Wellington - Ten swine flu cases were confirmed Tuesday in New Zealand as public health authorities throughout the Asia-Pacific region went on high alert to contain the outbreak. New Zealand was the sixth country to report confirmed cases of the swine flu H1N1 virus, which broke out in Mexico and has now spread to the United States, Spain, Canada, Britain and Israel.

Thailand and South Korea reported suspected cases of the mutated virus.

Geneva - The timing of the swine flu outbreak, along with an economic crisis that was pounding the airline industry "could not be worse," the head of the International Air Transport Association (IATA) said Tuesday. "It is still too early to judge what the impact of swine flu will have on the bottom line. But it is sure that anything that shakes the confidence of passengers has a negative impact on the business," Giovanni Bisignani said.

Madrid - French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday pledged to spare no effort in helping Spain fight the militant Basque separatist group ETA, saying democracy could not "give in to terrorists.""Every time Spain needs France in the fight against the killers, Spain can count on the French republic," Sarkozy said in a speech to Spanish parliament.

Ranchi, Apr 28: Zoo authorities in Ranchi have announced the birth of two leopard cubs.

The cubs, one male and one female, were born on March 10 and are now being brought before the public.

"This leopard was brought from a rescue centre in Guwahati on November 8. In the last week of December, the mating took place and the cubs were born on March 10. Both cubs are healthy. It''s a matter of great pride for the zoo as it was after a long time a big cat gave birth in our zoo," said M. S. Jain, a veterinarian at the zoo.

Mexico City, Apr. 28: The World Health Organization has raised the alert level in relation to the `Swine Flu’ epidemic to Phase 4, meaning there is sustained human-to-human transmission of the virus causing outbreaks in at least one country.

On Monday, the alert was raised above Phase 3.

Putting an alert at Phases 4 or 5 signals that the virus is becoming increasingly adept at spreading among humans.

Phase 6 is for a full-blown pandemic, characterized by outbreaks in at least two regions of the world.

London, April 28: It may take several months for an average reader to complete ‘Crime and Punishment’, but a copy of the book can be printed in just nine minutes, thanks to Britain''s first ‘book vending machine’.

The Daily Telegraph ordered a freshly bound edition of Fyodor Dostoevsky''s classic, which was one of the first tomes to drop out of the Espresso Book Machine when it opened for business for the first time yesterday.