Oviedo, Spain  - Former Colombian presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, who was held hostage for six years by the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia
(FARC), was Wednesday awarded the Prince of Asturias Prize, regarded as the Spanish equivalent of the Nobel.

Betancourt, who was rescued in a spectacular operation in July, was granted the award in the category of promoting understanding between peoples.

Bogota- Colombian police found close to 1 million dollars, allegedly belonging to a drug cartel, hidden inside a small plane that was to fly from Quibdo to Bogota, the authorities said Tuesday.

Colonel Jose Herrera, police commander in the north-western Colombian province of Choco, said 904,040 dollars were stashed away in the plane's nose and tail.

Preliminary investigations indicated that the cash belonged to the North of the Valley drug cartel or to the drug and paramilitary gang led by Daniel Rendon, alias Don Mario.

New Delhi, Sept 5 : India and Colombia have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for cooperation in hydrocarbon sector here today.

Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora and the visiting Colombian Minister of Energy and Mines Hernan Martinez Torres inked the MoU.

Deora said the MoU provides an umbrella framework to facilitate and enhance bilateral cooperation in this sector. The two sides have agreed to cooperate in the entire spectrum of hydrocarbon sector particularly in the areas of exploration and production of oil and gas, exchange of training and human resource development, and exchange of visits of professionals and technicians.

Madrid - Colombia will become the first Latin American country to participate in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, the Spanish daily El Pais reported Thursday.

The Colombian unit comprising about 100 soldiers will be integrated into a Spanish force based in Qal-i-Naw in northwestern Afghanistan, the report said.

The Colombian soldiers, whose participation has been under negotiation for months, were expected to arrive in Afghanistan in the spring of 2009.

Bogota - At least 22 peo

Bogota - France anonymously paid ransom money for the release of former presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt to the FARC rebels five years ago, according to Colombia media reports.