Taipei - Taiwan said Thursday it did not oppose to its longtime ally El Salvador's possibly establishing diplomatic ties with the island's political rival China.

"What we care is to secure our relations" with El Salvador, said Taiwan's foreign minister Francisco Ou.

His comment came after El Salvador's new President-elect Maurico Funes said Wednesday he would consider establishing diplomatic ties with China when he was to take office on June 1.

Colombo - Government troops have cornered the Tamil rebels in an area of 24 square kilometres in northern Sri Lanka, Prime Minister Ratnasiri Wickremanayake said Thursday.

"We have eliminated terrorism from most parts of the country and will be able to report that terrorism has been eliminated from the entire country within days", Wickremanayake told parliament.

Paris - Triple Olympic champion and men's 100-metre and 200m world record holder Usain Bolt will compete in the Golden League meeting at the Stade de France in Paris on July 17, organizers confirmed Thursday.

It remains unclear whether the 22-year-old Jamaican will compete in the 100m or 200m. Bolt will make his European season debut in Manchester on May 17 in a 150m race in the city centre.

New Delhi  - Suspected Maoist rebels gunned down a Hindu leader in the Kandhamal district of India's eastern Orissa state that saw weeks of bloody Hindu-Christian riots in 2008, news reports said Thursday.

A group of 15 to 20 armed Maoists killed Prabhat Panigrahi Wednesday night in Rudiguma village of communally-sensitive Kandhamal, about 200 kilometres west of state capital Bhubaneshwar, IANS news agency reported, citing police.

Panigrahi was a local leader of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a Hindu hardline organization.

Frankfurt - Lukas Podolski returns to the Germany set-up for upcoming qualifiers against Liechtenstein and Wales after being named Thursday in coach Joachim Loew's 23-man squad.

Arne Friedrich of Bundesliga leaders Hertha Berlin and SV Hamburg's Marcell Jansen also return while Rene Adler, Tim Wiese and Robert Enke will battle it out for the goalkeeping position.

Berlin - Bundesliga leaders Hertha Berlin confirmed Thursday that they have suspended German Under-21 international Patrick Ebert following a late-night incident in the German capital in which several cars were damaged.

Ebert and former Hertha player Kevin-Prince Boateng, who is now with Borussia Dortmund, were allegedly seen scratching at least one car and damaging the wing mirrors of five others as the pair were on a night out celebrating Ebert's 22nd birthday.