Paris - The French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and British Foreign Secretary David Miliband are shortly to travel to the threatened Congolese city of Goma.

Athens - A Greek prosecutor charged Olympic 400-meter hurdles champion Fani Halkia with criminal doping offences Friday after she failed a dope test ahead of the 

Bucharest - Teachers in Romania have called a series of strikes to press demands for a 50 per cent pay increase approved by parliament, union leaders said Friday.

The teachers plan a day-long stoppage on November 10 and an indefinite strike from November 18 if their demands are not met. Civil servants and doctors say they will join the protest action.

President Traian Basescu has urged the teachers not to go ahead with their strike, saying it could jeopardize parliamentary elections scheduled for November 30.

The president supports the teachers' pay claim, but it is opposed by his political rival, Prime Minister Calin Popescu Tariceanu.

Chennai, Oct. 31 : For the first time in Indian cinema, a real life urchin will be seen on the big screen playing a major role in a Tamil movie on beggary and child exploitation here.

Directed by eminent film director Vinayan, the film ‘Naallai Nammathe’ meaning tomorrow belongs to us, is aimed to create awareness about the life, which the beggars and pavement dwellers have to live. It also highlights how mafia goons have a say in beggary and exploitation of families.

Film producer Jose Maveli spotted the nine-year-old Babu who was roaming and begging on the streets of Hyderabad (Andhra Pradesh). He was facing starvation and homelessness at that time. The boy was admitted to a hospital by a Kerala-based NGO.

Islamabad - At least 20 people, including five policemen and eight Taliban militants, were killed Friday in a suicide bombing and army airstrikes in Pakistan's tribal region and the neighboring North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), officials and media reports said.

A suicide bomber blew himself up outside the office of a senior police officer, killing five policemen and four civilians in NWFP.

Deputy Inspector General of Police Akhtar Ali Shah said the attack against a vehicle of his security escort took place when he was about to leave his office in Mardan, some 50 kilometres north-east of provincial capital Peshawar.

"I was the target of the attack," he told English-language Dawn news channel.

Sao Paulo - Local hero Felipe Massa had a perfect start into the Brazilian Formula One Grand Prix weekend when he beat world championship rival Lewis Hamilton for first place in the opening practice session on Friday.

Massa clocked 1 minute 12.305 seconds in his Ferrari for the 4.309-kilometres lap on the Sao Paulo course.

The Briton Hamilton had 1:20.495 minutes in a McLaren-Mercedes and dethroned 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen of Finland recorded 1:12.507 for third place in the second Ferrari.

Hamilton takes a seven-point lead over Massa into the season-ending race as he bids to become the youngest world champion in F1 history at age 23. He requires fifth place to secure the title if Massa wins the race.