Moscow - Its organization unchanged since 1945, Russia's military now faces an overhaul, after its brief war with Georgia this summer showed leaders the country needs a more agile force that does not operate on Cold War scenarios.

While reforms were in the works before the Georgia war, the sight last August of Soviet-made tanks stalling as they pushed into South Ossetia and instances of military officers forced to use journalists' satellite phones to communicate with command muddied Russia's victory.

Ljubljana - Queen Elizabeth II received a golden tea set Tuesday at the start of her three-day visit to Slovenia, her first since the Alpine-Adriatic republic claimed independence from former Yugoslavia.

Queen Elisabeth II and her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh, were whisked away from the airport outside the capital Ljubljana to meet their host, President Danilo Turk, at the nearby 16th century castle Brdo pri Kranju.

Upon arrival, the Queen, President Turk and their spouses posed for pictures and exchanged gifts.

New York - United Airl

New York - Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drug maker, said Tuesday that its quarterly earnings tripled on one-time items despite flat revenues.

Earnings rose to 2.28 billion dollars, or 34 cents a share, on job cuts and a favourable exchange rate, up from 761 million dollars, or 11 cents, in the year-earlier period when it was hit by a one-time charge for dropping an insulin drug, the company said in New York. Excluding one-time costs, profits rose 5 per cent.

New Delhi - At least 14 people were killed and 16 injured in a bomb blast suspected to be carried out by separatist militants in India's north-eastern state of Manipur on Tuesday, a news report said.

The bomb was planted on a motorcycle and exploded near the police commando barracks in Imphal, the state's main city, the IANS news agency reported.

Imphal police superintendent Radhe Shyam told the news agency that 11 people were killed on the scene, and three succumbed to injuries at the hospital.

Most of the victims were civilians, but some could be policemen.