The European Commission says it is standing by a desire to overhaul UN-led carbon trading rules to make it more difficult for developing nations to earn carbon offsets from cutting greennhouse gas emissions, reports Reuters.

At present rich countries can meet their own emissions limits under the Kyoto Protocol by investing in cuts in the developing world.

Reuters, London - Dutch scientists said on Friday they have identified a key gene that protects tomatoes against a common fungus that causes the plants to wilt.

The fungus Fusarium oxysporum can make a compound that overcomes two of three genes in tomatoes that help ward off disease.

Times Online

Bill Clinton stands on a small stage in this tiny town, torrential rain beating on the rooftop, his all-white crowd of coalminers, schoolteachers and union members cheering him on.

“Don’t let them tell you she can’t win this thing,” he hollers, his voice hoarse after another day of campaigning.

Myanmar held a national referendum Saturday despite warnings that more people would die unless the government focussed on delivering emergency aid for survivors of last week's cyclone, reports agency.

In surreal scenes, voting booths were erected

REUTERS, ISLAMABAD - Pakistan's ruling alliance failed to break the deadlock on reinstating judges sacked by President Pervez Musharraf during talks in London on Friday, rekindling speculation the month-old coalition might collapse.

The restoration of the judges has been the top issue for the coalition, led by the party of assassinated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto since its inception.

BATTICALOA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) - Residents in Sri Lanka's war-ravaged east voted for the first time in two decades on Saturday in an election the government hopes will endorse its war to defeat Tamil Tiger rebels.

Voting began hours after a "Black Tiger" rebel suicide squad sank a naval ship in the eastern port of Trincomalee. On Friday, a bomb exploded in a crowded cafe also in the eastern Sri Lanka, killing 12 people an injuring 29.

Josef Fritzl, who has confessed to imprisoning his daughter in a cellar beneath his house, has been remanded in custody for an extra month by an Austrian judge, reports Times Online.

After spending almost two weeks on remand Fritzl, 73, who shocked the world when the secrets of the cellar were revealed, reportedly declared his wish to receive visits from his wife, Rosemarie, whom he “loved”.

PESHAWAR, Pakistan (Reuters) - Gunmen killed three Shi'ite Muslims in a drive-by shooting in Pakistan's northwest on Saturday in what appeared to be a sectarian attack, officials said.

The assailants, riding on a motorbike, opened fire on Mazhar Zaidi and two of his friends in the town of Dera Ismail Khan as they sat in a shop, killing all the three on the spot.

SINGAPORE (AFP) - Shark's fin consumption more than doubled in Singapore last year from 2006, with demand driven by an economic boom and an increase in wedding celebrations, a report said Saturday.

Singapore consumed more than 470 tonnes in 2007, up from 182 tonnes the previous year and reversing a four-year decline, the Straits Times reported.

BEIRUT (AFP) - Violence raged in Lebanon for a fourth straight day leaving 11 people dead on Saturday as tension gripped the country after Hezbollah seized control of west Beirut in what the Western-backed coalition branded an armed coup.

The death toll from the fighting between mainly Sunni supporters of the ruling bloc and Shiite members of the opposition hit 29, prompting Prime Minister Fuad Siniora to announce an address to the nation as Lebanon teetered dangerously close to a new civil war.

Corpses litter the landscape as the cyclone survivors are forced to fight for life alongside a tide of mortality

Like millions of mothers, supermodel Cindy Crawford is looking forward to breakfast in bed on Sunday to celebrate Mother's Day, then walking on the beach, reports Reuters.

For while department stores, jewelers and florists go into overdrive for the day of the year that honors mothers, all that most mothers want is a day free of chores and responsibilities.

Reuters, Geneva - Myanmar's recovery from a deadly cyclone could be hindered by strong winds and rain over the coming week, the UN weather agency said on Friday.

"Occasional tropical rain showers" are expected through next Wednesday May 14, the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) said, further forecasting "a period of heavy rainfall settling in around Thursday or Friday next week".

Mobilization of more revenue needed

The Bangladesh women's cricket team Friday ended their Women's Asia Cup campaign on a losing streak when they faced a massive nine-wicket defeat to Sri Lanka at Welagedara Stadium, Kurunegala, Sri Lanka, reports bdnews24.com.

Sri Lanka, who have already set their final clash with India, raced to 123 for one in 25.5 overs, chasing an easy target of 121 set by Bangladesh.

REUTERS, Baghdad - Militants fired rockets into a British forces base in Iraq's southern oil town of Basra on Thursday, killing two contractors and wounding four other civilians, the US military said on Thursday.

It said British forces had returned fire and U.S. forces killed six militants behind the attack in an air strike. The statement did not give the nationalities of the contractors.

AFP, BEIRUT - Hezbollah gunmen seized control of west Beirut on Friday after a third day of battles with pro-government foes in the Lebanese capital pushed the nation dangerously close to all-out civil war.

The sectarian fighting had eased by early afternoon as the army and police moved across areas now in the hands of Shiite opposition forces who fired celebratory gunshots wildly into the air after routing Sunni militants loyal to the Western-backed government.

Josef Fritzl is likely to be charged with manslaughter after he admitted in an interview that one of the children he had with his daughter Elisabeth died shortly after birth without medical attention, reports londontimes.

Mr Fritzl, 73, is on remand in jail pending trial after he confessed to having kept Elisabeth, 42, as a sex slave in a concrete bunker beneath his house for 24 years and producing seven children with her.

AFP, LONDON - England, famous across the world as the country of Shakespeare, royalty, fair play and manners, is a nation of "overweight, sex-and-celebrity-obsessed TV addicts", according to a new tourist guide.

The "Rough Guide to England", which was written by four British travel writers, says that there is nowhere "so fascinating, beautiful and culturally diverse, yet as insular, self-important and irritating, as England".

HARARE (AFP) - South African President Thabo Mbeki, the chief regional mediator on the crisis in Zimbabawe, arrived in Harare on Friday under pressure to help end the country's electoral deadlock and political violence.

Mbeki, widely criticised for his softly-softly approach towards his Zimbabwean counterpart Robert Mugabe, was to meet the veteran president for the first time since the results of the March 29 elections were announced.