Oslo  - Norwegian Crown Princess Mette-Marit was Monday awarded the country's Plussprisen prize for her efforts to combat HIV/AIDS.

The prize - announced in connection with World AIDS day - was awarded by the Norwegian group HivNorway that was formed to safeguard the rights and interests of people infected and affected by HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

The princess is a goodwill ambassador for the joint United Nations programme, UNAIDS.

The 35-year-old princess shared the prize with Ragnhild Backstrom, who has worked to prevent discrimination against HIV-positive children.

Backstrom works to spread awareness about HIV in kindergartens, schools and local neighbourhoods.

Washington  - President-elect Barack Obama on Monday nominated Hillary Clinton as secretary of state and announced he would keep Defence Secretary Robert Gates in his current job in widely expected moves to set up his national security team.

Clinton, 61, his former rival, will leave her job as the senator from New York if confirmed to become the nation's next top diplomat. The reappointment of Gates, 65, is designed to ensure a smooth transition takes place as the United States fights two wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Gates became the head of the Pentagon under President George W Bush in December 2006. Obama also named former Marine General James Jones to serve as national security advisor.

Stuttgart  - German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Monday rejected immediate tax cuts to stimulate the economy, telling her party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), she preferred to invest in Germany's infrastructure.

The CDU re-elected Merkel party leader. She was the only candidate and is to lead the CDU in a general election next September.

She was addressing a two-day national party conference in the southern city of Stuttgart amid deep divisions over how Germany should come to grips with the worst financial upheaval in decades.

New York  - Michel Sidibe of Mali was appointed Monday director of the United Nations programme to fight AIDS, a disease that has infected an estimated 33 million people worldwide.

The appointment came as the world marked World AIDS Day.

Sidibe is currently deputy executive director of the UN programme and will replace his departing boss, Peter Piot, whose name has been linked with the global fight against HIV/AIDS for years. Sidibe has 27 years in public healthcare services and has been Piot's deputy since 2001.

"The leadership of UNAIDS is in very capable hands," Piot said about the appointment. "UNAIDS has a vital role to play in sustaining the progress made in the global response to AIDS."

Prague - Czech Prime Minister Mirek Topolanek met with the Dalai Lama amid tensions between China and the European Union over French President Nicolas Sarkozy's plans to meet the exiled Tibet's spiritual leader during his Europe tour.

Topolanek's spokesman Jakub Stadler confirmed that an hour-long "private meeting" took place Sunday at the premier's official residency, the Kramar Villa.

China strongly opposes the Dalai Lama's meetings with foreign heads of state and government.

Ramallah - The leading Palestinian news agency Ramattan shut down Monday, charging the West Bank-based administration of President Mahmoud Abbas had been "obstructing" its work.

Ramattan said in a statement that the Ramallah-based Palestinian Interior Ministry had been harassing its staff, preventing them from entering Abbas' presidential headquarters to do their work and that police had arrested several staff members.