Church damaged in fire
HYDERABAD, Feb 11 (PTI) — A church, housed in a thatched hut, in Pedavadlapudi village in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh, was partially damaged after it caught fire late last night. However, no one was injured, the police said. The church pastor K. Isaiah, in his statement to the police has said the fire was accidental.

China to buy Sukhois
TOKYO, Feb 11 (AFP) — China will buy advanced Sukhoi fighters from Russia in a bid to improve the quality of its military, a newspaper said today. China has agreed with Russia to buy at least 20 of the Sukhoi 30MK jets in 1999, the Sankei Shimbun said in a dispatch from Beijing, quoting an anonymous western source specialising in Chinese military affairs. The Sukhoi 30MK is an advanced version of the Sukhoi 27, which China has already bought and started to produce under licence.

Strike hits work
PATNA, Feb 11 (PTI) — The indefinite strike by non-gazetted employees, teachers and officers in Bihar today continued to affect work in government offices, schools and hospitals with no signs of rapprochement between the employees and the state government in sight. The employees held demonstrations and staged dharnas in the state capital and the district headquarters in support of their demands, including pay parity with central government staff and raising of the retirement age to 60 years.

Rescuers give up
PARIS, Feb 11 (UNI) — Rescuers in the French Alps were losing hope of finding more survivors in the worst avalanche of nine decades killing 10 people and injuring more than 50 when ravaging snow sheets buried two villages in South of France yesterday, sources said today. Rescuers, battling snow for the night the managed to pull out 20 persons from hamlets of Le Tour and Montroc, near the Chamonix ski resort but losing hopes of finding more survivors.

20 killed in fire
MOSCOW, Feb 11 (AFP) — At least 20 persons died and dozens were missing when a fire swept through a police building in the city of Samara, in Russia's Volga region, RTR television reported, giving a provisional toll. The Interior Ministry building, which was destroyed in the blaze, housed police offices and a centre for preventive detention, NTV television station said. At least 120 persons were in the building when the fire broke out yesterday, NTV said.

Iraqi targets hit
WASHINGTON, Feb 11 (Reuters) — US fighter jets fired on at least five Iraqi targets in the northern no-fly zone today, including two communications sites and a surface-to-air missile system, the Pentagon said. Defence Department spokesman Lt Col Steve Campbell said there was no damage to US aircraft and no injuries to US personnel. Damage to Iraqi forces was currently being assessed. It was the second consecutive day that US forces had slammed Iraqi defence systems in the western-enforced no-fly zones, which Iraq has declared illegal.

Census of Christians
AHMEDABAD, Feb 11 (PTI) — The Gujarat High Court was today informed that the controversial order of the state government for conducting a census of the Christian population was issued only with the intention to collect information and not to harass the members of that community. During the hearing on a suo motu petition on the issue, state Additional Advocate-General S.N. Shelat said the order should not be construed as targeted at the Christian community in the state.

Janata Adalat
NEW DELHI, Feb 11 (PTI) — Union Communications Minister Jagmohan today began a weekly 'Janata ki Adalat' at Dak Bhavan here to make functioning of his ministry more effective and settled over 200 complaints from the public on the spot. The adalat organised on the lines of his public hearings in Jammu and Kashmir when he was the Governor there, attracted huge crowd and the minister saw to it that all cases brought to him received justice.