New Delhi, Mar 24: The Congress party on Tuesday said that its focus in the 2009 general elections would be on eradicating the menace of terrorism, protecting farmers, countering the impact of global recession and enhancing the reach of the national job guarantee scheme.

All of Bihar is abuzz with the rumour that Prakash Jha has been given an election ticket by Ram Vilas Paswan's LJP party in Bihar on promise that Prakash will launch Paswan's son Chriag as a leading man.

Though Prakash outright denies such a deal he doesn't rule out the possibility of working with Ram Vilas Paswan's son Chirag who's now based in Mumbai and preparing for a career in films.

Tel Aviv - The Israel Labour Party and the Likud continued marathon negotiations on a draft coalition deal into Tuesday morning, ahead of a crucial vote by the Labour Party Convention later in the day on whether the party should join the Likud government.

The convention's some 1,470 members are scheduled to meet at a fairground in Tel Aviv in the afternoon.

New Delhi, Mar 24: Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi will release the party''s election manifesto today.

According to sources, a commitment to pursue reforms in pension, insurance and banking will be reiterated in the manifesto.

Employment generation would be another issue attracting the attention of the youth. The party is also expected to focus on the ''Aam admi'' and the Common Minimum Programme (CMP).

Several schemes like rural employment guarantee programme are expected to be a part of the manifesto.

Berlin  - Germany's coalition partners confirmed Monday that the country's general election would not be brought forward, despite recent cracks in the governing bloc as parties have begun to position themselves ahead of the polls due September.

The Social Democrats (SPD), in coalition with Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Party (CDU), said Monday that the government coalition would continue to work together to address the country's economic crisis.

New Delhi - India's Election Commission has found the grandson of the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi guilty of making anti-Muslim statements during political rallies and said he should not be nominated as a candidate for the upcoming general elections, news reports said Monday.

In an order issued late Sunday night, the Election Commission said the speeches by Varun Gandhi contained "highly derogatory references and seriously provocative language of a wholly unacceptable nature against a certain community," the Indian Express daily reported.