The United Nations has said that additional funds are needed to fight the major cholera outbreak in the West African nation of Guinea Bissau, which has affected over 12,220 people and has killed 201 since May.

The outbreak shows no sign of abating and Veronique Taveau, UNICEF spokeswoman says this outbreak of cholera has been exceptionally difficult to control.  She added that more than half of the cases are in the capital of Bissau but the disease has spread to all provinces since it started in mid-May.

On the sets of Vipul Shah's Latest film 'London Dreams', the British Film Minister Barbara Follet formally declared the signing of the Bilateral Treaty with Bollywood, under which Indian Producers shall benefit from Tax Concessions, can acquire fresh funding sources and also get easy practical support .The Minister met Ajay Devgan who along with Asin are the lead pair to avail the facility of the treaty as shooting started much before the deal was finalized.

London, Oct 25 : Scientists at the Riken Brain Science Institute, in Wako, Japan, have found that birds that come from the earlier eggs in a brood are more likely to be better singers.

Most male birds use songs to show their fitness to potential mates, and previous studies have demonstrated that the healthiest males tend to sing the longest, loudest and most complex songs.

Masayo Soma and her colleagues from the Riken Brain Science Institute wanted to find out if the order in which birds hatch affects their song.

"I expected to detect age hierarchy in song, because older siblings are stressed less and obtain more resources growing up," Nature quoted Soma, as saying.

London - British music company EMI reported a loss of 757 million pounds (1.2 billion dollars) in its first year as part of the private equity group Terra Firma, news reports said Saturday.

Revenues dropped by 19 per cent to 1.46 billion pounds in the business year ending on March 31, according to earnings data released the previous day in an annual review by Maltby Capital, through which investor Guy Hands' Terra Firma owns EMI Music.

Islamabad, Oct 25 : India and Pakistan last night exchanged names of terrorists hiding in each other’s country, and decided to make the joint anti-terrorism mechanism a continuous process.

A statement issued after a daylong meeting of the mechanism said that information on issues of mutual concern, including the bombing of the Indian embassy in Kabul, was exchanged.

Davao City, Philippines - Six soldiers were killed when a landmine planted by communist rebels exploded in the southern Philippines, an army battalion commander said Saturday.

Lieutenant Colonel Manuel Sequitin said the incident occurred Friday in a remote village near Mabini town in Compostela Valley province, 990 kilometres south of Manila.

Sequitin said victims were making preparations for a medical mission next month in the village when they tripped over the landmine, causing it to explode.