New Delhi - Five members of a family were trampled to death on Friday by wild elephants that went on a rampage in a village in India's north-eastern state of Assam, a news report said.

Wildlife officials told the IANS news agency that two elephants strayed into a village in the western Dhubri district late on Thursday night.

"The elephants first tore apart a mud-and-thatch hut and killed a woman and her two children," Syed Isfaqur Rehman, a local offical told IANS.

Warsaw - Joining the European Union boosted Poland's economy and sped up development, said a government report Friday as Poland neared five years of membership.

The Polish economy reaped the most benefits from joining the union, according to the report from the Office of the Committee for European Integration, which measures how well Poland meets EU commitments.

Berlin - A Berlin court convicted Udo Voigt, the leader of the far-right National Democratic Party of Germany (NPD), on sedition charges Friday and handed him a suspended seven-month prison sentence.

The court ruled that he was responsible for a racist NPD calendar, which called for Germany's national football team to be made up of whites only and insulted a black player on the team.

Peshawar, April 24: In the wake of reports emanating from Pakistan that the North West Frontier Province government has made up its mind to launch a military operation in case the “intransigent” Taliban does not agree to vacate Buner district, cease patrolling in Swat and stop moving to other districts, the Taliban has started its withdrawal from Buner, which is located 62 miles from Islamabad.

London - Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas was charged on Friday with improper conduct, following accusations he spat at Hull City assistant manager Brian Horton.

There were angry scenes after the end of Hull's 2-1 defeat to Arsenal in the FA Cup quarter-final on March 17.

Fabregas was not playing in the game as he recovered from a knee injury, but left the stand to celebrate with his team-mates.

"Fabregas has been charged for improper conduct on the night," Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger told journalists.

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said Friday the government had drawn up a plan that earmarks 1.3 billion euros (1.7 billion dollars) to aid jobless under the age of 26.

In a speech in the town of Jouy-le-Moutier, north of Paris, Sarkozy said his plan would lead to the recruitment of 320,000 apprentices by June 2010.