Beirut  - A farmer in southern Lebanon displayed Monday what might be the heaviest potato in the world, local television channels reported Monay.

Khalil Semhat, from an area near the southern port city of Tyre, 85 kilometres south of Beirut, displayed the giant potato weighing 11.3 kilograms.

"I had to get help from a friend to pull it out from the ground," Semhat said.

Asked if used any fertilizer or any other chemical to produce the vegetable, Semhat said: "No."

Semhat hoped that his potato would gain an entry in the Guinness Book of Records.

Beirut  - One person was killed and another wounded in a clash Monday which erupted between family members inside a Palestinian camp in southern Lebanon, Palestinian sources said.

The clash escalated into a deadly gunbattle between supporters of the opposing Palestinian factions of Hamas and Fatah in the small Miyeh Miyeh Palestinian camp near the southern port city of Sidon, the sources said.

During the clash, heavy machineguns, such as automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, were used, Palestinian officials said.

Brussels  - European Union foreign ministers Monday dashed Turkey's hopes of joining their club any time soon, saying Ankara had not yet approved the reforms needed to become a member.

While recalling Turkey's "strategic importance" and its success in averting a potential political crisis stemming from calls for the ruling Justice and Development Party to be banned, EU ministers expressed "regret" at Ankara's slow pace of political reform.

"The council (of ministers) recalls that the rhythm of negotiations (with the EU) continues to depend on the progress achieved by Turkey in fulfilling the required conditions," foreign ministers said in a statement.

Kiev  - A spokesman for Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Monday said a parliamentary election set for mid-December was "on hold," marking the govermnent's first official admission the vote would not be as scheduled.

"The order on the new elections has been placed on hold, but (the vote) has not been cancelled," said Iryna Bannikova, at a Kiev press conference.

Yushchenko dissolved a hung parliament in October, ordering new elections for December 15. Opponents within the administration and the legislature torpedoed the Ukrainian leader's initiative by refusing to authorize government financing for the polling, or prepare voter lists.

Pristina - The mission sent by the European Union to Kosovo to replace a UN administration and help Pristina impose law and order becomes operational Tuesday - amid much uncertainty and some hostility.

Mostly ethnic Albanian Kosovo declared independence from Serbia last February 17, eight years after UN took over instead of the Belgrade authorities, which were ousted by NATO.

Now the EU mission, the Eulex, is to start taking over from the UN in policing, customs and justice, though it remains unclear how some 2,000 officials are to function within a complex and still unrefined mandate.

Stuttgart - Daimler AG has put thousands of workers at its biggest car plant on short time in a bid to offset a dramatic slump in sales, the head of the employees' council said Monday.

Eric Klemm said two-thirds of the 30,000 employees at the Sindelfingen plant in southern Germany would be affected by the move, which is due to last from January 12 until March 31 in 2009.

Discussions on working hours with employees at other Daimler plants in Germany are also taking place, he said.