Male/Colombo – Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has been defeated in the presidential elections ending his record as one of Asia's longest-serving leaders, officials in Male said Wednesday.

In Tuesday's run-off election, Gayoom, 71, was denied a seventh consecutive term and will be succeeded by Mohamed "Anni" Nasheed, a 41-year-old activist who was once imprisoned by Gayoom's government.

Tokyo - Japan's industrial output rose 1.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in September, compared to the previous month, the government said Wednesday.

The September growth was supported by automobile, machinery and electronics device sectors, but the government downgraded its assessment, estimating overseas demand for Japanese products would slowdown amid the global financial crisis.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expected the output to fall 2.3 per cent in October and 2.2 per cent in November.

Islamabad - A powerful earthquake rattled Pakistan's south-western Balochistan district on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring scores of others, media reports said.

The US Geological Survey on its website said a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 60 kilometres north-east of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan at 5:10am (2310 GMT).

At least 17 people died in Balochistan's Ziarat district and many were feared trapped under rubble of several houses that collapsed during the strong shocks, DawnNews television channel reported quoting local authorities.

DawnNews said officials in Pishin district also confirmed four deaths.

Hamburg - A wind of change is blowing through the supermini segment and following hard on the heels of the new Mazda 2 and the Seat Ibiza is Ford's contribution, the revamped Fiesta, now in its seventh generation.

The Blue Oval badly needs to win back customers in this market which it once dominated. After all, the Fiesta was the best-selling car in its class for a decade. The latest Fiesta is a truly global vehicle to be sold in dozens of markets around the world, from Asia to Eastern Europe.

Washington - The US raid against a top al-Qaeda operative this week in Syria was the latest effort by the Bush administration to step up pressure on the terrorist network, even by striking in countries without the approval of their governments.

Syria strongly protested the helicopter-borne attack on Sunday, 8 kilometres beyond the Iraqi border, where the United States is believed to have killed an al-Qaeda lieutenant responsible for smuggling fighters, weapons and money into Iraq.

The White House has not publicly acknowledged the attack. Damascus says that only civilians were killed.

Paris - Only weeks after celebrating its world debut at the Paris Motor Show, the Renault Laguna Coupe goes on sale in Europe at a starting price of 30,300 euros (40,715 dollars).

Renault is offering the choice of three petrol and three diesel engines in the range 110 kW/150 hp to 175 kW/238 hp.

The 3.5-litre V6 petrol and 3.0 V6 turbo diesel engines equipped with six-speed automatic transmission are new and will in future also be available in other models, the manufacturer announced.