Montreal  - Barely six weeks after Canadians elected a minority Conservative government, opposition parties Friday vowed to bring down the Tories.

Elder statesmen from the left-of-centre Liberal Party and the socialist New Democratic Party were discussing a possible coalition government, with former Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien and NDP leader Ed Broadbent engaged in talks about a deal.

All three opposition parties - the Liberals, the NDP and the separatist Bloc Quebecois from the French-speaking province of Quebec - have angrily rejected the Tories' economic plan that contained no stimulus package for Canada's slumping economy.

Today, Union Textile Minister Shankarsinh Vaghela, denied reducing Minimum Support Price (MSP) of cotton, in a direct reply to the agitating ginners across the country. With the aim to pitch for rationalization of cotton MSP, nearly 4,000 ginners in India have launched a two-day strike.

At a press conference held in Ahmedabad, Vaghela said, “Ginners reaped the rich benefits of higher cotton prices last year. Now let the farmers earn higher returns this year.”

New York  - The United Nations said Wednesday Kosovo's independence has propelled the body into assuming a political role to try to solve the sovereignty dispute between Kosovo and Serbia.

Serbia still claims Kosovo as its territory after Pristina declared independence in February, adopted a constitution in June and was recognized by a total of 52 governments, including the United States and many European nations.

The UN Mission in Kosovo, which began its work in 1999, is fast changing because Kosovo now is ruled by a government. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has ordered an accelerated reconfiguration of the mission so it can readjust to circumstances in the former Serb province.

Cairo  - Arab foreign ministers met in Cairo on Wednesday to find out ways to support the Palestinian talks after Islamist group Hamas refused to attend the Cairo-brokered reconciliation talks.

In his opening speech, Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal warned that Israel was the sole beneficiary of the rivalry between Palestinians, which spared Israel the trouble of moving forward in the peace process.

"If we don't want to accuse anyone of hindering the peace process, then at least we are required to remind all parties involved of one fact: That we must not forget that the sole beneficiary of the rivalry between Palestinians is Israel," Faisal said.

Banjaluka  - Bosnia's Serb Republic (RS) on Wednesday filed criminal charges against a former US diplomat, local media reported.

RS Prime Minister Milorad Dodik told journalists in Banjaluka that charges were had been filed against Raffi Gregorian, who is deputy International High Representative in Bosnia.

Gregorian is charged of plotting against the Serb Republic, the Serb entity within Bosnia. The Office of the High Representative (OHR) is an ad hoc international institution set up to oversee the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement, which ended the Bosnian-Serb war.

"The charges are written and sent, " Dodik said.

Johannesburg  - Sounding gloomy about the prospects for reaching agreement with President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF on a unity government, Zimbabwe's Movement for Democratic Change on Wednesday proposed taking over some of government's responsibilities.

In a statement issued on the second day of fresh multi-party talks in South Africa, MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said in the absence of "any progress" the MDC was now "committing itself to addressing the humanitarian crisis in Zimbabwe."

"In the absence of a legitimate government in Zimbabwe, in the absence of a government of Zimbabwe that puts the will and welfare of the people first, the MDC must take on this leadership responsibility," Tsvangirai said.