A UN conference on risks relating to genetic engineering in the agricultural sector opened in the former West German capital of Bonn on Monday amid differences among the delegates.

The world's leading gene technology companies want a voluntary agreement instead of internationally binding rules on liability and redress in respect of damage resulting from the handling and use of living modified organisms, non-governmental organizations at the meeting said.

Some 2,000 representatives from governments and non-governmental organizations are attending the five-day conference, the outcome of which was unclear in view of the divergent positions.

Protesters from 80 agricultural and environmental organizations demonstrated against hunger, species extinction and genetic engineering outside the hotel where the conference is taking place.

The meeting of the parties to the Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety is seeking to work out a system of rules on protection rights and liability relating to the cross-border movement of genetically modified organisms such as rice, corn or soy.

The Baltic nation of Lithuania agreed to lift its veto on the launching of a new European Union partnership agreement with Russia, local media reported on Monday, May 12.

"Solidarity, demonstrated by the 27 EU nations and the European Commission, is not an empty word," said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Petras Vaitiekunas, according to delfi.lt news portal.

Vaitiekunas met in Vilnius on Sunday with three EU foreign ministers: Sweden's Carl Bildt, Poland's Radoslaw Sikorski and Slovenia's Dimitrij Rupel, whose country chairs the EU presidency until June.

Vilnius had threatened to veto the opening of talks in protest at Russia's closure - allegedly for technical reasons - of the pipeline feeding Russian oil to Lithuania's only oil refinery.

"We have found ways to reflect in the mandate of the talks the issues of the Druzhba pipeline, issues of legal cooperation with Russia, and frozen conflicts," a statement by the four foreign ministers said.

"The success of the negotiations with Russia will directly depend on the renewal of supplies via the Druzhba pipeline," Vaitiekunas said.

Despite predictions to the contrary, the pro-European party of President Boris Tadic won the parliamentary election in Serbia, according to preliminary estimates. However, Tadic still lacks a clear majority to form a government. His opponent, Tomislav Nikolic, wants nationalist parties to join forces to govern.

 Female voters in the village of Stara Pazova in Serbia Serbian President Boris Tadic's pro-European party has won snap parliamentary elections in Serbia in what election observers are calling a "very convincing victory." A projection by the monitoring organization Center for Free Election and Democracy (CESID) shows Tadic's Democratic Party taking 38 percent of the vote. The outcome came unexpectedly, after polls and analysts predicted his party would lose.

Tadic declared victory for his Democratic Party (DS) on Sunday evening. "Serbs have undoubtedly confirmed a clear European path. This is a great victory," he said. At the same time, he warned: "The government we are building will not recognize Kosovo."

Ultranationalist Tomislav Nikolic of the Serbian Radical Party (SRS), which favors closer ties to Moscow, warned Tadic that the pro-Europe camp hadn't won yet. He said his party also had very clear possibilities for creating a coalition that would not include the Democratic Party.

PARIS: First, President Nicolas Sarkozy's party accused Agence France-Presse of "censorship" for not publishing one of its press releases. Ten days later, the government suggested that the news agency create a service dedicated to publishing press releases.

Press freedom has long been an uneasy subject in France, a country where many newspapers rely on government subsidies and where defense contractors control large swaths of the print and broadcast media.

But the latest episode in a simmering standoff between Sarkozy and French journalists has led to an unusually drawn-out and public confrontation.

"It's rather amusing, even for France," that the government accuses the media of censorship, Pierre Louette, chief executive of AFP, said in an interview by telephone Monday.

British finance minister Alistair Darling will urge the European Union to extend the suspension of import tariffs on grains and re-think its biofuels policy to help ease soaring food prices in the 27-nation bloc.

In a letter to his European counterparts, Darling will say the EU must ensure its policies are not unnecessarily inflating the cost of food.

European Union finance ministers meet in Brussels on May 14 and rising global food and energy prices are expected to be high on the agenda. 

"The EU has a clear responsibility to play a full role in the international community's collective efforts to address the consequences of spiralling food prices by tackling the causes," Darling wrote.

"It is unacceptable that at a time of significant food price inflation the EU continues to apply very high import tariffs on many agricultural commodities."

A group of key EU finance ministers will today launch an assault on the rewards earned by bankers and top managers in a move that poses a potential threat to the City of London.

A confidential document prepared for the gathering in Brussels finds the "short-term" pay structure of modern capitalism has become deformed, causing firms to take on "excessive risk" without regard to the interests of stakeholders or society.

While there is no concrete legislation on the table, ministers are eyeing curbs on stock options, bonuses and golden parachutes.

The move is a clear sign that the EU noose is tightening on bankers, funds and corporate elites that have enjoyed light-touch regulation.

Regardless whether Obama, Clinton or McCain enters the White House, the next US government will demand greater support from Germany on the international stage, especially in Iraq. But the government in Berlin is poorly prepared for this inevitability -- and that's a serious failure.

