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Istanbul (Turkey), June 18 : Even as a power struggle is on in Iran between supporters loyal to incumbent President Mohammad Ahmadinejad and supporters of his political rival Mir Hossein Mousavi, the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Sayed Ali Khamenei, is aiming to remove rival first-generation leaders - some of the original leaders of the revolution.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a second-generation leader, is, according to analysts, turning out to be a useful ally in this effort.

Brussels - The European Union would work even harder on the ongoing financial crisis and climate change if European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso is elected for a second term, the Portuguese politician said in a bid for re-election Thursday.

"We need more, not less Europe. We need Europe to focus on where it can add real value. This is what our citizens expect from us," Barroso wrote to EU leaders in a letter published on the morning of an EU summit which is expected to discuss his future.

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysian police busted distributors of pirated and pornographic VCDs and DVDs, seizing more than 350,000 discs and arresting six men, an official news report said Thursday.

Officers from the main Bukit Aman police station in the capital Kuala Lumpur conducted a raid at a factory used to store pirated discs for sale throughout Malaysia, the Bernama news agency reported.

Police seized the VCDs and DVDs, worth some 1 million ringgit (270,000 dollars), and detained the six suspects aged in their 20s and 30s.

Indian tennis ace Sania Mirza has crashed out of the doubles event of the Aegon International with a prize money $ 600,000 in Eastbourne on Wednesday.

Sania and her Taiepi partner Chia-Jung Chuang pair were defeated by fourth seeded Australian pair of Samantha Stosur and Rennae Stubbs by 5-7 4-6.

The first set went to the tie-breaker as both the Sania-Chuang and Samantha-Stubbs duo were playing brilliantly but in the end Samantha-Stubbs duo won the set by 7-6.

But in the second set Samantha-Stubbs duo outplayed Sania-Chuang and won the set and match by 5-7 6-4.

Singapore - A Singapore court Thursday sentenced a Cambodian management student to three months in jail for outraging the modesty of two women, media reports said.

Chhuon Ratana, 20, had pleaded guilty to squeezing the breasts of two women at a club in Singapore's popular nightlife area Clarke Quay in May last year.

Bangkok - Thai shares fell 3.07 per cent in value Thursday as foreign investors pulled their money out of Asian stocks, analysts said.

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) index ended at 568.17, down 17.97 points or 3.07 per cent.

The Bangkok bourse has been on the decline since Monday, as the baht currency weakened against the dollar, putting investors in a selling mood.

"Money is flowing out of the regional markets, not just Thailand, Chaiyot Jitwankul, an analyst at Country Group securities, said.