was crushed to death while trying to climb out of an elevator that was stuck between floors.

By DPA, Washington : The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has said it would invest $1.5 billion in developing countries to support the health of pregnant mothers and their children and aid family planning and nutrition. "The world must come together to save women's and children's lives," Melinda Gates said in a press statement Monday.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS, Kathmandu : For more than two centuries, Nepal's royal family endured its joy and grief in the privacy of its mansions. But now, with the tide of fortune reducing its members to commoners, one former princess is ready to break the wall of silence. Sheeba Shivangini Singh's family married her off to a dashing pilot in the Nepal Army when she was only 19. Her husband, Lt Col Bikash Bikram Shah`, is a nephew of Gyanendra Shah, the last king of Nepal.

By IANS, Beijing : China is planning to recruit 100,000 graduates by 2015 to work in grassroots units.

By Xinhua Berlin : Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called for the European Union to speak with one voice in its diplomatic dealings with Russia, local reports said. "The sooner all the countries in the union realise that a united voice in foreign policy is important, the better the relations of the individual countries and of the union as a whole with our neighbour in the east would develop," Tusk wrote in a guest column in the German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Monday.

By DPA, Hong Kong : Flights and other transport services were suspended and offices and businesses, including government departments and the stock exchange, were closed for much of Wednesday as tropical storm Kammuri battered the territory. Cathay Pacific Airways suspended all Hong Kong operations for four hours as a result of the strong winds caused by the storm. All ferry services to Macau, southern China and Hong Kong's outlying islands were also halted. Most bus and tram services were also halted as people stayed home.

By Xinhua, Manila : Unidentified kidnappers have freed without ransom a 30-year-old South Korean and a Filipino businessman kidnapped in March in a mountainous area in Mindanao, southern Philippines, police said on Saturday. Senior Superintendent Adap Panares, provincial police chief of Lanao del Sur province in Mindanao, said 10 heavily armed men released Tae Jung, a South Korean who ventured on chromite mining, and his Filipino business contact Victor Macasieras Friday near Kapai town, Lanao del Sur.

By IANS, Edwards Air Force Base (California) : The first Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighter has finished all planned testing here, demonstrating that the aircraft, the support crews, and contractor and military service personnel are ready for the dramatically expanded flight testing on the programme's horizon, the manufacturer said. "This initial round of testing at Edwards is just the beginning," Doug Pearson, Lockheed Martin vice president of the F-35 Integrated Test Force, said in a statement.

By DPA, Nairobi : The US Navy is monitoring the path of a hijacked Saudi oil tanker as it makes its way to anchorage off the coast of Somalia but does not plan any action to recover the ship, a US navy official said Tuesday. The tanker Sirius Star, which was sailing under a Liberian flag, was seized by Somali pirates on 450 nautical miles south-east of the Kenyan coastal city of Mombasa.

Seoul: South Korea's financial regulator said Sunday that market will start trading gold on spot next week to disclose gold transactions, which were blamed...

By DPA, Seoul : North Korean leader Kim Jong Il Wednesday named his youngest son and potential successor to important ruling party posts, state media reported.

By IANS, Toronto : Spelling new hope for cancer patients, Canadian scientists have successfully tested a viral vaccine to improve immune response to the deadly disease. The scientists at the local Princess Margaret Hospital and the University of Toronto, in collaboration with international researchers, have discovered how to trigger an improved immune response to cancer. They say their discovery could be included in new clinical trials that use a patient's own cells to destroy tumours.

Madrid : Former US interior secretary Ken Salazar has said he favours "normalising" relations between his country and Cuba, and expressed optimism at the...

By DPA, Washington : US President Barack Obama has said in a broadcast interview that he would hold firm to his initiatives, such as reforming the health care system, even if it costs him re-election in 2012. "I'd rather be a really good one-term president than a mediocre two-term president," he said in an interview on ABC News aired late Monday.

By Bernama Lhasa : The Lhasa violence that erupted last month has not dampened businessmen's confidence in the potential of the market, a Tibet Autonomous Region industrial and commercial authority official has said. China's Xinhua news agency reported Friday that after the March 14 violence, 15 new private companies were registered at the regional bureau of industry and commerce with registered capital totaling 59.4 million yuan (US$8.49 million), according to bureau of statistics.

By IANS, Moscow : Russia Tuesday dismissed the US sanctions against Iran as "illegitimate", Xinhua reported. The unilateral sanctions have no legal ground and will destroy...

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

Prague: About 70 per cent of the Czech people support their country's NATO membership, results of a poll released by the Prague Centre for...