At the end of February, Barack Obama became the first American presidential candidate to say he would demand more engagement in Afghanistan from America's allies if he were elected to the White House. It's fairly certain this demand would also apply to Iraq, where the problems are far worse than in the Hindu Kush, despite improvements seen in the military situation there in 2007. Obama's contender Hillary Clinton or John McCain would also confront their allies in the West with new demands.

A US soldier with a peace symbol on his helmut: A visit by Germany's foreign minister to Iraq is long overdue.

Germany doesn't need to worry about getting any requests to send troops to Iraq, but it will likely be asked to make a substantial contribution to help rebuild the country. If the Europeans and the Germans don't want to be faced with unpleasant surprises in 2009, then they need to determine today how far they are willing to go to support the new US government.

EU ministers in Tbilisi reaffirmed their backing of Georgia's "territorial integrity" amid fears that growing hostilities with Russian-backed separatists regions could lead to open conflict.

"The European Union reiterates its support for Georgia's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity within the internationally recognized borders," Slovenia's Foreign Minister Dmitrij Rupel, whose country currently chairs the EU presidency, was quoted by Itar-tass as saying on Monday, April 12.

The foreign ministers of five European states - Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Sweden and Slovenia - were in the Georgian capital Monday to probe into escalating tension between Moscow and Tbilisi over Russia's support for the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili pleaded for the EU and NATO's support against what it called Russia efforts to annex part of its territory since Moscow strengthened diplomatic and economic ties to the area last month.

MOSCOW: Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reshuffled the Russian government Monday in his first major action since leaving the Kremlin, bringing in some high-profile figures from his presidency but leaving prominent ministries unchanged.

The hawkish Sergei Ivanov, once seen as a possible successor to Putin as president, was named deputy prime minister -- a step down from his previous position as first deputy premier.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov and Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin retained their posts.

The ministry of energy and industry was split into two separate Cabinet positions, the most major structural change to the new government.

The move reflects both the growing importance of oil and gas exports to Russia's budget and concerns that the country's industrial sector is underdeveloped, making Russia vulnerable to energy price fluctuations.

French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said Monday he had held "very promising" discussions with Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika on the creation of a Mediterranean Union.

"We clarified a number of directions which, I think, from France's perspective, are very promising and I hope that President Bouteflika shares my feelings," Kouchner said after the two met in Algiers.

Bouteflika "not only asked questions but brought answers to questions and problems between" Algeria and France, he added.

Press reports here said Algeria was seeking clarification of the Mediterranean Union project to be announced officially on July 13 by France's President Nicolas Sarkozy at a summit of Mediterranean candidates eligible to join the proposed new bloc.

Monday's earthquake in southwestern China has extracted a far higher death toll than initially assumed. Chinese authorities say up to 5,000 people have been killed in one county alone in the 7.8-magnitude tremor that was felt as far away as Pakistan and Thailand.

Thousands of people are believed to have died in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck southwestern China on Monday, according to Chinese authorities.

State media reported that in oneChinese county alone, up to 5,000 people had been killed in the 7.8-magnitude earthquake that sent thousands of people rushing out of buildings and into the streets hundreds of miles away in Beijing and Shanghai. The temblor was felt as far away as Pakistan, Vietnam and Thailand.

An estimated 3,000 to 5,000 people were killed in Beichuan county of the mountainous Sichuan province after the quake struck in the early afternoon. The county is about 100 miles from the provincial capital, Chengdu.

VENEZUELA'S President Hugo Chavez said today that he will create a state-owned corporation to oversee steel production. Shortly after he announced the expropriation of steel company Sidor in a televised address, Mr Chavez said the state conglomerate will run the newly seized Sidor.

Furthermore, state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA, PdVSA, will invest in Sidor, the president said. "PdVSA must sign in the coming months a deal with Sidor...PdVSA can well invest some resources here, and Sidor can pay that back with (steel) pipes," said Mr Chavez.

The president suggested PdVSA will need all the help it can get as it has begun to look offshore for oil.

Mr Chavez made no mention of how much this deal would be worth. He didn't give further details of the new steel corporation he plans to create.

The death of a Polish woman who almost certainly saved the lives of 2,500 Jewish children during World War II has been announced.

Irena Sendlerowa organised the rescue of the children from the Warsaw Ghetto during the Nazi occupation.

She died in a Warsaw hospital at the age of 98, her daughter said.

After Germany's invasion of Poland in 1939, she took great risks to help Polish Jews held by the Nazis - an act that was punishable by death.

In 1942 Irena Sendlerowa joined the Zegota resistance movement.

With the rest of her team of 20, she rescued the children between 1940 and 1943, when the Nazis burned the ghetto, condemning its residents to death.

"Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind." So said Albert Einstein, and his famous aphorism has been the source of endless debate between believers and non-believers wanting to claim the greatest scientist of the 20th century as their own.

