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BEIJING (Reuters) - China has completed a monitoring scheme in restive Tibet that requires all telephone and internet users to register under their real names, state media said on Wednesday, as part of a campaign to crack down on what officials describe as rumours. Tibetans are already closely watched, due to decades of often violent unrest in protest at Chinese rule, which Beijing blames on exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. By the end of last year, all 2.76 million fixed line and mobile telephone users and 1. ...

By Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A suicide bomber and several gunmen attacked a United Nations compound in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, police and witnesses said, in a strike that bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda-linked militants. The bomber set off his explosives outside the gate of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) base before attackers ran inside and opened fire on security guards, a senior police official told Reuters. Gunfire could still be heard more than 30 minutes after the initial explosion. It was not immediately clear whether any U.N. ...

BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian rebel unit has claimed responsibility in a video for killing four Shi'ite men in Lebanon this week as Syria's civil war spills into its smaller, religiously divided neighbour. In the video, posted on Tuesday by a group calling itself the "Syrian Mujahideen Unit", a fighter says his brigade killed the four men as they were trying to enter Syria. He said they were members of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group that has actively helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight against a mostly Sunni Muslim revolt. ...

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab said on Wednesday its fighters were behind an attack on a United Nations compound in Mogadishu and said a battle between their gunmen and security forces continued more than an hour after an initial blast. "Mujahideen units from the Martyrdom Brigade have stormed the UNDP compound near the airport in Mogadishu," the group said on its official Twitter feed @HSMPRESS1. A U.N. spokesman in Mogadishu said the attackers had entered the compound. (Editing by Richard Lough and Edmund Blair)

By Jeff Mason and Roberta Rampton BERLIN (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will use a speech on Wednesday to revive proposals for a world without nuclear arms by targeting cuts in deployed nuclear weapons of up to a third below levels achieved in a 2010 treaty with Russia, a senior U.S. official said. In Berlin, where John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan gave Cold War speeches denouncing the division of the city, he will try to move beyond the "New START" treaty that required the United States and Russia to cut stockpiles of deployed nuclear weapons to 1,550 each by 2018. "The U.S. ...

LONDON (Reuters) - Newcastle United managing director Derek Llambias resigned on Wednesday, the day after Joe Kinnear's controversial return to the Premier League club as director of football. The Newcastle website (www.nufc.co.uk) gave no reason for the departure but quoted Llambias as saying he had been on "an incredible journey" during his five years at the club, "including some challenging times". Llambias had said in a statement on Tuesday that "the board are pleased to welcome Joe back to the club". ...

MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex edged up on Wednesday amid volatility ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve policy outcome, with telecom stocks such as Idea Cellular gaining as new roaming regulations were seen as less stringent than expected. Idea Cellular provisionally rose 4.5 percent, while Bharti Airtel ended 2.4 percent higher and Reliance Communications rose 1.7 percent. The BSE Sensex provisionally gained 0.09 percent, while the Nifty ended up 0.12 percent. (Reporting by Abhishek Vishnoi; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

REUTERS - Mercedes and tyre supplier Pirelli appear before Formula One's International Tribunal in Paris on Thursday to face charges that they broke Formula One testing regulations in Spain in May. This factbox details the issues and potential outcomes. WHAT IS THE TRIBUNAL? The tribunal was set up by the International Automobile Federation (FIA) in 2010 to rule on matters submitted by the FIA to ensure that the regulations are upheld. Thursday's hearing will be the first time it has ruled on an F1 controversy. ...

By Alan Baldwin LONDON (Reuters) - Mercedes principal Ross Brawn, a past master at finding Formula One loopholes, may need to pull another rabbit from his magician's hat on Thursday if his team are to escape potentially heavy sanctions. The burly Englishman will explain to an International Tribunal hearing in Paris why the team of 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton and Germany's Nico Rosberg should escape punishment for apparently breaking strict rules on testing. ...

