London - The British government will increase public sector borrowing to speed up economic activity in order to tackle the looming recession, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said Monday.

Speaking to a group of academics and industrialists in London, Brown defended his controversial plans, saying that it was "responsible" for government to boost spending and to maintain levels of investment in welfare policies.

Ankara - The Istanbul trial of 86 alleged coup plotters hit a delay Monday when one of the accused insisted that the entire 2,455-page indictment be read out in court, CNN-Turk television reported.

The broadcaster reported that the demand for a full reading came from just one defendant exercising his right to have the entire indictment read. The process is likely to take up to 10 days.

New York City - The options for survival for US automotive giants General Motors and Chrysler are limited to bankruptcy protection, merger or a receipt of aid from the US government, the Wall Street Journal said Monday.

Citing sources inside GM and Chrysler, the respected financial daily said the two companies which are currently in merger negotiations would as a combined entity need around 10 billion dollars to continue operations, and may require government aid in any case.

Chicago, Oct 27 : Preity Zinta won the Silver Hugo Award for best actress at the 44th edition of Chicago International Film Festival for her performance in Deepa Mehta''s film, Heaven on Earth.

Earlier in September, Zinta had received warm reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival for her performance in the film.

The jury praised her ''for her strong yet subtle performance as a woman struggling to keep her dreams despite brutal realities.''

Berlin - German troops in Afghanistan opened fire on a vehicle which failed to stop at a checkpoint, wounding five of the occupants, the defence ministry said Monday.

A spokesman said the incident occurred on Friday evening on a main road near the northern city of Kunduz.

The troops, serving with the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), first fired warning shots at the minibus, the spokesman said.

When the driver continued to approach the checkpoint at high speed, the soldiers opened fire with sub-machine guns, hitting the vehicle's engine, the spokesman said.

Brussels - Belgian insurance and banking giant KBC joined the country's bail-out club Monday by securing a capital injection of billions of euros from the state.

"KBC and the Belgian government have reached an agreement to further strengthen KBC's financial position. This will create an additional core capital buffer for KBC and enable it to cope with any future challenges," the company said in a statement.

The deal involves KBC selling 3.5 billion euros (4.3 billion dollars) worth of non-voting shares to the Belgian state.