Athens - Paul Lekuraa led a Kenyan podium sweep in the Athens Classic Marathon on Sunday, the fifth win in a row for the proud running nation at the event.

Nairobi/Goma - The UN mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) condemned "war crimes" in the country, as Pope Benedict XVI called for joint effects to find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

MONUC head Alan Doss condemned militias fighting in the DR Congo's east, accusing them of committing "war crimes."

Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt - Wrapping up a briefing to the sponsors of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Sunday they will keep negotiating, even as the peace process goes through a lull due to the political changes in the US and Israel.

"We, both of us, affirmed that we will continue in these negotiations and that we will not stop even as Israel [prepares to go for] elections," Abbas told a joint news conference with Livni.

"Our meetings will continue as usual," he added.

London - A report by the British intelligence services has claimed that "some thousands" of militant Islamists are active in the country, the Sunday Telegraph has said.

The document, which the paper describes as being drawn up by the intelligence service of the Ministry of Defence, the internal security organization MI5 and the police's Special Branch, identified the cities of London, Birmingham and Luton as particular centres of Islamist activity.

Beijing - China on Sunday announced a major package of measures designed to stimulate domestic demand and buffer the economy against the effects of the global financial crisis.

The government would spend an estimated 4 trillion yuan (588 billion dollars) on infrastructure projects, reduce some taxes and loosen bank lending requirements, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Taipei - Taiwan announced an interest-rate cut Sunday to slow down the recession and to stimulate the island's economy.

The central bank of Taiwan said that starting Monday it would cut interest rates by 0.25 percentage points.

The rediscount rate would be cut from 3 to 2.75 per cent, the rate on accommodation with collateral from 3.375 to 3.125 per cent and the rate on accommodation without collateral from 5.25 to 5 per cent.

Central bank governor Peng Fai-nan said that the interest rate cut would ease inflation caused by fallen oil and commodity prices, the 8.3-per-cent drop in Taiwan's October exports and the International Monetary Fund's forecast that all major industrial nations except China would face an economic downturn in 2009.