Karnataka Chief Minister B S Yeddyurappa said that he is thinking of filing a defamation case against the former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda over the allegations made against him in the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise (NICE) case. Yeddyurappa's legal advisers have opined that it is a fit case for defamation.

Gowda had alleged that Yeddyurappa favoured the Nandi Infrastructure Corridor Enterprise who was the promoter of the Bangalore Mysore Expressway.

Bucharest  - Romania's parliament gave its approval Monday night to the creation of a grand coalition government between the centre-right Democratic Liberal Party
(PD-L) and the socialist PSD party.

Emil Boc, leader of the PD-L, will serve as prime minister. The new government was approved by a 324-115 vote.

Brussels  - Belgian's King Albert II on Monday formally accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Yves Leterme.

According to palace reports, Leterme was asked to stay on as a caretaker until a new government can be formed.

Leterme's resignation follows accusations that his government tried to prevent a court from blocking the sale of the country's troubled Fortis bank to BNP Paribas of France.

Damascus  - Direct talks between Israel and Syria are a possibility, says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad Monday, provided that ongoing indirect talks yield fruit.

"The peace process is similar to a process of a building, it has to be based first on solid foundations," said al-Assad, referring to the indirect peace talks with Israel. "If the indirect talks are successful they will lead to direct talks as a second stage. Afterwards peace will come naturally," al-Assad added.

Los Angeles - Former action movie star Arnold Schwarzenegger has not satiated his political ambitions by serving as California governor.

The Austrian-born superstar revealed in an interview on 60 Minutes late Sunday night that he would "absolutely" like to be United States president if the Constitution could be changed to allow foreign-born Americans to run for the White House.

Baghdad - A member of the Iraqi parliament has announced plans for a prison visit to the journalist who threw his shoes at the US president to assess the incarcerated man's living conditions.

Seinab al-Kanani and a brother of journalist Montazer al-Zaidi have petitioned a court for the right to visit al-Zaidi in prison, al-Kanani told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Sunday.

Al-Zaidi has been in prison since throwing his shoes at US President George W Bush during a December 14 press conference to protest Bush's policies in Iraq.

Relatives and supporters of al-Zaidi entered a third day of silent protests near Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, where both the Iraqi government and the US embassy are situated.