Antananarivo  - Madagascar's opposition leader Andry Rajoelina said Wednesday he would boycott peace talks planned for Thursday aimed at ending the violent standoff with President Marc Ravalomanana.

Rajoelina told Western diplomats he and other opposition groups would boycott the talks with government and civic groups that the Council for Christian Churches of Madagascar is organizing on behalf of the United Nations.

Berlin  - Italy's first ever state secretary for tourism emphasised the role of the travel industry to combat the deepening global recession during a visit Wednesday to the world's biggest travel fair (ITB) in Berlin.

Tourism Secretary Michela Vittoria Brambini said that, at times of economic hardship, "it is all the more important to encourage those branches of the economy that generate wealth and create possibilities in the short term," adding that Italy was well positioned to do so.

Berlin  - Germany was in a state of shock Wednesday after a teenager killed 15 people in a school shooting spree that echoed a similar tragedy seven years ago.

"It is a sad day for the whole of Germany," Chancellor Angela Merkel" said after the rampage in the south-west region of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

"It is incredible that within the space of a few seconds, students and teachers have lost their lives as a result of a terrible crime," she said, offering her condolences to the victims' families.

Washington  - US President Barack Obama called on legislators to limit the number of pet projects for their own districts that are routinely included in spending bills, but refused to completely oppose the unpopular practice known as earmarks.

A renewed debate over the merits of earmarks has been swirling in Washington over the past few weeks as Congress debated a 410-billion- dollar budget for the remainder of the 2009 fiscal year, which ends in September.

Maputo  - Mozambique's government announced a string of measures to improve access to energy for millions of Mozambicans and to reduce the burden of the sector on state finances, local media reported Wednesday.

The government of President Armando Guebuza announced plans to dismantle the monopoly on fuel imports, invest 8.5 billion dollars in the implementation of a four-year plan to expand electricity nationwide, and expand natural gas output for the domestic and export markets.

Harare  - Ministers from several African governments and thousands of Zimbabweans joined Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai at the burial of his wife Susan in her home district of Buhera on Wednesday, five days after her death in a car crash.

At least 5,000 people looked on as Tsvangirai's wife of 31 years was laid to rest next to the couple's modest rural home in the little village of Humanikwa, south-west of Harare.