Tallinn  - Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said Thursday that the Baltic state could adopt the euro as its national currency by the middle of next year.

"It is possible that Estonia will request an extraordinary assessment from the European Commission and European Central Bank (ECB) this year," Ansip told a news conference in the Estonian capital, Tallinn.

"The purpose of requesting the assessment is so we could join the eurozone from July 1, 2010," he said.

Islamabad, Mar. 12: After the assassination of Former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Nawaz Sharif and Asif Ali Zardari stood on a same platform and vowed to work together to establish democracy in Pakistan, but now it seems that Sharif is cursing himself for joining hands with Zardari.

According to The Dawn, during a telephonic interview Nawaz Sharif said: “My biggest political mistake was my decision to trust Asif Ali Zardari.”

London, Mar. 12: Former Pakistan Prime Minister and Pakistan Muslim League- Nawaz (PML-N) Nawaz Sharif has accused the Zardari regime of plotting to assassinate him.

In an interview with The Guardian, Sharif blamed President Asif Ali Zardari of running an ‘elected dictatorship’.

“I have recently received certain information from own sources, about certain forces who are active against me. Threats to my life come from high-ranking government officials, certain topmost people in the government, my sources say,” Sharif said.

Washington - US President Barack Obama called on legislators to limit the number of pet projects for their own districts that are routinely included in spending bills, but refused to completely oppose the publicly unpopular practice known as earmarks.

A renewed debate over the merits of earmarks has been swirling in Washington over the past few weeks as Congress debated a 410-billion- dollar budget for the remainder of the 2009 fiscal year, which ends in September.

Antananarivo  - Madagascar's opposition leader Andry Rajoelina said Wednesday he would boycott peace talks planned for Thursday aimed at ending the violent standoff with President Marc Ravalomanana.

Rajoelina told Western diplomats he and other opposition groups would boycott the talks with government and civic groups that the Council for Christian Churches of Madagascar is organizing on behalf of the United Nations.

Berlin  - Italy's first ever state secretary for tourism emphasised the role of the travel industry to combat the deepening global recession during a visit Wednesday to the world's biggest travel fair (ITB) in Berlin.

Tourism Secretary Michela Vittoria Brambini said that, at times of economic hardship, "it is all the more important to encourage those branches of the economy that generate wealth and create possibilities in the short term," adding that Italy was well positioned to do so.