Doha, Nov 3 : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said that negotiations with the Taliban on the war in Afghanistan were unlikely.

In an interview with Al-Jazeera TV, Brown said that a dialogue with the Taliban to halt violence would be “very, very difficult”.

Rome, Nov 3 : A leading Leonardo Da Vinci scholar has spoke in favor of dismantling a 12-volume collection of work by the Renaissance genius.

According to a report by news agency Ansa. it, the scholar in question is Carlo Pedretti, who has been a leading Leonardo scholar for nearly six decades.

Commenting on plans to reverse a controversial 1970s restoration project, which would leave the Codex Atlanticus as a bundle of loose pages, Pedretti said that he approved of the proposal.

Oslo - Norwegian energy giant Statoil Hydro's third-quarter net income fell 57 per cent, the group said Monday, citing a stronger US dollar rate that pushed up tax rates.

Net income for the quarter was 6.3 billion kroner (937 million dollars), compared to 14.6 billion kroner in the corresponding business period of 2007.

Net operating income increased 31 per cent to 47 billion kroner, while turnover was up 35 per cent to 170 billion kroner, the group said.

Seoul - Shares surged 1.4 per cent Monday on the Seoul stock exchange as a recent currency swap between South Korea's central bank and the US Federeal Reserve as well as new stimulus measures for the local economy boosted investor sentiment. South Korea's currency surged against the dollar.

The benchmark Kospi index rose 16.02 points to close at 1,129.08.

Advancing issues outpaced decliners 660 to 192.

The main index of the technology-heavy Kosdaq market rose 17.53 points to 325.56.

Washington, Nov 3 : Actress Jada Pinkett-Smith plans to follow in the footsteps of Pamela Anderson with a new career as an animal rights activist, when she gets older.

The 37-year-old star, who’s married to superstar Will Smith, is a hardcore animal lover and owns a menagerie of pets, including three cats and two dogs.

She has also bought a red-tail boa constrictor, and named it ‘Beauty’.

However, after buying Beauty, Pinkett Smith admits she''s become much more aware of the plight of caged animals.

Seoul - South Korea on Monday announced a 14-trillion-won (11-billion-dollar) stimulus package as it faces its worst economic turmoil since it needed an International Monetary Fund bailout a decade ago.

Public spending is to rise next year by 11 trillion won and the package's remaining 3 trillion won would go to tax benefits, the Finance Ministry said.

Finance Minister Kang Man Soo estimated South Korea's economy would grow only 3 per cent next year because of the global financial crisis but also warned of a further slowdown.

"It will be difficult to achieve the growth if global economic conditions further worsen," he said.