Taipei - Taiwan stocks surged more than 6 per cent Thursday after the central bank cut interest rates and on positive signs in Taiwan-China ties.

The benchmark TAIEX rose 277.12 points, or 6.29 per cent, to close at 4,683.64 after the central bank cut interest rates by 0.25 per cent, and due to positive signs in Taiwan-China ties.

Bangkok - Hundreds of protestors descended on the British embassy in Bangkok Thursday to demand the extradition of convicted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra from London to face a two-year jail term in Thailand.

An estimated 1,500 followers of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), which has been staging anti-government protests since May, marched Thursday after Thaksin was sentenced October 21 on an abuse-of-power conviction.

Nanded (Maharashtra), Oct 30 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh will attend the main function of Guru-ta-Gaddi tercentenary celebrations here today.

Union Minister for Cultural Affairs Ambika Soni, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and Deputy Chief Minister R. R. Patil will also present on the occasion.

The Prime Minister will also release a book ''Guru Maniyo''.

The occasion is being marked to celebrate the 300 years of declaration of Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs, as the perpetual Guru in 1708 by Guru Gobind Singh, the 10th master of Sikhs.

Two new geological studies have suggested that the devastating ‘Tsunami’, which killed 230,000 people in 2004, was the largest in the Indian Ocean in some 600 years.

Researchers said that long gap might clarify how enough geological pressure built up to power the massive undersea earthquake, which launched the killer waves over 100 feet high four years ago
 

Los Angeles - From health care to taxes, Iraq to Iran, Joe Biden to Joe the Plumber - the candidates in Tuesday's presidential election are blitzing the US airwaves with an avalanche of ads.

It's their final chance to persuade voters at the climax of the most expensive campaign in electoral history, and Democratic nominee Barack Obama holds the advantage.

Beijing, Oct 30 : The Chinese government is learnt to have chalked out a new schedule for holding another round of talks with His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s representatives “in the near future”.

The announcement of the planned talks came a day after the Dalai Lama reportedly called a special meeting of Tibetan exile communities and political organizations next month.

The five-day gathering, scheduled for mid-November, could mark a shift in the Dalai Lama''s strategy for dealing with the central government, foreign media have reported.