By IRNA, London : London Scottish Bank (LSB) announced Monday it was going into administration after regulators stopped the lenders, which specializes in customers with poor credit histories group, from accepting customer deposits. In the six months to April 2008, the bank unveiled losses of Pnds 7.4 million (Dlrs 11 m). Its shares were also suspended at 2.62 pence, having lost almost all of their value amid its financial problems over the past year.

By DPA, Washington : Labour ministers from the world's 20 leading economies pledged to avoid the prospect of a jobless recovery in the coming years after their first-ever summit meeting ended Wednesday. In a joint statement, the Group of 20 (G20) bloc promised measures to "accelerate job creation" in their own countries, boost job training and education programmes. The G20 labour ministers held a two-day gathering in Washington as most industrial nations are grappling with high unemployment rates, even as their economies emerge from a two-year recession.

By IANS, New York : After a legal battle lasting more than three years, a Sikh woman here, who faced racial, religious and sexual harassment at her workplace, has forced her employer to not only pay her compensation, but also make changes in its employment policies. "The settlement reached between Sukhbir Kaur and her employer, National Wholesale Liquidators (NWL), sends a strong message to private employers that discrimination against Sikhs is illegal and will be harshly punished," non-profit organisation Sikh Coalition, said in a statement Wednesday.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Strasbourg (France) : Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner Thomas Hammarberg has expressed concern over attacks on journalists in Russia.

By IRNA New Delhi : Twenty-four cadres of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were killed in separate encounters in Jaffna, Mannar and Vavuniya districts Wednesday, claimed Sri Lankan military. The fighting took place at Pulmudai, Mullikulam and Thampane areas, All India Radio (AIR) reported here quoting spokesman for Sri Lankan National Security. Quoting intercepted wireless communications of the LTTE, the spokesman said many Tamil Tigers were also injured during the hostilities.

By ANS, Port-au-Prince : The death toll from the school building collapse in Petionville, in the eastern outskirts of the Haitian capital, has risen to 90, EFE news agency reported Monday, citing officials. Legislator Steven Benoit, who represents Petionville, told reporters Sunday that Rescue officials have recovered at least 90 bodies so far, adding that there was little chance of finding any more survivors three days after the school's collapse.

By DPA, Colombo : Fifty-three former Tamil rebel couples in northern Sri Lanka were wed in a mass ceremony Sunday, an official said. Most of the couples had met when they were members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam fighting against government troops, before the movement was militarily crushed in May last year. The ceremony was attended by Indian Bollywood star Vivek Oberoi and President Mahinda Rajapaksa's son Namal, in Vavuniya, 254 km north of the capital, a government official said.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By Mayabhushan Nagvenkar, IANS, Panaji : In a major blow to the credibility of the Goa Police, Russian authorities have refused to accept their contention that 19-year-old Elena Sukhova's death was accidental. In a letter to Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, Russian consul general Alexander Mantytsky asked him to take "personal control" of the police investigation since "the accident theory doesn't seem conclusive".

By Prensa Latina Beijing : The US and South Korea will carry out joint military exercises in March, official sources informed on Friday, in a display of power that will darken the six-way talks on denuclearization in Beijing. The Key Resolve exercise will be held March 2-7 to test the South Korean army's capability to command operations in times of war from April 2012 on, according to a release by the US-South Korean Command.

By IANS, Yangon: Myanmar President U Thein Sein has warned of using force as a last resort to suppress the current rioting in the country and protect people.

By Prensa Latina, Colombo : The separatist group Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) claimed responsibility for Wednesday's suicide attack on two merchant ships transporting essential supplies for the civil population in the north of the country, affirmed the Sri Lankan government. The Sri Lanka Navy's spokesman Commander D.K.P. Dassanayake reported the three suicide boats from the so-called Black Tigers of the Sea attacked Ruhuna and Nimalawa ships at 05:00 local hour, damaging the second. The action took place near Kankasanthurai port in Jaffna peninsula.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By DPA, Colombo : General Sarath Fonseka, who was Sri Lanka's army commander when it defeated Tamil rebels in May, left the US without being questioned by US authorities about the final phase of military operations against the guerrillas, the foreign ministry said Wednesday. It was believed the expected questioning concerned suspected human rights abuses committed during the final campaign against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).

By IANS,

By IANS, Los Angeles: Singer Lady Gaga has decided she will now consume less alcohol as she no longer feels "depressed".

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS, Kathmandu : The last Hindu king of the country, Gyanendra Bir Bikram Shah, made news Monday by turning up at a ritual prayer called by a self-styled Hindu godman to seek the restoration of Hinduism as the state religion. Only 81 days are left for the promulgation of a new constitution that will consolidate Nepal as a secular republic.

