Munich - Eurocopter has won a major order from Brazil for 50 aircraft, the EADS helicopter division said in Germany Tuesday.

Lutz Bertling, chief executive of the division, did not disclose the value of the contract to supply the EC 725 transport helicopters, but said they are to be assembled in Brazil beginning in 2010.

The factory at Donauwoerth in the state of Bavaria is owned by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company (EADS).

Dhaka  - Bangladesh's elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion Tuesday captured two suspected militants after a clash in central Comilla district, officials said.

The battalion officials said the criminals hurled a homemade grenade at them when the lawmen raided the den in Debidwar Upazila, some 63 kilometres east of the capital Dhaka, injuring one battalion member. The force retaliated with gunfire wounding several of the militants.

Cairo - France is to provide a 280-million-dollar loan to finance the construction of the second phase of the third metro line in Cairo, Egyptian officials said Tuesday.

The agreement came during a two-visit by French Prime Minister Francois Fillon to Egypt that ended Tuesday. The loan will be given to French companies involved in the metro project.

Fillon said France would also give Egypt 3 million euros (4.2 million dollars) over three years support development projects.

Dhaka - Bangladesh's elite anti-crime Rapid Action Battalion Tuesday captured two suspected militants after a clash in central Comilla district, officials said.

The battalion officials said the criminals hurled a homemade grenade at them when the lawmen raided the den in Debidwar Upazila, some 63 kilometres east of the capital Dhaka, injuring one battalion member. The force retaliated with gunfire wounding several of the militants.

Rome - Hundreds of holiday and business travellers were stranded Tuesday at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci airport due to a wildcat strike that forced the cancellation of dozens of flights.

Baggage handlers and maintenance staff stopped work to protest negotiations about the future of the country's flagship carrier, Alitalia.

By mid-afternoon some 39 incoming flights and four departures were scrapped at the Rome hub, the ANSA news agency reported.

Some 100 flights were cancelled on Monday at the airport, also known as Fiumicino.

Karlsruhe, Germany - Germany is preparing to prosecute the former mayor of a northern Rwandan town on charges of massacring thousands of Tutsis during the 1994 genocide, according to federal prosecutors Tuesday.

The Hutu man, 51, who has emigrated to Germany, was arrested in the Frankfurt area on Monday, one month after Rwanda's own attempts to obtain his extradition from Germany collapsed. Prosecutors identified him only by the initials O R.

He is suspected of either overseeing or calling for multiple murders in both 1990 and 1994.