International

By DPA, Berlin : German Chancellor Angela Merkel was surprised at the news-media attention to the plunging neckline of an evening gown she wore to an opera in Oslo, her deputy spokesman said in Berlin Monday. The chancellor's plain ankle-length black frock exposed an unusual amount of bosom Saturday evening and stole the limelight from Norwegian princesses Victoria and Mette-Marit in more demure dress. Thomas Steg said it had not been her intention to divert attention from the stunning architecture of the new opera house, and she was sorry if she had outshone the Norwegian royals.

Berlin : Unesco has designated several new World Heritage Sites in Norway, