Cairo/Jerusalem, Jan. 12 : Iran has warned Hamas not to accept the Egyptian proposal for a cease-fire with Israel.

An Egyptian government official told The Jerusalem Post by phone that two senior Iranian officials who visited Damascus recently warned Hamas leaders against accepting the proposal.

He said Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Iranian Parliament, and Said Jalili of the Iranian Intelligence Service, met Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal and Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah.

His remarks came as Hamas representatives met in Cairo with Egyptian Intelligence Chief General Omar Suleiman and his aides to discuss ways of ending the fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Chennai, Jan. 12 : A Sri Lankan lawmakers delegation belonging to the Tamil National Alliance Party, on Monday, appealed to the Tamil Nadu and Indian Governments to intervene in the military offensive against the separatist Tamil Tiger rebels in the island nation.

The team of five legislators asked the Indian leadership to mediate and save the lives of thousands of innocent Tamils.

"We (are)appealing to chief minister Tamil Nadu and central government, we are expecting to stop the war immediately otherwise our people will die, definitely they will die. So stop the war immediately and take action for peace talks," said Sambandam, a Sri Lankan legislator.

New Delhi, Jan. 12 : Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Murli Deora on Monday said that the country has of late adopted an integrated energy policy that would enable it to fuel economic growth and meet the larger human development goals by choosing fuels that are socially and economically desirable.

Addressing the issue of India''s energy deficit, Deora said the integrated energy policy envisages an energy mix that focuses on augmenting the domestic energy resource base and increasing efficiency while strategizing India''s stakes in energy assets overseas.

Washington, Jan. 12 : Outgoing US President George W Bush has admitted to refusing to "bail out" his Republican party by withdrawing troops "during the darkest days of Iraq".

That decision is now lauded by his father in an unprecedented joint interview to FOX News Sunday.

"During the darkest days of Iraq, people came to me and said, ''You''re creating incredible political difficulties for us,''" the current president said as his term draws to a close. "And I said, ''Oh, really? What do you suggest I do?'' And some suggested retreat, pull out of Iraq.

London, Jan. 12 : The British police service is still mired in a "canteen culture" of racism, sexism and hard drinking, the country's equalities watchdog has warned.

The report, by the Equality and Human Rights Commission, reviewed the police ten years after the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, which branded the Metropolitan Police "institutionally racist".

London, Jan 12 : Private islands, once seen as the privilege of the rich and famous, can now be attained by lesser privileged folks at just 53,171 pounds.

With the coming of the recession, the price on real estate has also come down, which is the case with Bumbo Island.

Described as "beautiful" in the prospectus, 2.7-acre Bumbo nestles in Inhabitants Bay, Cape Breton - about 1.7 miles from mainland Nova Scotia, Canada.

US company Private Islands Online, which recently slashed the price of a string of islands, describes it as "a great place for camping and fishing".