Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan is to pay a state visit to South Korea st

New Delhi, Nov. 26 : The Indian Navy has defended its action in sinking a pirate ship in the Gulf of Aden waters near Somalia.

The pirate ship was originally a Thai fishing boat.

The Ekawat Nava 5 was captured by pirates on November 18 and the crew was tied up, the BBC quoted officials of the International Maritime Bureau, as saying.

The Indian Navy claimed that the ship was a pirate vessel in "description and intent" and it had opened fire first on the INS Tabar .

At least one crewperson was discovered alive after remaining adrift for six days. Fourteen others are still missing.

Bhopal, Nov 26 : Madhya Pradesh is all geared up for elections on Thursday.

Preparations are in full swing to ensure a peaceful and fair poll in 230 State Assembly seats. A record number of 3179 candidates, including 226 women and 1369 independents are in the fray for this year''s election.

Over 260 police and para military companies have been deployed across the state to maintain tight security during the casting of votes.

Stockholm - An upcoming United Nations Climate Change Conference in Poland was an important "halfway stage" to review efforts to forge a new climate deal to succeed the Kyoto Protocol that expires in 2012, Swedish Environment Minister Andreas Carlgren said Wednesday.

Among outcomes of the 12-day conference that opens Monday in Poznan, Sweden hoped to see "clear political guidelines" and "high political ambitions" for the UN Climate Summit to be hosted by neighbouring Denmark in December 2009, he said.

London  - Arsenal have appointed Major League Soccer deputy commissioner Ivan Gazidis as their new chief executive, the English Premier League club announced on Wednesday.

Gazidid, 44, will take up his post in January and is expected to take over many of the duties previously handled by former vice-chairman David Dein, who left the club last year.

"Ivan's credentials are first class," said club chairman, Peter Hill-Wood.

Stuttgart - Luxury German sports carmaker Porsche AG said Wednesday it was postponing moves to boost its stake in Volkswagen AG after a surge in VW shares and signs that the global auto industry was facing tough times.

Porsche had planned to build up a stake in VW to more than 50 per cent this year.

But Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking told the group's annual press conference that in the light of "the current economic circumstances, it is increasingly unlikely that we can achieve this goal in this year" with the company also warning it expects a fall in revenue as the slowdown in the world economy gains momentum.