Beijing - Analysts on Monday welcomed China's announcement of a major package of measures to stimulate domestic demand but warned that economic growth was still likely to slow next year.

"While these measures cover a wide range of areas, the clear focus is government-financed or mandated investment and construction," Hong Kong-based economist Tao Wang of UBS Investment Research said in a report to clients.

"Public housing and infrastructure are likely to receive the biggest push," Wang said.

"These public projects will help to boost overall investment sentiment and bring about more bank lending," he said.

Oslo - A World War II wreck of a German submarine that sank off Norway loaded with 65 tons of mercury should be encased and not raised, the Norwegian Coastal Administration said Monday.

The wreck of U-864 was found in 2003. Since the discovery Norwegian authorities have investigated various options of raising or encasing the wreck since the cargo posed a potential threat to the marine environment.

In addition some 30,000 square metres of sea bottom around the wreck are regarded as polluted to a varying degree.

All 73 onboard died when a British submarine torpedoed U-864 in February 1945 as it was heading from Germany to Japan via Norway with war material including 65 tons of liquid mercury in steel containers.

Karachi, Nov. 10 : Most Pakistanis living in the country’s commercial capital Karachi appear to be happy over the election of Barack Hussein Obama as the 44th President of the United States, claims a report.

Dubai, Nov. 10 : India captain Jhulan Goswami has slipped off the top of the Reliance Mobile ICC ODI Women’s Rankings for bowlers after a disappointing series against Australia which concluded in Canberra on Sunday.

Goswami took just one wicket in the series which Australia won by 5-0 and has consequently dropped two places to third position behind England’s Isa Guha and Shelley Nitschke of Australia.

Nitschke is one of the five Australia bowlers who are on the charge as Emma Sampson, Lisa Sthalekar, Kirsten Pike and Ellyse Perry have also made good upward movements.

New Delhi, Nov. 10 : With the Government of Assam having already announced plans to enhance its security apparatus to counter terrorism in the state, the investigations into the October 30 serial bombings have taken on a new hue with evidence pointing to the involvement of the rebel National Democratic Front of Bodoland
(NDFB) and the Bangladesh-based Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami.

According to a report in The Hindu, two of the three Maruti 800 cars used as bombs were purchased by the NDFB less than six weeks before the attacks that claimed the lives of seventy-seven people.

Jakarta, Nov. 10 : The Muslim Defender Team, the lawyers who acted on behalf the three Bali bombers who were executed on Sunday, have said that they plan to file a lawsuit against the Indonesian Government on the matter.

Alleging a violation of human rights, Agus Setiawan, one of the lawyers, was quoted by the Antara news agency as saying: “The executions were done not in accordance with existing procedures. We are preparing to take legal steps.”