Kathmandu - Nepal's Maoist-led government began the process to integrate thousands of former rebel fighters into the national army and other security agencies, a government minister said Wednesday.

"The government formed a high-level committee that will make final decisions on the integration of the former rebel fighters, manage and rehabilitate them," government spokesman and minister Krishna Bahadur Mahara said.

Taipei - Taiwan hopes to upgrade its representation at the upcoming APEC summit by sending a former minister and parliament speaker Frederick F Chien to the meeting, press reports said Wednesday.

The United Daily Mews and Economic Daily News, quoting an unnamed official source, said Taiwan plans to send Chien to the 16th Asia-Pacific Economic Forum (APEC) summit to be held in Lima, Peru November 22-23.

Jakarta - Indonesia has ordered state companies to place their US dollars at home and plans to scrap a levy on overseas palm-oil sales to bolster the rupiah after the currency plunged to its lowest level since 2001, media reports said Wednesday.

The government and central bank also plan to buy bonds from the market to restore investor confidence, Finance Minister Sri Mulyani Indrawati said Tuesday night after a cabinet meeting.

The rupiah fell as much as 8.7 per cent Tuesday to 11,900 against the dollar before recovering to 10,900 on suspected intervention by the central bank as Indonesian stocks declined to their lowest values since December 2005.

Male/Colombo – Maldives President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has been defeated in the presidential elections ending his record as one of Asia's longest-serving leaders, officials in Male said Wednesday.

In Tuesday's run-off election, Gayoom, 71, was denied a seventh consecutive term and will be succeeded by Mohamed "Anni" Nasheed, a 41-year-old activist who was once imprisoned by Gayoom's government.

Tokyo - Japan's industrial output rose 1.2 per cent in seasonally adjusted terms in September, compared to the previous month, the government said Wednesday.

The September growth was supported by automobile, machinery and electronics device sectors, but the government downgraded its assessment, estimating overseas demand for Japanese products would slowdown amid the global financial crisis.

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry expected the output to fall 2.3 per cent in October and 2.2 per cent in November.

Islamabad - A powerful earthquake rattled Pakistan's south-western Balochistan district on Wednesday, killing at least 21 people and injuring scores of others, media reports said.

The US Geological Survey on its website said a magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck 60 kilometres north-east of Quetta, the capital of Balochistan at 5:10am (2310 GMT).

At least 17 people died in Balochistan's Ziarat district and many were feared trapped under rubble of several houses that collapsed during the strong shocks, DawnNews television channel reported quoting local authorities.

DawnNews said officials in Pishin district also confirmed four deaths.