London - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday, for the first time, acknowledged that Britain faces a recession.

"We must now take action on the global financial recession which is likely to cause recession in America, France, Italy, Germany, Japan and, because no country can insulate itself from it, Britain too," said before parliament.

London - The Egyptian millionaire owner of the Harrods department store in London, Mohamed al-Fayed, has been questioned by police over allegations of sexual assault, British media reports said Wednesday.

They said the 75-year-old father of the late Princess Diana's friend, Dodi, had voluntarily subjected himself to questioning over reported claims that a 15-year-old girl was sexually assaulted at business premises in central London last May.

The reports said al-Fayed had not been detained. They quoted police as confirming that a man had been questioned in the case, but the police declined to identify him.

Kiev- President Viktor Yushchenko on Wednesday called for a tougher defence of the Ukrainian currency the hryvna, as the national bank conceded it could not prop it up at previous levels in the face of mounting bad economic news.

Mogaltur (Andhra Pradesh), Oct. 22 : Residents of Mogaltur Village in Godavari District of Andhra Pradesh are proud of themselves since one of their fellow residents is today in news for contributing to the launch of Chandrayan-I.

Lucknow, Oct. 22 : Authorities at a Lucknow zoo are faced with an unusual problem after observing that many animals at the zoo don’t have fellows to pair. Hence, they are exploring possibilities of exchange programme for help the creatures at the zoo.

Presently, the zoo officials wish to ensure pairing of animals under their care since a majority of the animals here are starved of partners.

Guwahati , Oct. 22 : The recent violence in Udalguri and Darrang districts of north Assam has left local residents of the region, devastated. The victims of the communal riot appeal all to restore peace and harmony to let the normal life resume.

Lamenting the ugly turn of the event, Bodos and Muslims, among whom the riot took place, doesn’t deny the hand of local militants behind the communal violence.