Washington - Barack Obama's plan to jump start the US economy probably doesn't involve T-shirts.

But T-shirts and other wares emblazoned with the incoming president's face are in hot demand and might just provide a needed retail boost in the nation's capital.

Street vendors who typically hawk wares with images of landmarks and the words Washington DC have also expanded to include items such as baseball caps proclaiming "Obama is my homeboy."

London, Jan. 14 : An official investigation has been launched after two immigration service staff working with asylum-seekers were found to have links to the British National Party, The Independent reports.

One guard employed to look after asylum-seekers at a detention centre has been forced to resign after his name was found on a membership list of the BNP.

Another man has been suspended while his employer investigates alleged links to the same far-right organisation.

Yangon - A Mandalay court has sentenced a student activist to 104 years in jail for attending a meeting marking the first anniversary of the "saffron revolution" on the Thai-Myanmar border, a prisoner support group said Wednesday.

According to the Assistance Association for Political Prisoners (AAPP), Bo Min Yu Ko, in his early 20's, was arrested on September 18, 2008 after attended a meeting on the Thai-Myanmar border to commemorate the first anniversary of the monk-led protests that rocked Yangon and parts of upper Myanmar in August and September of 2007.

Phnom Penh - Cambodian journalists on Wednesday accused the government of trying to censor the internet with new legislation they say aims at silencing public criticism.

Sam Rithy Doung Hak, a monitor for the Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), said proposed laws to regulate audiovisual content on the internet could jeopardize Cambodia's relatively liberal media environment.

"These audiovisual laws will cover sound and pictures published on the internet, which I am convinced is driven by the government's intention to censor the internet," he said.

Islamabad, Jan 14: Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif has stressed on the supremacy of parliament by saying he is ready to back Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani if President Asif Ali Zardari attempts to take back his power to dissolve the assemblies.

"If the presidency tries to create hurdles in our way, then the PML-N will extend its support to the Prime Minister," Sharif told reporters at the Punjab House here.

In Tamil Nadu, the ruling DMK enjoyed a thumping win, in a fiercely contested Assembly byelection in Thirumangalam, which dashed the hopes of the newly-formed AIADMK-MDMK-Left alliance to the ground.

DMK’s Latha Adhiyaman defeated AIADMK’s M Muthuramalingam by an enormous margin of 39,266 votes.