New Delhi  - Maharashtra state Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh offered to resign while his deputy RR Patil, who also held the state's Home Ministry portfolio, stepped down Monday as political heads started rolling in the aftermath of the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

A three-day terrorist siege of India's financial hub and capital of Maharashtra state ended Saturday after 188 people, including 30

foreigners, had died.

Madrid  - European socialists and social democrats on Monday advocated more government intervention in the economy.

The ongoing economic crisis demonstrated the failure of the "economy of egoism" advocated by conservative parties, Spanish Socialist Party deputy leader Jose Blanco told the council of the Party of European Socialists in Madrid.

Some 30 leading politicians, including Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and recently elected French Socialist Party leader Martine Aubry, were to discuss the first common programme of socialists and social democrats for European elections.

Chicago, Nov. 30 : A former adviser to US President-elect Barack Obama who shockingly branded one-time Democratic rival Hillary Clinton a "monster" and was forced to quit, has now been named as a member of the transition team for completing the vetting process that will clear the way for Clinton to be the next Secretary of State.

Samantha Power caused a huge uproar in American political circles at the height of the primary contest, when she told The Scotsman in an interview "She (Hillary) is a monster, too. She is stooping to anything."

Bangkok  - Thailand, reeling from its worst political crisis in decades, is expected to postpone hosting the 14th summit of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) scheduled for mid-December, officials said Sunday.

"The prime minister and foreign minister will decide at the cabinet meeting on Tuesday whether to postpone the summit," Foreign Ministry spokesman Tharit Charungvat said.

Bangkok  - Brushing off bomb attacks on his followers and mounting damages done to the country, a core leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) vowed Sunday to remain at Bangkok's airports until they were victorious in toppling the government.

PAD leader Chamlong Srimuang told supporters at Government House, the site of a grenade attack early Sunday that injured 46 PAD members, that the political standoff between the demonstrators and government would have a "victor" on Tuesday.

Thailand's Constitution Court is expected to rule on Tuesday on whether the ruling People Power Party committed fraud during the December 23, 2007 elections.