A little known letter written by him, however, may help to settle the argument - or at least provoke further controversy about his views.

Due to be auctioned this week in London after being in a private collection for more than 50 years, the document leaves no doubt that the theoretical physicist was no supporter of religious beliefs, which he regarded as "childish superstitions".

Einstein penned the letter on January 3 1954 to the philosopher Eric Gutkind who had sent him a copy of his book Choose Life: The Biblical Call to Revolt. The letter went on public sale a year later and has remained in private hands ever since.

Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, leader of the Tibetan people, discusses the uprising in his native Tibet, why he doesn't support protests against the Olympic torch relay and his proposals for a compromise with Beijing.

Tibetan spiritual leader The Dalai Lama: "The cultural rights and freedoms must apply to all Tibetans -- as it is stated in the constitution."

SPIEGEL: Your Holiness, have you already received your invitation for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Beijing?

Dalai Lama: The Chinese have chosen a different option: not to invite me, but to exclude me. And to blame me. Just yesterday, the Tibet Daily in Lhasa wrote some harsh words about me, once again. Your fellow journalists there are very inventive.

The Roman Catholic Church, for centuries a bastion of Latin usage, has given the ancient tongue a 21st Century boost by launching a website in Latin.

The Vatican website now has a section - Sancta Sedes (Holy See) - with Latin papal texts and religious works.

Pope Benedict XVI is an advocate of Latin, allowing Mass in the language.

But when a papal decree was issued only in Latin by mistake last June, there was confusion until the Vatican press office put out an Italian version.

"It caused a bit of panic for my colleagues who had no schooling in Latin," said the BBC's Rome correspondent David Willey, "until the official translation finally emerged."

The Vatican website already has sections in English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Spanish

MUMBAI: Uma Phago has no memory of seeing a human stomach, not even her own. But she remembers very well what a stomach feels like.

After her sister gave birth by Cesarean section, Phago ran her curious fingers along the stitched-up abdominal ridge. The sensation never left her mind.

In the Indian outsourcing company where she works, her job is to transcribe what American doctors record on their Dictaphones. They send their files at sundown to India, and a team of 5,500 Indians works while the doctors sleep. Every so often, the dictation involves a Cesarean, and Phago's ears perk up with fascination.

Phago, one of eight blind workers at CBay Systems, takes longer than most of her colleagues to type up the details. But because she is blind, she seems to get more of a thrill doing it, squeezing from each assignment a quantum of pleasure that is ever rarer in the tedious, soul-deadening world of Indian back offices.

As midnight approached, the sporadic outbreak of xenophobic violence across Alexandra was still spreading, with cops battling to bring it under control.

From London Road in the south to Vasco da Gama Street in the north, mobs clashed with the police and looted homes on Monday night.

Alexandra police station community policing forum chairperson Thomas Sithole told The Star that at least a dozen people were detained on charges ranging from public violence to robbery.

"They (the mob) are trying to throw out the foreigners. They say they (foreigners) are committing crime," he said. "The situation is spreading."

<...>

At the last estimate, more than 1 000 men and women were crammed into Alex police station to take refuge against the swelling violence.

In the end, there wasn't much to it... We went in with two cars and a total of 5 volunteers - with a truckload of blankets, bread rolls, two boxes of jam and bags of clothing. Children of Fire arranges emergency packets whenever a fire leaves people homeless, and we had a limited amount of those, designated for women with children. When we arrived at the central police station, Alex had calmed down, children were going to school and the usual bustle was evident. A lot of families that had been caught up in the violence had already left the station; I think there was a group of some 80 people left when we did the food drop.

I didn't get much of the details what had exactly happened, and only learned later there had been an estimated 1000 in the police station. I had a peek in the hall where the women had slept - must have been very cramped.

Obviously we brought too little to provide for everyone. And we forget to bring a spatula to spoon out the jam on the rolls so we had to improvise and breakfast became a wonderful messy affair. Some people said they hadn't had proper food for 24 hours.

One of the major radio stations in SA got a whiff of us, and sent someone to interview a CoF volunteer - this pulled in more press and allowed some of the people to tell their stories; I'm quite happy about that. Yet what will happen next to them is anyone's guess; police says that anyone who doesn't have an ID will be transported back to their original country... It's harsh.

Best we could do at this point. Let's see where this goes next.

The core of evil is a lack of empathy

The Times interview with Cherie Blair | Speaking for Myself: book extract (part 1) | Book extract (part 2) | Book extract (part 3)

Cherie Blair reveals in The Times today the full scale of her rift with Alastair Campbell over the role of Carole Caplin, her style adviser.

The wife of the former Prime Minister says that she was told that the Downing Street press office hated her because they had told lies on her behalf over Peter Foster, the Australian conman and Ms Caplin's boyfriend at the time, and her purchase of two flats in Bristol.

She reveals that infighting among Blairites was just as savage as that between Blairites and Brownites.