Peshawar, Apr 30 : A large number of Taliban leaders have shifted from Quetta to Karachi, Peshawar and other cities and are maintaining a low profile fearing fresh US drone strikes.

Taliban leaders after discussing in detail the situation, caused by recent threats of drone attacks by the United States, United Kingdom and other allies, have decided to vacate Quetta with immediate effect, sources have said.

The sources said that majority of the top leaders have shifted to Karachi, Peshawar and other areas of Pakistan and are now living in a low profile.

Beijing - China has launched a campaign to educate all schoolchildren in the symptoms and prevention of swine flu, the government said on Thursday.

Schools nationwide should educate children about swine flu as soon as possible to raise awareness and "avoid causing unnecessary panic among teachers and students," the education and health ministries said in a joint notice published on their websites.

The schools should teach children about good hygiene and the avoidance of contact with flu-infected people, the notice said.

Hong Kong - Two of China's rising political stars were Thursday named among the the world's 100 most influential people in a prestigious annual list to be published by Time magazine.

Vice Premier Wang Qishan and Vice President Xi Jinping are among a diverse list including US president Barack Obama, Spanish tennis star Rafael Nadal and disgraced financier Bernie Madoff.

Taipei - China Mobile, China's largest cellphone company, signed a strategic alliance agreement with Taiwan's Far East Tone Wednesday, becoming the first Chinese firm to invest in Taiwan's telecommunications business.

The signing ceremony was in Hong Kong, while Far East Tone Chairman Douglas Hsu spoke to reporters in Taiwan via a video link.

Hsu said that China Mobile will pay 17 billion Taiwan dollars (524 million US) to buy 444 million shares of Far East, gaining 12 per cent stake and one board director's seat in Far East Tone.

Beijing - One of China's main border crossings to North Korea reopened on Wednesday, more than three years after the government suspended tours because of heavy gambling by Chinese visitors.

State media said the government allowed Chinese day-trippers to cross the Yalu River again into North Korea from the north-eastern city of Dandong, which was one of the main departure points for gamblers until the ban.

New Delhi, April 29: A hen, in Longchang county, Sichuan province, has given up the desire to live ever since its romance with a rooster came to end.