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Valletta, Malta - The Maltese government started distributing free energy-saving light bulbs to every household Thursday in a bid to cut down on hefty electricity prices.

The smallest EU state is still totally dependent on oil to feed its two power stations, which are believed to be stretched to the limit. The government recently unveiled plans to link up its power grid to Sicily and opt for alternative energy sources.

Pharmaceutical and biotechnology major Wockhardt Ltd has sold its German subsidiary Esparma to Mova GmbH, a subsidiary of German drug major Lindopharm, for undisclosed amount.

It should be noted that Wockhardt had acquired the Esparma business in May 2004 for $11 million (Rs 50 crore) to enter the German market.

Esparma has a portfolio of 135 marketing authorizations, of which 67 are in Germany, according to the Wockhardt website. The company has 9 international patents and 94 trademarks.

Dusseldorf - Four men on trial in Germany for a terrorist bomb plot have started making extensive confessions, their defence lawyer said on Thursday.

Federal Criminal Police officers had begun hearings on Tuesday, in the prisons where the men were being held, said defence lawyer Axel Nagler, adding that "the statements are very extensive."

German police arrested the plotters in September 2007 after they bought chemicals, allegedly to blow up US bases on behalf of the Islamic Jihad Union (IJU), a shadowy group said to be as dangerous as al-Qaeda.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong's most famous gangster, who is paralysed and confined to a wheelchair, appeared in court Thursday charged with assaulting a prison warder.

Yip Kai-foon, 47, serving a 36-year jail term for robbing jewellery shops with an AK-47 rifle in the 1980s and 1990s, is accused of injuring the officer on April 30.

Yip, nicknamed "King of Thieves" and once Hong Kong's most feared gangster, appeared in court in a special bed and refused a lawyer.

London - British Airways (BA) pilots are on course to accept a pay cut in return for shares in a "groundbreaking deal" aimed at bolstering the finances of the troubled airline, it was announced Thursday.

The pilots' union Balpa (British Airline Pilots Association) said it was recommending a pay and productivity package aimed at saving the firm 26 millions pounds (42 million dollars) annually over the next to years.

Lancashire (UK), June 18 : All-rounder Andrew Flintoff believes that the selectors will be making a big mistake if they do not include fast bowler Steve Harmison in the Ashes squad.

Harmison has taken 15 wickets for 132 runs in his last two county championship matches for Durham, and Flintoff said: "He was close to unplayable."

Harmison stormed up the Test bowling charts to No. 1 in 2004, but has been downgraded to common assault since his widest-of-wides at Brisbane in November 2006 became a horrible prologue to England''s 5-0 whitewash in Oz.