Chennai, Oct 23 : Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) General Secretary Vaiko was on Thursday evening arrested for openly supporting the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) at a public meeting in Chennai.

On October 21, Vaiko in a speech at the meeting on "What is happening in Sri Lanka" had declared that he would support even an armed struggle for the cause of Sri Lankan Tamils.

Tamil Nadu’s "Q" branch police, dealing with extremists and terrorist outfits, arrested Vaiko at his Anna Nagar residence.

Munich - Enlisted men in a German Army unit were appalled at having to massacre Italian villagers in 1944, an 84-year-old former serviceman told the war crimes trial of their former lieutenant in Munich Thursday.

The lieutenant, 90, is accused of 14 murders in the Tuscan village of Falzano in 1944. He allegedly ordered the reprisal killings.

None of the company of Battalion 818 of the German Army mountain combat engineers approved of the reprisal, said the witness.

Beijing, Oct 23 : Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh on Thursday arrived in Beijing to attend the seventh Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM-7) scheduled from Friday after his three-day visit to Japan.

On his arrival to Beijing, Dr. Singh said, “This is the first time that I am attending the Asian-European summit as a Prime Minister.”

“I sincerely hope that this meeting of minds between Europe and Asia will produce a solution to many global problems including the current global financial crisis,” Dr. Singh added.

Stockholm - The Swedish government Thursday formally decided to halt an adoption programme with Vietnam over fears of irregularities.

Health and Social Affairs Minister Goran Hagglund said the decision hinged on the government's concern that "the rights of the individual child and biological parents are taken into account."

Hagglund's statement issued after the cabinet meeting said there were "disturbing signals" that children may even have been trafficked.

In September, the United States suspended adoptions from Vietnam over similar concerns.

Zagreb - Croatia's government has agreed to pay 78 million euros (101 million dollars) in damages to firms from Italy and Austria for claims arising from a cancelled highway project and a bank privatization, a local media report said Thursday.

The Croatian news portal business. hr, quoting a government source, said the settlements involve 44.3 million euros for Rome-based builder Astaldi SpA and 34.5 million euros for Austrian-based Hypo Alpe Adria Bank AG.