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Condi Rice to visit India this week

WASHINGTON, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush Sunday dispatched Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to India as the investigation continued into the Mumbai terrorist attacks.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino said in a written statement that Rice would arrive in New Dehli Wednesday.

Rice left Washington Sunday for a previously scheduled NATO conference in London.

Perino's statement said Rice's trip was a "demonstration of the United States' commitment to stand in solidarity with the people of India."

The statement made no mention of specific meetings Rice might have with Indian leaders; however, any escalation of tensions between India and Pakistan are considered a serious concern for Washington. Pakistan is a focal point of the U.S. campaign against militant Islamic terrorism and is also a nuclear-armed historic rival of India.

U.N. tribunal on Lebanon to start March 1

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Sunday the tribunal that will try those accused of the assassination of a former prime minister of Lebanon will convene in March 2009.

Rafiq Hariri was killed in a Beirut car-bombing in 2005 that U.N. investigators contend had ties to Syrian intelligence agencies.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a written statement that the March 1, 2009, start date for the tribunal was agreed upon Sunday when he and the current Lebanese prime minister, Fouad Siniora, met at a U.N. conference in Qatar.

"Prime Minister Siniora and I agree that the launch of the special tribunal will be a significant step toward the end of impunity," Ban told reporters. "We also hope that the Security Council will endorse the plan."

Social Democrats in lead in Romania

BUCHAREST, Romania, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Exit polls indicated Romanian voters favored the ex-communist Social Democrats in the country's general election Sunday.

The BBC reported that while the ultimate make-up of the next government remained uncertain, exit polls showed the Social Democrat candidates would receive about 36 percent of the vote. The governing National Liberals appeared to have about 20 percent and the party's former allies, the Liberal Democrats, were at about 31 percent, the British network said.

However, there were no official results as yet in Romania's first election since it joined the European Union last year. It's the first time, the 18 million Romanians eligible to vote chose from among individual candidates instead of party lists as they filled seats in the 452-member Parliament.

Swiss voters approve prescription heroin

ZURICH, Switzerland, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Final election results in Switzerland show voters rejecting a proposal to decriminalize marijuana, but passing a plan for prescription heroin.

The BBC said Sunday that the prescription plan will allow addicts to shoot up under medical supervision in a clinical setting and is aimed at getting hard-core users off the streets.

While critics said the idea sent the wrong message to young people, about 68-percent of Swiss voters seemed to agree with the argument that it would cut down on crime and keep addicts off the streets.

The BBC said that although police tend to ignore low-level pot smoking, the public was not willing to give the green light to use of a drug that recent studies publicized in Switzerland warned were more harmful that thought.