Nairobi  - A regional summit on the conflict in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo is to take place in Nairobi Friday, a Kenyan foreign ministry official said Wednesday as small-scale fighting between rebels and pro-government militia continued for a second day.

"There will be a summit on Friday," Patrick Wamoto, Head of the Kenyan Foreign Ministry's African and African Union Directorate, told Deutsche Presse Agentur dpa. "The agenda is DR Congo."

Amman - The Islamic Action Front (IAF), Jordan's largest political party, on Wednesday expressed guarded optimism over the election of Barak Obama as the next US president and said they considered his win an "apology" from the American people to the peoples of Iraq and Afghanistan.

"We welcome Obama's election and believe that his win represents a clear message inside as well as outside America," IAF Secretary General Zaki Bani Ershaid told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Moscow- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev called for the extension the presidential term from four to six years in his first state-of-the-nation address since succeeding Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

Medvedev, 43, addressing the country's top political elite, gathered in the Kremlin's opulent St George Hall, said the change would allow the government to carry through more effectively with its reforms.

London - The political leaders of Northern Ireland Wednesday hailed the election of Barack Obama as the next US president and said they wished to continue their "mutual beneficial relationship" with the United States.

Peter Robinson, the Protestant leader of Northern Ireland's power- sharing government, said he was looking forward to working with an Obama administration and to continuing the "mutually beneficial relationship that Northern Ireland has developed with the United States over the years."

Patna, Nov. 5 : Rashtriya Janata Dal President and Union Minister for Railways Lalu Prasad Yadav along with his family here today offered prayers to the Sun God on the last day of Chatth Puja, the poplar festival of Bihar and eastern Uttar Pradesh.

Chatth Puja is performed with utmost religious fervour, for three successive days after a week-long gap from Diwali, the festival of lights.

Varanasi, Nov. 5 : It appears the global meltdown being witnessed prominently in the financial markets is all set to devastate the famous Banarsi Saree industry, which is currently facing a tough time.

At one side the prepared saris are not getting sold off in abundance like before, on the other side the export orders appears to face a downward trend in near future.

The Silk industry, which was facing a tough time due to other factors, is likely to face a major jolt in the days to come leading to literal starvation of several people.