TEHRAN: Mohammad Khatami, a moderate cleric was sworn in today as Iran's new president. Khatami, who took of office in Parliament, is the fifth president since the 1979 Islamic revolution that toppled the US-backed Shah. scored an upset win in the May 23 presidential elections and replaces Ali Akbar Hasehmi Rafsanjani.

Life ends at 122

PARIS: Jeanne Calment, who credited olive oil and port wine for making her the world's oldest person, died today at the age of 122 at a retirement home in southern France. Calment had no direct descendants and became Arles' (her hometown) greatest attraction since artist Vincent Van Gogh, who spent a year there in 1888. She met him that year when he came to her uncle's shop to buy paints, and later remembered him as ``dirty, badly dressed and disagreeable.''

Nepal strike

KATHMANDU: A dawn-to-dusk general strike called by Nepalese business groups against the imposition of value added tax in Nepal brought the city to a standstill today.

The strike was called by a group better known for promoting business than stopping it, the Nepal Chamber of Commerce. Transport ground to a halt, forcing civil servants to walk to their jobs and students to walk to school.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.