By Foo Yun Chee BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Nine drugmakers, including Denmark's Lundbeck and India's Ranbaxy , were fined a total of 146 million euros by EU antitrust regulators on Wednesday for blocking the supply of a cheaper anti-depressant medicine to the market. The punishments follow a 2009 report by the European Commission on the pharmaceutical sector, which said "pay-for-delay" deals lead to consumers paying as much as 20 percent more for their medicines. The EU action came two days after the U.S. Supreme Court said that U.S. ...

By Patricia Reaney NEW YORK (Reuters) - British actress Gemma Arterton does not need to worry about typecasting with roles ranging from a fairy tale character and literary heroines to MI6 agent Strawberry Fields in the 2008 James Bond film "Quantum of Solace." In "Unfinished Song," a comedy-drama that opens in U.S. theaters on Friday, Arterton, 27, stars as Elizabeth, a music teacher in a boys' school. She also directs a choir for seniors, which includes Marion, played by Vanessa Redgrave, and forges a special friendship with her cantankerous retired husband, played by Terence Stamp. ...

By Karolos Grohmann REUTERS - The world athletics body (IAAF) on Wednesday denied that it had any prior knowledge or evidence of Italian 2008 Olympic race walk champion Alex Schwazer's doping practices before he was caught with a positive test last year. Schwazer, who was one of Italy's big medal hopes, was excluded from last year's London Olympics after testing positive for the banned blood-boosting substance EPO days before the start of the Games. He was banned for three-and-a-half years by Italian authorities earlier this year. ...

By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai distanced himself from U.S. peace talks with Taliban insurgents that are likely to begin on Thursday, and, as a mark of displeasure, said the government was suspending negotiations with Washington over a troop agreement. A senior Afghan official told Reuters on Wednesday that the government was unhappy over the official status being given to the Taliban, who opened an office in Doha, the capital of Qatar, on Tuesday. U.S. ...

Agartala, June 19 (IANS) President Pranab Mukherjee will undertake a two-day visit to the Left Front ruled Tripura from Thursday, an official said here Wednesday.

Lucknow, June 19 (IANS) With monsoon rains lashing Uttar Pradesh and river banks breached in several districts, the state may be headed for one of its worst flooding.

Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) The Indian rupee fell to 58.91 against a dollar Wednesday, fractionally less than the record low of 58.98 hit last week, on concerns that the US Federal Reserve might signal cutting back on stimulus that will strengthen the greenback further.

New Delhi, June 19 (IANS) Atul Singh, Coca-Cola's president and CEO (India and Southwest Asia), will take over as deputy president (Pacific Group) from July 1, the company said Wednesday.

Sohra, June 19 (IANS) It has been raining cats and dogs in India's northern states, but Cherrapunjee (renamed Sohra) - known as one of the wettest places on the earth - nestled in the abode of clouds in Meghalaya in is "burning hot" at over 28 degrees Celsius!

Patna, June 19 (IANS) Three days after he dumped long-time ally BJP, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar Wednesday won a trust vote to prove his majority in the state assembly.

Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) Playback singer Palak Muchhal, who hogged the limelight after singing "Lapata" in Salman Khan starrer "Ek Tha Tiger", considers herself lukcy as she didn't have to struggle much.

Mumbai, June 19 (IANS) Popular stand-up comedian Kapil Sharma, who has turned producer with "Comedy Nights with Kapil", considers his 12-year theatre experience, when he worked for free, as an investment.

New Delhi, June 19 (IANS) Cyclists face a harrowing time on roads as motorists have scant respect for them, said experts who feel that India's cycling coach Ruma Chatterjee's death in a road accident on the Noida Expressway was due to the driver's negligence.

London, June 19 (IANS) England opted to field against South Africa in the first semifinal of the Champions Trophy at the Kennington Oval here Wednesday.

Thiruvananthapuram, June 19 (IANS) A week has elapsed since the doings of a con-couple rocked the high and mighty, including the office of Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, but the United Democratic Front (UDF) has decided to back him with all its might.

Patna, June 19 (IANS) The BJP walked out of the Bihar assembly Wednesday before Chief Minister Nitish Kumar could prove his majority in the house after dumping his former ally.

London, June 19 (IANS) If you happen to be one of those who prefer staying asleep up till late on the weekend, you could be actually doing a great service to your health, suggests an Australian study.