SNIPPETS

Bangladesh to legalise adoption for first time

DHAKA: Bangladesh will for the first time enact a law to allow couples to adopt orphans legally, a government minister said on Tuesday. — AFP

Karzai to visit Europe, United States

KABUL: Afghan president Hamid Karzai will travel to Europe next week and later to the United States for talks with leaders including the head of the NATO and US president Bush, a spokesman said on Tuesday. — AP

Taiwanese president invites Chinese leader

TAIPEI: President Chen Shui-bian on Tuesday invited China’s leader to visit Taiwan to get a better understanding of the island’s conditions. Taiwan’s opposition leader Lien Chen was back home on Tuesday after a visit to China. But Beijing responded that it won’t talk to Chen until his party drops what China says is an independence clause in its platform. — AP

‘Bangladesh hero’ passes away

NEW DELHI: Retired Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Aurora, hero of the 1971 India-Pakistan war that led to Bangladesh’s birth, died here on Tuesday. — HNS

Clinton to skip Lanka aid review meet

COLOMBO: Ex-US president Bill Cli-nton will not attend a foreign aid review this month but will be represe-nted by his deputy, reports said. — AFP