Colombo  - Troops were trying Sunday to establish main road access to a rebel-held area in northeastern Sri Lanka and rescue tens of thousands of trapped civilians, military officials said.

They said the manoeuvre was aimed at opening up main road access to an area described as a no-fire zone in the Mullaitivu district.

The military said an estimated 70,000 civilians were trapped, but UN agencies said the figure could be high as 140,000.

Troops by Saturday night were some 800 metres from a bridge on the main road they were trying to secure, the military said.

London, April 19 : Britain's Got Talent's unique finding Susan Boyle could become a millionaire overnight if she gets a record deal, says X-Factor judge Louis Walsh.

Walsh said that if the 47-year-old church volunteer from Scotland gets a record deal she would shoot straight to number one in America.

"I''ve never seen anything like this. Middle America obviously loves her," Sky News quoted him as saying.

"With the kind of support she''s getting she could easily have a number one album.

"And if she had a successful tour then she could make millions," he added.

London, Apr 19 : Britain's Got Talent's unique finding Susan Boyle's idol Elaine Paige has sent the singing sensation a message of support, insisting they could collaborate for a duet.

Just before her life-changing performance on Britain''s Got Talent, Boyle revealed her dream: to become a professional singer as successful as Paige.

Now, in a message of support, Paige, the original Evita in London''s West End, has suggested the idea of the pair singing together.

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London  - Seriously ill British train robber Ronnie Biggs is seeking parole ahead of his 80th birthday, according to media reports quoting his son Sunday.

His request is to be decided at a parole board meeting on Thursday, the reports said.

"We are hopeful that he will be freed but we're trying not to count on the egg before it leaves the chicken," Biggs' son Michael was quoted by the BBC as saying. He gave July 3 as the planned release date.

New Delhi  - The Lashkar-e-Taiba militant group has issued a warning to people in India-administered Kashmir against voting in the elections as two security men were killed in a gun battle with militants in the insurgency state on Sunday, news reports said.

The LeT, among the leading militant groups operating in Indian Kashmir has threatened "action" against people for violation and said it would carry out suicide attacks during elections in the state, the PTI news agency reported.