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According to his lawyers, the serial killer known in Britain as the Yorkshire Ripper is seeking his freedom from prison.

The Times of London reported that lawyers representing Peter Sutcliffe told the High Court in London expert evidence on his psychiatric state could help lead to his release.

New Delhi, March 2 - Three years ago, Biddu, the musician who gave India the Bollywood cult number "Aap Jaisa Koi...", decided to swap his guitar for the pen - partly because "music was not the important thing in the world any more".

"Record sales were dipping and the X-box was moving in - unlike 15 years ago when music was the most important thing. I did not want to keep doing music year after year till I grew old with a foot in the grave," Biddu told IANS here.

I will not run for the U. S. Senate in his adopted home state of New York, said former Rep. Harold Ford, D-Tenn., on Monday.

The New York Times reported that Ford's decision not to challenge Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand for the Democratic nomination came under pressure from Democratic Party officials. Gillibrand succeeded former Sen. Hillary Clinton after Clinton left the Senate to become U. S. Secretary of State.

Officials have said that the death of a political prisoner and the jailing of a U. S. citizen in Cuba appear to have derailed attempts to repair U. S./Cuba relations.

According to the reports of ElNuevoHerald. com a prisoner, Orlando Zapata died Feb. 23 following a hunger strike to protest prison conditions and U. S. government contractor Alan P. Gross was arrested Dec. 3 by Cuban officials. The two incidents have stood in the way of Spanish government efforts to act as ombudsman in reconciling the United States and Cuba.

New Delhi, March 2 - Having directed "English, August" and "Split Wide Open", Dev Benegal is back with his third outing after more than a decade. "Road, Movie", he says, is about discovering laughter and joy, with 'travelling cinema' and the Indian landscape as its backdrop.

Toronto, March 2 - With Kolkata-born Sabi Marwah as its vice chairman and chief operating officer, Canada's Scotiabank Monday acquired Royal Bank of Scotland's banking operations in Colombia to further expand its international presence.

The bank already has a huge presence in 27 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean where it employs 31,867 people and operates 1,411 branches and other offices. One of North America's top banks and Canada's most international bank, Scotiabank currently operates in more than 50 countries.