Brussels  - The European Commission is poised for a bitter battle with Europe's main footwear-exporting countries after a majority of member states Wednesday voted against extending tariffs on Chinese shoes, diplomats said.

A proposal to extend the tariffs by up to one year, the time it would take for a proposed expiry review to be completed, was rejected by officials from 15 of the EU's 27 member states.

Washington  - President George W Bush on Tuesday added Bolivia to a drugs blacklist after concluding the South American country has failed to cooperate in stemming the production and trafficking of illegal narcotics.

Bolivia joins Venezuela and Myanmar - also known as Burma - for failing to meet international obligations to curb drug trafficking, Bush said in a statement released by the White House.

La Paz  - Federal troops Tuesday arrested Leopoldo Fernandez, the governor of a province seeking more autonomy, on charges of genocide in connection with at least 15 deaths during clashes last week over the country's wealth and resources.

The arrest follows the declaration of martial law in the northern Bolivian province of Pando by the government of President Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous president. Troops have taken control of the provincial capital Cobija in response to an outbreak of violence in the region.

Cairo  - As Egyptian shares continued to fall tumble Tuesday, analysts were expressing concern about a domino effect from the sharp fall in global markets triggered by the Lehman Brothers failure.

The Egyptian Stock Exchange Tuesday took losses on key stocks to more than 10 per cent over the past two trading sessions. The benchmark index CASE30 shed a further 4.73 per cent to reach its lowest point in 17 months, in the wake of Monday's 5.52 per cent drop.

The index of 30 key stocks on the stock exchange ended the day at 7,184 points, having plunged almost 1,500 points in the past week amid turmoil on Wall Street and other world exchanges.

New York  - Major US stock indices were recovering Tuesday after turmoil in the financial sector on Monday led to the worst day on Wall Street since the September 2001 terrorist attacks.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 40 points early Tuesday afternoon, despite opening the trading day down about 150 points. The Dow plunged more than 500 points, or 4.4 per cent, on Monday.

La Paz  - Leopoldo Fernandez, the governor of the northern Bolivian province of Pando, was arrested Tuesday by the military, as they took control of provincial capital Cobija in response to an outbreak of violence in the region.

Bolivian television reported Fernandez was made to board a military aeroplane that was set to take him to La Paz just 15 minutes after his arrest.