International

By Neena Bhandari, IANS Sydney : As many as 72 Sri Lankans detained on the Pacific island of Nauru have been granted refugee status by Australia and efforts are underway to resettle them in other countries. Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said in a statement: "Australia is now exploring resettlement options in other countries for the Sri Lankans that have been assessed as being refugees. They will remain in Nauru while arrangements are made to resettle them elsewhere."

By DPA,

By IANS, London: A 16-year-old Indian origin schoolboy in Germany has managed to crack puzzles that baffled the world of maths for more than 350 years, it was reported here Saturday.

By Xinhua, Bangkok : Thailand's Supreme Commander Boonsang Niampradit said on Saturday that the soldiers have the duty to follow if the premier orders the military to crack down the anti-government protestors. Boonsang's statement came shortly after Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej said police and soldiers will crack down on protestors if they fail to move out of the Rajdamnen Road in central Bangkok Saturday.

By IANS, London : Boeing is developing a solar-powered unmanned aircraft that will remain aloft for five years.

By DPA Moscow : Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, Wednesday passed a bill limiting foreign investment in key sectors such as oil and gas, media and telecommunications even as President Vladimir Putin met with top foreign investors in Moscow. Presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky said Putin had gathered the heads of Italian and German business, such as Siemens, Italian energy giants Eni and Enel as well as key financial groups, to appease business concerns over the new legislation.

By IANS/EFE, New York : US consumer confidence in the evolution of the nation's economy rose in November to its highest level since July, The Conference Board said Tuesday.

By IANS,

London, Nov 29, IRNA , Britain was ranked ninth out of 23 OECD countries in the first Humanitarian Response Index (HRI) published Thursday. Top of the index, launched in London by former UN Secretary- General Kofi Annan, was Sweden, followed by Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands and the European Commission. The US was ranked further down in 16th place. Briatin was highlighted to have a strong track record working with humanitarian partners, in generous funding to multilateral organisations and their appeals and in supporting contingency planning and capacity building efforts.

By Sudeshna Sarkar, IANS Kathmandu : Nepal's minority Muslim community called a shutdown and began street protests Sunday as two devotees died in a bomb attack on mosque in eastern Nepal, raising fears of a sectarian violence with a critical election only 11 days away. Enraged Muslims Sunday shut down the market in Inaruwa, one of the main towns in Sunsari district, called a transport strike and a closure of the district, where a sizeable number of the community lives, to mourn the killing of two men who fell prey to a bomb attack while praying in a mosque in a neighbouring district.

By Xinhua Colombo : Sri Lankan Air Force Thursday launched air raids twice against Tamil Tiger rebel positions in the northern part of the country, the military said. The Media Centre for National Security said in a statement that air force fighter jets bombed gun positions of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at Mannar and Mullaithivu districts at 12 p.m. and again an hour later. "These centres were used by LTTE terrorists to fire artillery at troops on the forward defence line," the statement said, claiming that the air strikes were successful.

By Prensa Latina United Nations : UN Reporter on Violence against Woman Yakin Erturk said on Wednesday that the armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo is a challenge in the fight against sexual violence in that country. When presenting a report before the UN Council of Human Rights in Geneva, the Turkish professor pointed out that, despite the measures adopted by Congo authorities to bring peace and stability, this conflict chiefly affects women.

By Prensa Latina, Hanoi : Vietnam is ready to exploit nuclear energy and may have its first plant by 2020, affirmed parliamentarian experts at the National Assembly in session here Wednesday. According to the Vice Chief of the Commission of Science and Technology from the Legislature Nguyen Dang Vang, the plan for opening the first national facility of that type has a special meaning for the country, mainly because of its current shortage of electric energy.

By DPA, London : The Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, arrived in Britain Tuesday for a 10-day tour that will include a meeting with Prime Minister Gordon Brown and an address to the British parliament. However, controversy has been raging about Brown's decision to meet the 72-year-old leader at the headquarters of the Anglican Church in London, rather than in Downing Street, underlining that the visit is of a "spiritual rather than a political" nature. Brown is due to meet the Dalai Lama Friday at Lambeth Palace, together with Rowan Williams, the Archbishop of Canterbury.

By DPA, Moscow : French President Nicolas Sarkozy will spearhead international efforts to pressure Russia into withdrawing more troops from Georgia, in talks in Moscow and Tbilisi Monday to save the ceasefire pact he brokered last month. Sarkozy is attempting to force Moscow's full compliance with the accord that stopped the five-day war over South Ossetia, by threatening to suspend talks on a new partnership agreement between the European Union (EU) and Russia. France currently holds the EU's rotating presidency.

By DPA, Washington : US President Barack Obama Monday condemned Iran for violently cracking down on demonstrations, warning the Islamic state it will not succeed in denying people their universal rights. "The United States joins with the international community in strongly condemning the violent and unjust suppression of innocent Iranian citizens," Obama said while on winter vacation in Hawaii.

By IANS,

By NNN-KUNA United Nations : For the second time in a week, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday advised Turkey not to carry out a military attack on Kurds in Northern Iraq, stressing that any escalation of tension would further complicate the international community's efforts, including those by the UN, to bring stability to this "volatile" region.

By Xinhua, Yingxiu (China) : China Tuesday mourned the deaths of thousands of people who perished in a devastating earthquake that struck southwestern Sichuan province exactly a year ago. A memorial function was organised here in Sichuan province to mark the first anniversary of the quake that left 87,000 people dead or missing and rendering millions homeless.

By Prensa Latina, Madrid : Voices began to be heard in Spain on Tuesday protesting the decision taken by the European Union to increase labor hours to 65 a week in the member states. One of the first to protest was governing PSOE (Spanish Socialist Workers Party) which summoned people to create a democratic front in opposition to the decision, adopted on Monday by Labour Ministries of the EU that must later be ratified by European Parliament.

By IANS, London: An English-speaking tourist died after leaping from the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

By DPA, Washington : Nearly one in seven US households did not always have enough food last year as the country's deep recession struck even the most basic of needs for survival, according to government data released Monday. At 14.6 percent, the 2008 hunger rate is at its highest level since records began in 1995 and is up from 11.1 percent in 2007, the US Department of Agriculture said.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow : The toll in ethnic violence in the south of Kyrgyzstan has increased to 294, according to the 24.kg news agency citing the country's health ministry. According to official information, the number of injured now stands at 2,238, including 1,047 hospitalised and 1,190 patients who received out-patient treatment. Kyrgyz authorities admit, though, that the actual number of casualties may be ten times higher.

By Xinhua Beijing : Chinese President Hu Jintao on Friday called for the expansion and deepening of cooperation with Japan and boosting of bilateral relations to a new level. "The two sides should maintain friendly exchange at various levels, expand and deepen pragmatic cooperation, settle well bilateral disputes through dialogue and equal consultation and continue to expand the mutual benefit between the two nations in an effort to boost bilateral relations to a new level", Hu said.

By DPA

Nahr al-Bared (Lebanon) : A Lebanese warship Thursday shot and sank two inflatable boats carrying militants of the Fatah al-Islam group who were trying to flee the Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon, a Lebanese army spokesman said.