11.   Indian Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda refused Thursday to review a steep hike in petroleum prices despite opposition protests and rumblings within his minority centre-left government.

12.   Jordanian army units restored order to Karak on Saturday and later took control of roads leading to major cities following the riots over a steep hike in bread prices.

13.   Last month, Sinha also partially rolled back a steep hike in domestic cooking gas prices.