Rome: The bodies of at least 50 migrants have been found in the hold of a craft off the Libyan coast, the Italian coast...

By IANS, Beijing : Floods triggered by torrential downpour have killed 88 people in North Korea, the official KCNA news agency reported.

By IANS, Colombo : Heavy fighting broke out in Sri Lanka's north as Tamil Tigers gave fierce resistance to government troops trying to reach a highway that cuts across rebel territory, authorities said Friday. The ministry of defence said long hours of fighting Thursday close to Panikkankulam left scores of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) cadres dead. Many guerrillas were also reported missing.

By Xinhua

Ginowan : Sustainable development and solution of energy and environmental issues should be achieved through an equitable manner, Asian scientists agreed in a statement at the conclusion of a regional science conference here on Saturday.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By Xinhua, Washington : U.S. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama would campaign in states taken by Republicans in the 2004 presidential elections with an aim at influencing local elections, said a political website report on Wednesday. Citing Obama's deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand, the Politico report said that apart from the 15 states the Illinois Senator thought he could win in the November general elections, he would also devote some resources in campaigning largely in the 14 states that George W. Bush won during his re-election.

By DPA, Wellington : New Zealand civil defence authorities downgraded an initial tsunami warning after three big quakes hit the South Pacific Thursday, saying there was no confirmation that a tsunami had been created. Any tsunami was unlikely to be destructive for New Zealand, they said. But officials issued a warning that people should stay away from beaches on part of the coastline.

By DPA, Paris : A Paris court Wednesday dismissed a suit by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to force a French publisher to stop selling a voodoo doll in his image, French media reported. In their ruling, the judges found that the Sarkozy voodoo doll did "not represent an offence to his human dignity or a personal attack". Instead, its creation and sale were permitted by the publisher's right to freedom of expression and its "right to express humour". The publisher, K&B Editions, put 20,000 Sarkozy voodoo dolls on sale on Oct 9.

By Prensa Latina Hanoi : US war veteran Larry Vetter affiliated to the Vietnamese Association of Agent Orange Victims, sources from the organization informed Friday from the central province of Da Nang. Vetter, former soldier also affected by the effects of the dioxin known as Agent Orange, said he is willing to work in support of the millions of Vietnamese children, women, and men with severe after-effects caused by the dioxin several generations after the war.

By Gurmukh Singh, IANS,

By IANS, Kathmandu : More than 400,000 Nepali youths have left the country in 10 months of the current fiscal year in search of jobs, a media report said.

By IANS,

By IANS, London : The threat to tropical rainforests from global warming may have been exaggerated, says a new study.

By Fakir Hassen, IANS, Johannesburg : One of the major challenges for India and South Africa as the world moves to a multipolar society is for them to play a role in changing the order for a quality transformation of the global regime so that the countries of the South take their rightful place, Indian Minister of State for External Affairs Anand Sharma said here Tuesday.

Skppje: A British man with Ebola symptoms died Thursday at a health clinic in Macedonia. It is not confirmed yet if the unnamed British man...

By Prensa Latina, Katmandu : After a vote count in 163 electoral districts the Nepal Maoist Communist Party (CPN-M) won 89 of them and is headed toward an overwhelming victory in the constituent assembly elections, which are considered fair by international observers. The other two relevant groups, the Nepali Congress Party (NC) and the Marxist Leninist Unified Communist Party (CPN-UML) are going very far in second and third place with 28 and 23 seats, respectively.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS, Kathmandu : Nepal's new government Thursday tabled its policies and programmes in parliament, pledging to investigate the properties and assets owned by the former royal family. As the Maoist siege of the house ended after two months, their arch enemy President Ram Baran Yadav tabled the new policies and programme of the communist-led government that gave priority to ferreting out the properties of its former King Gyanendra and his family members in Nepal and abroad and bring them under state control.

By DPA, New York : Held back from stronger steps by China and Russia, the UN Security Council was preparing later Monday to consider chastising North Korea for its rocket launch earlier this month. China and Russia, which have veto power on the council, had objected to a harsher reaction in the form of more sanctions as suggested by Japan and the United States, citing their concern that it would undermine the six-party talks aimed at getting Pyongyang to dismantle its nuclear programme.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk (Russia) : Residents of Kuril Islands in Russia's Far East were being evacuated due to the threat of tsunami roused by a quake in Chile, an official said. The expected height of waves to hit the regional coast is some 2 metres, spokesman for the local administration said. "The inland of the North Kuril Islands is not subjected to the threat," he said. An 8.8-magnitude earthquake hit Chile in the early hours of Saturday killing at least 300 people.

