Paris  - The back-pain drama which has limited Marcos Baghdatis to just 24 ATP starts this season came back to haunt the Cypriot as he was forced to retire for the third time in four matches on Monday at the Paris Masters.

The 2006 Australian Open finalist has struggled in the 2008 season with ankle and back problems. But after completing a match last week in Basle - even a loss - his spirits were again rising.

That all ended at the Bercy arena as American Sam Querrey earned a victory 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 3-2 when Baghdatis was again frustratingly forced to retire.

Helsinki  - The prime minister of Iceland said Monday he hoped the cash-strapped North Atlantic nation will be able to get loans from its Nordic neighbours.

"We hope for a quick response," Prime Minister Geir Haarde told reporters before a meeting of Nordic prime ministers in Finland.

The global financial crisis that has battered Iceland was one of the main topics at the meeting of the Nordic Council organization that groups Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden as well as three self-ruling territories including Greenland.

Patna/Mumbai/New Delhi, Oct 27 : People in Bihar are agitated over the killing of a gunman who tried to take hostage the passengers of a public bus in Mumbai’s Kurla area on Monday saying that the police should have apprehended the alleged hijacker alive.

This morning, Mumbai Police shot dead Rahul Raj, a 26-year-old native of Patna, inside a BEST bus (Bombay Electric Supply and Transport) in the suburb.

Police said that Rahul died in exchange of fire with police after attempts to persuade him to surrender failed.

Frankfurt - European shares staunched early big losses Monday amid renewed hopes about interest rate cuts and after some positive US economic data.

As trading on European stock markets drew to a close, Europe's blue-chip Stoxx 50 was down by 2.0 per cent at 2076 points.

However, with Wall Street swinging between positive and negative territory, the Stoxx 50 index pulled back from steep declines run up in the morning session.

Beirut - The head of Lebanon's anti-Syrian ruling majority, Saad Hariri, has met for the first time in two years with pro-Syrian Hezbollah chief Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, it was confirmed Monday.

The meeting, which took place Sunday night, was described by close sources to both leaders as "fruitful and essential to preserve national unity."

A statement issued by both parties Monday said: "There was an affirmation of national unity and civil peace and the need to take all measures to prevent tension ... and to reinforce dialogue and to avoid strife regardless of political differences."

Jerusalem - Israeli President Shimon Peres gave the green light Monday for the country to hold new elections, telling parliament that consultations he had held with political parties led him to conclude that no legislator had enough backing to form a coalition government.

The president had completed the consultations earlier Monday, a day after Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni informed him that she was unable to form a government to replace that headed by Ehud Olmert, who resigned the premiership on September 21.