Political, social and entrepreneurial representatives of Peru and the government on Monday called on the domestic community to put down the present social conflict through dialogue and negotiation.

They made the call after a four-hour meeting at Lima's Government Palace, and reached a three-point National Agreement (AN) in an effort to seek a peaceful solution to the domestic violence and chaos.

"The AN spirit ratifies the defense of the democratic institutionalization, the government and the solution of social demands through peace, dialogue and negotiation," said Prime Minister Luis Solari reading the first point of the agreement at the press conference.

The executive branch of the country was called to evaluate the feasibility of suspending the 30-day state of emergency, or the restriction of the measure.

Jorge del Castillo, representative of the Opposition Aprista Peruvian Party, and Leopoldo Shievje, President of the National Confederation of Private Entrepreneurial Firms (CONFIEP), said the call for national reconciliation was unanimously approved.

President Alejandro Toledo declared a 30-day state of emergency on May 27 to quell a nationwide strike of teachers and agricultural producers. It resulted in protests in many parts of the country, and later involved public health workers, judiciary workers and students who joined in the demonstrations.

A nationwide protest was set to be held on Tuesday. It has been called by the General Confederation of Peruvian Workers (CGTP) with the aim of suspending the state of emergency.

US Olympics bomb suspect to face trial

US Olympic Park bombing suspect Eric Robert Rudolph was transferred to the state of Alabama on Monday to face trial on charges in a women's clinic bombing that killed an off-duty police officer.

Captured after five years on the run, Rudolph appeared for the first time in a federal court in North Carolina earlier in the day. A court-appointed attorney said his client waived the right to plead guilty in North Carolina and accepted the transfer to Alabama.

The US Justice Department asked that Rudolph faces trial first in Birmingham, Alabama for the Jan. 29, 1998 bombing at an abortion clinic in the city, Attorney General John Ashcroft announced Monday.

Once that trial was complete, Rudolph would be transferred to Atlanta, Georgia for a trial involving three bombings there, including the July 1996 bombing at the Centennial Olympic Park that killed a woman and wounded more than 100 people.

Rudolph, 36, was arrested in Murphy, the small western North Carolina town where he has been held in jail since his arrest Saturday. He was also charged in blasts at a women's clinics and at an lesbian nightclub, both in Atlanta.

If convicted, Rudolph could face the death penalty.

Rudolph is believed to have escaped detection by hiding in the caves and mines of the thickly wooded western North Carolina mountains since 1998, when federal arrest warrants were issued for him. An FBI evidence response team has headed into the woods to look for further evidence.

Canadian cattle industry calls for mad cow aid

Canadian cattle industry has called on the Canadian government to extend financial help to the industry beleaguered by mad cow disease.

Feed lots face a devastating crunch as early as the middle of this week without government's compensation plan to offset plummeting cattle prices caused by international export bans, beef industry officials say Monday.

Buyers faced with losing to 300 Canadian dollars (about 200 US dollars) an animal have been holding back their cattle slaughter since it was revealed on May 20 that an eight year old breeder cow in the province of Alberta died of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), the brain-wasting disease known as mad cow.

Hundreds of cattle culled in the western provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan have been cleared of mad cow disease -- results that federal officials plan to highlight as they try to convince the American government to partially reopen its border to beef exports.

Canada also plans to argue that exports of young cattle should be allowed since the disease has never been found in an animal younger than 22 months. About 80 percent Alberta's beef exports are either live cattle younger than 30 months or beef from such cattle.

Canadian federal food inspectors expect to have final test results from the source herds by Friday. Export officials say if all animals are cleared of mad cow, Canada can immediately ask the United States and some other countries to lift the trading bans.

Canada's beef exports are worth about 4 billion Canadian dollars (about 2.7 billion US dollars) a year, with the United States being the largest customer. It's estimated the shutdown is costing at least 11 million Canadian dollars (about 8 billion US dollars) a day in exports alone.

Mars Express spacecraft launched from Baikonur, Russia

A Soyuz-FG medium-class launch vehicle took off from Baikonur cosmodrome at 9:45 pm (Moscow time) Monday, carrying the European Space Agency's Mars Express spacecraft.

The press service of the Russian Space Forces said the launch proceeded without a hitch, according to Interfax news agency.

Mars Express is expected to reach Martian orbit in half a year, after which the Beagle-2 lander will separate from it. It will study the surface and environment of the Red Planet for 180 days, while Mars Express examines it from orbit.