By IANS, Beijing: Thanks to the booming capital and property markets, the number of super rich in China is expected to rise by 16 percent to 383,000 this year, a media report said.

By IRNA, New York : More than 10,000 people were killed in a devastating cyclone that hit western Burma, Foreign Minister Nyan Win said on state TV Monday night. He said his government was ready to accept international assistance. Thousands of survivors of Cyclone Nargis are lacking shelter, drinking water, power and communications. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed his sadness at the scale of the disaster. He said that UN officials were meeting Burmese government representatives to discuss how to help.

Glasgow: Six-time Olympic champion Usain Bolt anchored Jamaica to the men's 4X100m title at the Commonwealth Games at Hampden Park here Saturday. The Jamaican quartet...

New Delhi : Tibetan emigres Sunday staged a protest in Delhi against Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's visit to India. With banners that read "Prime...

By IRNA, Geneva : An alarming lack of availability of essential medicines in the public sector drives patients to pay higher prices in the private sector or go without, according to a World Health Organization study reported in today's online edition of The Lancet. The results confirm that governments must do more to improve access to essential medicines as part of their efforts to make national health systems more efficient and equitable.

By Bernama, Tokyo : The Tokyo High Court decided Monday to reopen a 1967 murder-robbery case in Tone, Ibaraki Prefecture, citing ''serious'' doubts about the witness accounts and the initial confessions of the two convicted men, Kyodo news reported. "There remain serious doubts over the defendants' confessions and witness accounts, casting reasonable doubt on the guilty ruling," Presiding Judge Hiroshi Kadono said, approving the retrial sought by the two men -- Shoji Sakurai and Takao Sugiyama, both 61, who were sentenced to life imprisonment.

By IRNA, New Delhi : The polling for the sixth Presidential election in Sri Lanka has been more or less peaceful so far. Election monitors say minor election related incidents have been reported in some areas including Jaffna and Gampaha. The Centre for Free and Fair Elections (CAFFE) said that there were more than 6 minor incidents reported early Tuesday morning, All India Radio (AIR) reported. A grenade exploded near the Jaffna mayor’s office in Nallur although no injuries were reported. Some of the party functionaries were also attacked and fired at.

By SPA, Paris : President Nicolas Sarkozy is ready to revisit Moscow and Tbilisi to help resolve the Russian-Georgian conflict, REUTERS quoted French Prime Minister Francois Fillon as saying on Monday. Fillon told French radio Sarkozy would put forward proposals at a summit of European Union leaders called to discuss the crisis later on Monday, but he said the question of possible sanctions against Russia was not on the agenda. "The French president will propose to his European counterparts a number of initiatives which we will see in a few days," he told Europe 1 radio.

By Xinhua, Washington : US Defence Secretary Robert Gates has said the three Somali pirates who were killed by the Navy's Seals to end a hostage crisis were "untrained" teenagers. Addressing an audience at the Marine Corps War College in Quantico, Virginia, Gates said Monday that the slain pirates, aged at between 17 and 19, were heavily armed but inexperienced. They were shot dead Sunday at the end of a five-day standoff with the US military after they attacked a US-flagged cargo ship about 400 km from Somali coast and held the ship's American captain as hostage.

By Arun Kumar, IANS, Washington : Presumptive Republican nominee John McCain was declared in "excellent physical and mental health" as he prepared to meet three potential running mates including Bobby Jindal, who could balance concerns over his age. "We can find nothing in his medical history that would preclude him from serving as president of the United States with vigour," Dr. John Eckstein, who serves as McCain's primary care physician at the Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, Arizona, told reporters Friday.

By IANS, London : Hacker group Anonymous has claimed to have defaced around 500 websites in China to protest against the Chinese government's strict control of its citizens, BBC reported.

By Neena Bhandari, IANS, Sydney : Acting Prime Minister Chris Evans met the Dalai Lama Friday following a warning from Beijing Thursday night to heed its "grave concerns" that the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader should not be allowed to engage in "separatist activities" while in Australia.

By Xinhua Beijing : China and Nigeria on Thursday vowed to expand cooperation from fields such as energy and telecommunications to agriculture, infrastructure and manufacturing. The two sides issued a joint press communique after talks between Chinese President Hu Jintao and visiting Nigerian counterpart Umaru Yar'Adua, pledging to continue to promote the growth of relations. During the talks, the heads of the state expressed satisfaction at the evolving strategic partnership between their two countries.

