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Crash victim Lanzinger seeks compensation from FIS

Matthias-LanzingerVienna - Austrian skier Matthias Lanzinger will sue the ruling body FIS for compensation over a crash at a World Cup race in Norway in which he lost his lower leg.

The Austrian Press Agency APA reported on Monday that Lanzinger's lawyer, Manfred Ainedter, has sent an according letter to FIS president Gian-Franco Kasper.

The compensation claim comes in the wake of a report from a Munich doctor who said that Lanzinger's left leg had to be amputated below the knee due to a delay in medical treatment.

Supreme Court says Courts cannot invoke contempt powers arbitrarily

Supreme CourtNew Delhi, Oct 27 : The Supreme Court has ruled that the power of contempt cannot be exercise by a court in an arbitrary manner as the objective of such proceedings should be to ensure its order is complied with.

Also the courts should not necessarily proceed against such persons as if they are petty criminals.

Taiwan, China officials meet to plan official dialogue

China, TaiwanTaipei - Taiwan and China agreed Monday to hold a second round of high-level talks in Taipei next week, despite threats by pro-independence activists to disrupt the meeting.

"The Chinese mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) chairman Chen Yunlin will lead a delegation to Taiwan from December 3 to 7, the first meeting on the island between the two parties," the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

Russia, Vietnam sign oil and mining deals

Russian energy monopoly GazpromMoscow - Russian energy monopoly Gazprom and aluminium mining giant RusAl clinched deals on Monday for development projects in Vietnam during the visit of the country's president to Moscow.

Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet and his Russian counterpart President Dmitry Medvedev were at the signing of the joint projects at the Kremlin after talks on boosting trade and energy ties.

Gazprom and it overseas operations arm ZarubezhNefteGaz sealed a deal with Vietnam's state oil firm PetroVietnam for joint exploration of the Asian state's offshore oil reserves.

State to shoulder debts before selling Austrian Airlines

Austrian AirlinesVienna- Austria's government indicated Monday it could take over some of the debt of Austrian Airlines AG before selling it to either Germany's Lufthansa AG or Russian carrier S7 Airlines.

The government's mandate to privatize its 42.75-per-cent stake in Austrian Airlines was scheduled to run out Tuesday, but the process was likely to be prolonged until December 31, the Finance Ministry announced.

The state "might be ready to contribute financially in order to make the sale go through," Transport Minister Werner Faymann said.

EU welcomes Somali ceasefire, NATO ends first anti-piracy mission

EU & NATOBrussels - The European Union on Monday welcomed a ceasefire agreement in Somalia, while NATO said it had successfully completed its first anti-piracy mission off the Somali coast.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stressed the importance of cooperation between the two Brussels-based institutions during a regular meeting of ambassadors at the alliance's headquarters.

One area in which the two organizations are working together is in the fight against pirates operating in the Gulf of Aden.

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