The New Nation - Internet Edition

Putin names Medvedev as successor

Russia's largest political party is due to confirm President Vladimir Putin's chosen successor, Dmitri Medvedev, as its candidate for the presidency. United Ru sia, which won a big majority in recent polls, is expected to back first deputy PM Medvedev's candidacy at a party conference in Moscow. Putin last week said he hoped Medvedev would succeed him as president at the elections in March. Putin is likely to retain political influence after stepping down.

Brother killed Indian ex-minister

BBC Online: The brother of a senior leader of India's main opposition BJP Pramod Mahajan has been found guilty of killing him last year. A court in the western city of Mumbai said Praveen Mahajan had shot and killed his brother Pramod Mahajan, a former federal minister. Mahajan is likely to be sentenced on Tuesday, reports say. Pramod Mahajan died 12 days after being shot at his home in Mumbai in April last year. Reports say his brother fired three shots at him from a licensed revolver from close range because of a family dispute.

Mass deaths of rare crocodiles

At least 21 endangered crocodile-like gharials have been found dead over the past three days in a river in northern India, wildlife officials say. The reptiles died in the Chambal River, and one official said that cirrhosis of the liver was the cause of the deaths. Tests are now being carried out on the water for the presence of any liver-damaging toxins. The gharial, with its long, narrow snout adapted for eating small fish, is critically endangered in South Asia.