Riga - Valdis Dombrovskis, who is likely to become Latvia's prime minister next week, said Friday the troubled Baltic state would probably need to negotiate a revised deal with the international lenders that have already offered it money.

Updating reporters on his efforts to establish a working coalition, Dombrovskis said that the worsening economic outlook would make it difficult for Latvia to stick to a commitment to limit its budget deficit to a maximum of 4.7 per cent of GDP in 2009.

In December 2008, the government of Ivars Godmanis secured a 7.5- billion-euro (9.5-billion-dollar) economic bailout package from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, European Union and other international bodies.

New Delhi, Mar 6 : Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh on Friday declared that the party's alliance with the Congress was `broken' and he could not offer more than 17 seats in Uttar Pradesh to the latter.

"I do not want to use any harsh words, but the alliance is broken. The obituary of the alliance was written the day Congress had announced its list of 24 candidates in Uttar Pradesh. We cannot offer more than 17 seats to the Congress," Amar Singh told reporters here.

The actor was specially invited by the Prime Minister of New Zealand to spend a couple of hours with him

Preity Zinta is right now in New Zealand to watch the one-day series between India and New Zealand. But in the meanwhile, she was invited by their Prime Minister John Key for an evening reception. "I have just come out of the reception. It was really a pleasure meeting the man, who is so down to earth and I hear extremely popular," says Preity. Mr. John is young and extremely charming. They mostly discussed cricket.

Maputo - The Mozambique Red Cross said Friday that it was suspending its relief work in a crisis-hit northern district after three volunteers were killed by mobs accusing them of deliberately infecting water sources with the agent that causes cholera.

Two policemen that were trying to protect the aid workers were also reportedly killed in the attacks in Mongincual district, in the northern province of Nampula.

Controversial pop legend Michael Jackson has undergone a series of 50 health checks to prove his fitness in order perform a series of his upcoming London concerts.

A UK-based website has reported that there were doubts about the 50-year-old star's fitness which prompted promoters to seek undertakings on his well-being.

New Delhi, Mar 6 : Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L. K. Advani on Friday offered 25 more seats to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Orissa. The announcement was aimed at persuading the BJD to stay in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Since 1998, the BJD has been contesting 84 Assembly and 12 Lok Sabha seats while BJP has fielded candidates in 63 Assembly and nine Lok Sabha constituencies.

The Orissa State Assembly polls will be held along with the general elections on April 16 and 23.