British-born science fiction guru Arthur C. Clarke died at a hospital in Sri Lanka on Wednesday after a brief illness, his aide Rohan de Silva told AFP. He was 90.
President Mahinda Rajapakse mourned the death of Clarke and paid tribute to him as a "great visionary." His death was a loss to Sri Lanka, the author's adopted home since 1956, Rajapakse said. "The president was deeply saddened by his death," spokesman Chandrapala Liyanage said. "The president recalled attending Sir Arthur's 90th birthday celebrations. The president believes his death is a loss to Sri Lanka."

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France's last remaining veteran of World War I died Wednesday at age 110 after outliving 8.4 million Frenchmen who fought in what they called "la Grande Guerre." Lazare Ponticelli, who was born in Italy but chose to fight for France and was a French citizen for most of the past century, died at his home in the Paris suburb of Kremlin-Bicetre, the national veterans' office said. "It is to him and his generation that we owe in large part the peaceful and pacified Europe of today. It is up to us to be worthy of that," President Nicolas Sarkozy said in a statement. France planned a national funeral ceremony Monday honoring Ponticelli and all the "poilus," an affectionate term meaning hairy or tough that the French use for their soldiers who fought in World War I.

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In his first public comments, East Timor President Jose Ramos-Horta thanked his medical staff and supporters but refrained from talking about the assassination attempt against him. Horta recorded a video message at the Australian hospital where he continues to recover from gunshot wounds. The Australian Broadcasting Corporation posted the message on its Web site Wednesday. "Today is the first time I am able to speak publicly," Ramos-Horta said, propped on an armchair with the East Timorese flag behind him. "Although I am refraining from making a political speech ... I wish to use this opportunity to thank all who prayed for me, who looked after me, who cared for me following the assassination attempt on me."

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Sudan (AFP) - Relief workers may battle chronic insecurity to deliver aid to the tens of thousands displaced by the Darfur war, but recipients in this southern Sudanese market trade handouts for luxuries. Having scrambled for newly arrived aid, Darfuris taking refuge in the desolate Boro Medina camp in Western Bahr el-Ghazal state carry off the booty to barter for something tastier at the local trading post.
There are no tarpaulins in the camp, home to 3,000 men, women and children from African tribes who fled the conflict in western Sudan, but many prefer to sleep under wattle-and-reed shelters and exchange the canvas for meat.

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Veterinary workers in India have begun culling tens of thousands of chickens in an attempt to combat a fresh outbreak of bird flu in West Bengal. The disease surfaced in the region in January. More than one million birds were slaughtered. But about a month ago officials said the situation was under control.Both outbreaks involve the potentially fatal H5N1 virus, although so far there have been no reports of humans being infected in India.
Scientists fear that the virus could eventually mutate into a form easily transmitted between humans, leading to a pandemic that could kill millions worldwide.

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China's inflation hit 8.7% in February, the highest rate in over 11 years, the National Statistics Bureau said.
Soaring food prices were driving inflation, up 23.3% in February against the previous year, the bureau said.
It attributed the jump to snow storms last month that caused widespread disruption and to seasonal price rises over the Lunar New Year holiday.
Analysts had predicted a rise of 8.0% but the figure, up from 7.1% in January, was higher than forecast.
In recent months inflation has continued to rise despite higher interest rates and other measures by Beijing to keep the economy from overheating.

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Bitter cold weather and heavy snow left 37 people dead in central Afghanistan, a provincial governor said Tuesday.
The victims, including 20 children, died in remote areas of Ghazni province in the last 24 hours, said Gov. Faizullah Faizan.Faizan said air drops of food and other supplies were needed in the areas affected by snow and freezing weather, after roads were blocked off and people were unable to reach health centers and food distribution points.
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China's big freeze has affected 105 million people, leaving at least 64 dead and millions short of basic goods and sowing havoc on the transport and power networks, state media said. The mounting toll caused by the severest winter weather for hald a century includes 2.5 million people who have been evacuated from the worst-hit areas, or are awaiting evacuation, the China Daily said. More misery was expected in broad areas of central, southern and eastern China as the conditions are forecast to continue through the end of the week, according to the state meteorological agency. With masses of angry and desperate travellers battling to get home for the Lunar New Year holiday next week, the government has taken the extraordinary step of asking millions of migrant workers to forego an annual ritual that is typically the only bright spot in a life of hard toil and low pay.
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Former Minister of Education Wu Jin, died of cancer of the ampulla of Vater Monday at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) Hospital in Tainan City in southern Taiwan at the age of 74, according to a university spokesman.

Wu was admitted to hospital late last year after returning from a visit to China, the spokesman said.

He was diagnosed two years ago with cancer of the ampulla of vater and received treatment from NCKU Hospital before going to another hospital in America. However, Wu's health began to deteriorate last month, until he finally passed away at 12:06 p.m.

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Doctors caring for former Indonesian dictator Suharto struggled Friday to reduce a dangerous fluid buildup in his lungs and raise his red blood cell count, a week after he was hospitalized in critical condition.

The 86-year-old remained hooked to a kidney dialysis machine Friday, and his condition was not yet stable enough to implant a second pacemaker for his faltering heart, said Marjo Subiandono, the chief presidential doctor.

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The mercury plummeted to 7.3 degrees Celsius in the southern county of Chiayi yesterday morning, the lowest temperature recorded so far this winter in Taiwan's low-lying plains, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

The Central Weather Bureau attributed the 7.3 C temperature -- recorded along the flat Chiayi coast at 6:58 a.m. before the sun rose -- to the onslaught of the winter's first cold front from the north and clear skies that have maximized radiative cooling overnight. In mountainous areas, the CWB recorded temperatures of 0.4 C on Alishan (Mt. Ali) in eastern Chiayi at 12:12 a.m. Wednesday, and minus 6.3 C on Yushan (Mt. Jade), Taiwan's highest mountain, at 5:22 a.m. No snow fell in the two areas, however, due to a low level of humidity, the bureau said.

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France (Reuters) - French President Nicolas Sarkozy, visiting police officers injured in riots, vowed on Wednesday to take a tough line against protesters after a sharp drop in the nightly violence.

Youths in Paris suburbs and the southern city of Toulouse torched several cars and set rubbish bins ablaze in the third night of violence. But officials reported no major clashes between youths and police who were out in force.

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Doctors in India have successfully operated on a 2-year-old girl born with four arms, four legs and extra internal organs, doctors said on Wednesday.

A team of around 30 medics removed what amounted to Lakshmi Tatma's headless identical twin sister who was joined at the pelvis and who did not develop and separate properly in the womb -- an extremely rare case.

"It went very well," said Mamta Patil, a doctor involved in the surgery at Sparsh Hospital in Bangalore in south India. "She'll be in intensive care for the next 48 hours."

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Doctors began operating Tuesday on a 2-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs in an extensive surgery that they hope will leave the girl with a normal body, a hospital official said.

The girl is joined to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in the mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.

The girl, Lakshmi, is named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth, and some in her village in the northern state of Bihar revere her as a goddess.

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Doctors began operating Tuesday on a 2-year-old girl born with four arms and four legs in an extensive surgery that they hope will leave the girl with a normal body, a hospital official said.

The girl is joined to a "parasitic twin" that stopped developing in the mother's womb. The surviving fetus absorbed the limbs, kidneys and other body parts of the undeveloped fetus.

The girl, Lakshmi, is named after the four-armed Hindu goddess of wealth, and some in her village in the northern state of Bihar revere her as a goddess.

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