Washington  - US President Barack Obama on Monday reversed an eight-year long government block on federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, a promising but controversial science, and rejected what he called a "false choice" between science and morals.

Obama signed an executive order that overturned former president George W Bush's policy limiting research on the cells, which was put in place during his first year in office back in 2001. Fulfilling a 2008 campaign promise, Obama said he would "vigorously support" scientists who pursue stem cell research.

New York  - The World Jewish Congress welcomed on Monday the planned visit to the Holy Land in May by Pope Benedict XVI, suggesting that his presence would ease some of the controversies between the Vatican and Israel.

Benedict announced on Sunday his intention to make the pilgrimage from May 8 to 15, starting with a stop in Jordan and then Israel and Palestinian territories. It would be the third visit by a Roman Catholic pontiff to the Holy Land.

Islamabad - The suspected mastermind of last week's terrorist attacks on the Sri Lankan cricket team managed to flee when police raided his apartment in eastern city of Lahore on Monday, according to a television report said.

Mohammad Aqeel, a member of an Islamic militant outfit, is believed to have planned the ambush on the convoy carrying Sri Lankan players to a stadium in Lahore last Tuesday. Eight people, including six policemen, died and seven members of the cricket team were injured in the attack.

Colombo  - Sri Lankan government troops Monday claimed to have killed at least 200 Tamil rebels and recovered 150 bodies during fierce fighting over the past five days.

The Defence Ministry in a statement said heavy fighting broke out last Thursday in parts of Mullaitivu district, 390 kilometres north- east of the capital Colombo, which represent the last remaining areas held by the rebels.

The army has thrown in special forces and commando troops and has seized a large haul of weapons in its operations, the Defence Ministry added.

Bhubaneshwar, Mar 9: Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) President Ashok Singhal on Monday accused Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of being ‘anti-Hindu’ after his fallout with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state.

Singhal said that Patnaik is ‘anti-Hindu’ and this is the reason for his fallout with BJP.

"I never expected him to act in this manner. I never expected that he would fool Hindus like this," said Singhal addressing a news conference here.

The BJP on Saturday withdrew support to Patnaik''s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) following breakdown of seat-sharing talks for the forthcoming state assembly and parliamentary elections. The BJP and BJD had jointly contested the 2004 polls.

Beijing - Chinese forces have tightened border controls between the Tibet Autonomous Region and neighbouring countries ahead of "expected sabotage activities" by supporters of the exiled Dalai Lama, state media said on Monday.

"We have made due deployment and tightened controls at border ports, and key areas and passages along the border in Tibet," the official Xinhua news agency quoted Fu Hongyu, the political commissar of the public security ministry's Border Control Department, as saying in Beijing.