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ew Delhi, June 22 : A Shangai man decided not to kill himself after firefighters met his demands, and paid him 2,000 yuan not to jump off a building.

Drunk Shangai man climbed up the scaffolding to the top of the 70-m-high building, and claimed that he was penniless, reports the China Daily.

Firefighters also failed to force him to enter as he was still on the scaffolding outside the main body of the building.

However, they persuaded him not to jump off after they gave him 2,000 yuan as he asked.

Rome - Low voter turnout appeared set Monday to torpedo a bid in Italy to give larger political parties more power.

By Sunday evening, at the end of the first of two days of voting, turnout stood at 16 per cent.

At least 50 per cent of the eligible 50.5 million voters must cast ballots to make the referendum valid. Polls were scheduled to close at 1300 GMT.

Beijing - China aims to discourage smoking by raising the taxes on cigarettes and other tobacco products by more than 20 per cent, state media said Monday.

The tax for a 10-pack carton of cheaper cigarettes costing less than 70 yuan (10 dollars) will rise from 30 per cent to 36 per cent, while all wholesale tobacco products will also be subject to a new value-added tax of 5 per cent, the official Xinhua news agency and other state media quoted the government as saying.

London, June 22 : Singer Gwen Stefani is finding it hard to maintain a balance between her motherhood and professional life.

The `No Doubt' star says that she is "exhausted" from overworking herself.

Stefani reunited with the band for a tour following a five-year hiatus.

During that time, Stefani also had two children - Kingston, three, and Zuma, 10 months - with husband Gavin Rossdale, and worked hard on her clothing line L. A. M. B.

Baghdad - Five people on were kille

Islamabad - Jet aircraft pounded suspected Taliban positions in Pakistan's troubled north-western region on the Afghan border through the night, killing 15 militants and six civilians, officials said Monday.

The bombing raids came as the Pakistani armed forces intensified an operation in North and South Waziristan districts, a hotbed of al-Qaeda and Taliban fighters.