Kanpur, Nov. 12 : A prominent religious leader of Uttar Pradesh was arrested on Wednesday by anti-terror squad officials of Mumbai on suspicion that he had played a role in the Malegaon bomb blasts.

Dayanand Pandey was arrested in Kanpur and is being taken to Lucknow for further questioning, said Uttar Pradesh’s Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Brijlal.

Pandey reportedly heads a religious outfit in Jammu.

Paris - After denying that it had lost nearly 1 billion euros (1.26 billion dollars) in trading last month, French investment bank Natixis on Wednesday said it had incurred losses of about one fourth that amount.

In a statement, Natixis said its trading losses for October totalled about 250 million euros and were due to an "extremely difficult (market) that was without precedent for its activities."

The investment bank also said it had made provisions of another 250 million euros in October because of the risks associated with the finance crisis.

New Delhi, Nov. 12th, 2008 --India successfully test-fired a new supersonic surface-to-surface missile (SSM) today, capable of hitting targets 600 km away.

The surprise announcement about the new missile, named Shourya (or Valour) was made after the test was conducted at 0955 UAE time. It was not stated if the missile is tactical or nuclear-capable but it may be recalled that India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) has had notable successes in missiles since
2007.

New York, Nov. 12, 2008 -- The UAE Tuesday presented US$668,000 to the UN in support of the latter's development activities and programmes for the year 2009.

Dhabi, Nov. 12, 2008 -- Foreign Ministry Assistant Undersecretary for International Cooperation Affairs, Mohammed Abdul Rahim Abdul Jalil, received at his office here today Austrian Ambassador, Gerald Kriechbaum.

They discussed bilateral relations and ways to boost them, the follow-up of the work of joint committee meeting held in Austria and visa exemption between the two countries.

Kiev- Political chaos in Ukraine intensified on Wednesday with
parliament sacking speaker Arseny Yatseniuk but failing to name a
replacement.

An alliance of pro-Russia, pro-Europe, and independent MPs
assembled a 233-vote majority in the 450-seat house, to give the
pro-Europe Yatseniuk his walking papers.

Yatseniuk, a former ally of President Viktor Yushchenko, called the
legislature's decision proof that "Democracy in Ukraine, as it was
before, remains under threat."