Bratislava - Slovakia is set to hold presidential elections on March 21, with a runoff election possible on April 4, Slovakian Parliament Speaker Pavol Paska said Thursday.

The speaker is responsible for determining the exact dates of the election, within a time period that is set by law. The runoff will pit the two candidates with the most first-round votes against each other, in case no one gets an absolute majority on March 21.

The latest opinion polls give incumbent President Ivan Gasparovic such a large lead that a runoff seems unlikely.

Rome - Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said Thursday his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin assured him that a proposed European Union mission to Ukraine will take place imminently, paving the way for the resumption of Russian gas supplies to the 27-nation bloc.

Berlusconi was speaking to reporters following a "long" evening telephone conversation with Putin, according to the ANSA news agency.

San Jose - A strong earthquake,

Los Angeles  - Orlando Magic centre Dwight Howard and reigning league Most Valuable Player Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers remain the leading vote-getters in their respective Eastern and Western Conferences, after the fourth returns of the 2009 NBA All-Star balloting was announced Thursday.

Howard, the league's top rebounder, leads all players with 2,102,368 votes, while Bryant is next with 1,903,798.

Washington - The United States condemned the rocket attacks from Lebanon into Israel that took place early Thursday morning and urged both sides to refrain from any steps that would escalate the conflict.

US State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said the attacks violated a United Nations Security Council resolution. The Lebanese government quickly condemned the attacks.

No one has claimed responsibility for the three rockets that were fired into Israel and slightly injured two people in the coastal city of Nahariya.

Beirut  - A delegation of the Asian Parliamentary Troika arrived in Beirut late Thursday to discuss with Lebanon's House Speaker Nabih Berri developments in the Gaza Strip.

The delegation included Iranian House Speaker Ali Larijani, Speaker of the Syrian People's Assembly Mahmoud Al-Abrach and Indonesian Speaker Agung Laksono.

The delegation was also to hold talks with President Michel Suleiman and Prime Minister Fouad Seniora on Friday.