International

By Xinhua Beijing : About 9.72 percent of Chinese netizens between the ages of 13 and 30 suffer Internet addiction, a survey revealed on Friday. The survey defines an Internet-addicted as one whose life, career and interpersonal relations are harmed by Internet use, said the report issued by the China Youth Association for Network Development (CYAND).

By DPA Berlin : Chancellor Angela Merkel met the Dalai Lama for a "private exchange of views" in the chancellery in Berlin Sunday, shrugging off objections from Beijing and warnings that German-Chinese relations could be damaged. Following the hour-long meeting, Merkel said through her official spokesman that she was honoured to have met the Nobel Peace Prize laureate. Merkel had pledged to support the Tibetan leader in "his efforts to maintain Tibet's cultural identity and his peaceful efforts for religious and cultural autonomy", spokesman Ulrich Wilhelm said.

By IANS, Washington: The US government has slapped sanctions on Iran's petrochemical industry as part of its efforts to intensify the squeeze on Tehran's economy.

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By IANS, London: Astronomers in Britain have taken the first pictures of one of the hottest stars in the Galaxy - a mysterious dying body that fascinates scientists. At 200,000 degrees Celsius, the star at the heart of the Bug Nebula is 35 times hotter than the Sun. The dying star - 3,500 light years away in the constellation Scorpius - has never been seen before as it is hidden behind a cloud of dust and ice, The Times reported.

By NNN-PTI Colombo : Tourists visiting Sri Lanka can now have a feel of the 'Ramayana' as the government has decided to develop the sites associated with the epic for which it has sought India's assistance. Hindu devout and those interested in mythology would get an opportunity to visit the sites in the island nation which the epic suggests was ruled by the great demon-king Ravana. A team of Sri Lankan tourism department is now in India to resurrect and sequence with impeccable accuracy the revered epic.

By Xinhua, Moscow : At least 12 people were killed in an earthquake jolting Russia's North Caucasus region, Itar-Tass news agency reported quoting the republic's health minister Musa Akhmadov. More than 100 people have been hospitalised in Chechnya, Akhmadov said. Earlier, the agency quoted Chechen deputy emergency situations minister Akhmed Dzhairkhanov as saying that five people died in Saturday's earthquake.

By AFP, Jiangyou, China : China on Sunday declared three days of mourning and suspended the Olympic torch relay nearly a week after a massive quake struck the country's southwest, as the death toll continued to mount. The announcements came after a powerful aftershock rattled devastated Sichuan province, killing at least three people and hampering China's efforts to help nearly five million homeless facing the threats of disease and floods.

By DPA, Phnom Penh : At least 30 people were killed late Monday in a stampede in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.

By IANS, Singapore : Singapore will develop a 150-km leisure tour around the island, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean announced Saturday.

By RIA Novosti, MOSCOW : Russia is lowering as of February 1 export duties on oil and petroleum products, responding to a fall in world oil prices amid the ongoing global financial crisis. Under the government decree signed by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday, the oil export duty now stands at $100.9 per metric ton compared with the previous export duty of $119.1 per ton. As of February 1, the duty on light petroleum products totals $80.3 per ton against the previous $92.6 per ton and on heavy petroleum products $43.2 per ton against the previous $49.9 per ton.

New Delhi: Swiss and other European banks have asked Indian customers to avail the ongoing one-time compliance window granted by the tax department for...

By IANS, Sydney : Fangs which had evolved from early teeth enabled snakes to expand across all continents except Antarctica nearly 60 million years ago, according to a new study. "Understanding the evolution of fangs sheds light on how snakes colonised new environments or adapted to feed on new prey," said Bryan Fry of the department of biochemistry and molecular biology in Bio21 Institute, University of Melbourne. Fry worked on the study with a team from the Netherlands, US, Israel and Australia.

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Brussels : The European Commission Wednesday approved funding for 225 new projects under the LIFE programme -- the European Union's environment fund, and will...

By IANS, Canberra : Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd Wednesday resigned, saying he no longer had the support of Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

By Xinhua, Beichuan (China) : Two survivors of the May 12 earthquake that killed more than 28,000 people were rescued after over 100 hours of being trapped underneath rubble of buildings. A man was rescued at 9.15 a.m. Sunday from a collapsed hospital of Beichuan in southwest China's Sichuan province, 139 hours after the devastating quake. The survivor, named Tang Xiong, was only slightly bruised and was conscious when he was pulled out, rescuers said. His wife was rescued Thursday.

By IANS, Tegucigalpa (Honduras) : A Honduras court has sentenced a former jail official to 1,035 years in prison for involvement in the massacre of 69 inmates during a jail riot, EFE reported. The court of La Ceiba province of Hoduras also convicted and sentenced 21 people to various terms in jail for the mass killing at the El Porvenir prison farm in the Caribbean province of Atlanta during an armed clash in April 2003, a spokesperson of the Attorney General's office said Saturday.

Moscow : The Russian foreign ministry Monday published a report on human rights violations in Ukraine, mainly targeting Kiev authorities and the West. The 81-page...

By SPA Jakarta : Indonesia was forced to temporarily close its main international airport Friday due to poor visibility following torrential rains, officials said. Almost 150 planes were delayed or diverted and thousands of passengers stranded. Roads across much of the sprawling capital were submerged in knee-deep water, bringing traffic to a near standstill and forcing many people to abandon their vehicles _ including the country's president. The main highway leading to Sukarno-Hatta International Airport also was cut off for much of the day.

By IANS, Washington : While India is busy with the polls, "one of the world's most important elections" is quietly under way - to elect the UN atomic watchdog's head, also known as the nuclear pope. The election process has been on in Vienna, the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), but it is largely outside the public limelight. The Nobel Peace Prize winner agency has served as the world's guardian of peaceful nuclear power programmes for more than 50 years, ensuring that countries do not abuse their 'right' to atomic energy by building nuclear weapons.

By DPA Kathmandu : Thousands of Bhutanese refugees living in camps in eastern Nepal will begin to be resettled in the US in March under a third-country resettlement programme, media reports said Thursday. The US will assimilate 10,000 Bhutanese refugees living in Nepal under the first phase of the refugee rehabilitation programme, the English language daily Himalayan Times said.

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By IANS, Kathmandu: As Nepal Friday began celebrating its five-day festival of lights, the merry-making was marred by human rights groups resurrecting tales of unpunished killings and torture and accusing the coalition government of failing to provide justice.

By DPA Jakarta : Indonesian authorities issued a tsunami warning Tuesday following a 6.4-magnitude earthquake off the western coast of Sumatra Island, but it was later cancelled after no giant waves materialised. The quake struck at 10:43 a.m. (03.43 GMT), 159 km southwest of Bengkulu province and at a depth of 20 km, said Budi Waluyo, an official at the National Meteorology and Geophysics Agency in Jakarta. "It was strongly felt in Bengkulu, but so far there are no reports of damage," he told DPA.

By RIA Novosti

Moscow : Russia's new defence proposals could be implemented only if the US abandoned plans to deploy elements of its missile shield in Europe, a Russian delegation accompanying President Vladimir Putin to his US visit said Tuesday.