By IANS,

By IANS/AKI, Milan : Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was savagely attacked Sunday at the end of a political rally in the centre of the city. He suffered two damaged teeth, a broken nose, cuts to his lips and other facial injuries. The prime minister's spokesman and undersecretary to the Cabinet, Paolo Bonaiuti, said the prime minister had a bad headache throughout the night but had asked to read the newspapers as soon as he woke up Monday. Berlusconi was struck in the face by a man holding a small replica of Milan's landmark cathedral.

By Joydeep Gupta, IANS, Copenhagen: Around 1.3 billion people in India, the rest of South Asia and China are at imminent risk of water shortage due to climate change, according to the UN. The Kathmandu-based UN organisation International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (ICIMOD) has found that "global warming is having a serious impact on the amount of snow and ice" in the Himalayas, "which has serious implications for downstream water availability as up to 50 percent of the average annual flows in the rivers are contributed by snow and glacial melting".

By IANS, Colombo : The Sri Lankan police Saturday launched investigations into the shooting of a journalist attached to a leading independent newspaper, reported Xinhua.

By IANS, Washington : The US has extended its sanctions on Myanmar for another year, the White House said. "Because the actions and policies of the government of Burma (Myanmar) continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the US," the sanctions imposed on Burma will continue in effect beyond May 20, it said in a statement Friday. The US accuses Myanmar of committing "large-scale repression of the democratic opposition". The sanctions included prohibition on new investment, Xinhua reported.

By IANS, Kinshasa : An adviser to the Democratic Republic of Congo's president was killed and the finance minister injured in a plane crash Sunday, Xinhua reported.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow : Russian police have detained more than 2,100 protesters in and around Moscow to prevent clash between ultra-nationalists and migrants.

By Anil Giri, Kathmandu : In the aftermath of the massive 7.9 earthquake that hit Nepal on Saturday, there were many, many stories of hardship...

By IANS London : Buoyed by the prospects of bumper, high-quality harvests at lower costs, farmers are feeling upbeat about GM food, according to a new study. The study, funded by Britain's Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and conducted by an Open University team, has taken the first systematic look at what large-scale, commodity farmers think about genetically modified crops. Lead researcher Andy Lane and colleagues found that both farmers who have been involved in GM crop trials and those who have not regard GM as an extension of established plant breeding techniques.

By RIA Novosti Moscow : CIS leaders will discuss economic trade and migration policies at an informal summit to be held in Moscow on Friday, a Kremlin source said. The drawing up of a document, Strategy for the Commonwealth's Economic Development, will also be discussed at the summit. The document should provide a set of measures aimed at boosting economic cooperation, raising competitiveness of the CIS member states and fostering social and economic development.

By DPA, New York : Former US President Bill Clinton and his wife, Senator Hillary Clinton, have been given the honour to push the button to drop the crystal ball ushering in the New Year at Times Square, news reports said Tuesday. The traditional New Year's Eve celebrations at the landmark square will take place Thursday night under a forecast of very cold weather with snow showers that may dampen the hopes of hundreds of thousands of revellers seeking a good time.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, New York: The UN General Assembly has approved the first global treaty to regulate international trade in conventional weapons, the UN News Centre said.

By Xinhua, Kathmandu : Two bombs blasted in Nepali capital Kathmandu on Monday afternoon, local media said. window.onload = function() {var...

By DPA, Jakarta : An aircraft belonging to the Indonesian Air Force crashed Monday afternoon in West Java capital of Bandung, killing all 24 people on board, news reports and officials said. The Fokker airplane was carrying 17 officers from the Indonesian Air Force's special force and seven crew when it crashed at about 12.30 p.m. (0530 GMT) at Bandung's Hussein Sastranegara airport, said air force spokesman Bambang Sulistyo.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By Gurmukh Singh,IANS, Vancouver : M.S. Swaminathan, one of the pioneers of the Green Revolution in India, will receive an honorary doctorate from Canada's University of Alberta for his contribution to food security in the world. The Edmonton-based university, which has forged strong relationship with India thanks to its Sri Lankan-born president Indira Samarasekera, said the world-renowned Indian agriculture scientist will receive the honorary degree Oct 7.

By Xinhua Washington : At least four people have been killed when their small plane crashed in Florida's Martin County region, the police said. According to officials, three of the dead are from the Florida Atlantic University. The fourth victim was the pilot. After reports of the crash came in at 9.04 a.m. Thursday, fire-fighters were rushed to the scene, who found a Cessna Skyhawk aircraft lying upside down near a stand of trees, with four bodies inside.

By DPA

Nicosia : A US embassy staff member who had been missing in Cyprus for four days was found dead by police near the village of Lefka Monday, media reported.