Berlin- Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet on Tuesday approved Germany's biggest postwar fiscal stimulus package, earmarking 50 billion euros (65 billion euros) over the next two years to help drag the country out of recession.

Key elements include public investment in infrastructure projects such as roads and schools as well as cuts in income tax and contributions to health and unemployment insurance.

Lampedusa, Italy  - Angry at the Italian government's decision to open a new immigrant detention centre on their islet, hundreds of Lampedusa's inhabitants Tuesday staged a protest march.

The demonstration was organized by Lampedusa's local authorities who also called on shopkeepers and other businesses to remain shuttered in solidarity.

Earlier this month Italy's conservative government said it would no longer transfer would-be immigrants from Lampedusa to other reception centres in Italy, but instead build a new centre on the island where new arrivals would be identified before being returned to their home countries.

Hong Kong - Scores of pro-democracy legislators and activists in Hong Kong Tuesday marched to demand universal suffrage in the former British colony by 2012.

The demonstrators marched from the city's Legislative Council building to Government House, calling for democracy and criticizing the territory's chief executive Donald Tsang.

Beijing-appointed Tsang earlier this month put off a planned public consultation on political reform in the city of 6.9 million, saying the government needed to focus on the economic crisis.

Pretoria/Brussels - Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) on Tuesday blasted as "malicious" assurances given by southern African leaders at the end of a 12-hour summit that the party had agreed to join President Robert Mugabe in a power-sharing government.

The Congress party denied any impact on alliance between Congress and Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh following the joining of SP by former Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) leader and two time state chief minister, Kalyan Singh. However, some Congress leaders expressed reservation on Kalyan Singh factor due to his involvement in demolition of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya in 1992.

The Congress in-charge of Uttar Pradesh affairs and party's general secretary Digvijay Singh said, "If Mr. Kalyan Singh now feels sorry for the Babri demolition and repents, and if this alignment leads to weakening the BJP, we won't have concerns."

Manama, Bahrain - Bahraini authorities arrested three opposition figures on Monday, including the head of the Haq Movement, a senior member in it and a Shiite clergymen who is closely linked to the movement.

The early morning raids that led to the arrests came about after the three refused to adhere to a request by the public prosecutor to appear in front of investigators on Sunday.

Haq secretary general Hasan Mushaima, human rights committee head and official spokesman for the movement Abduljalil al-Singace and Sheikh Mohammad Habib al-Miqdad were all taken to unspecified locations following the raids on their homes.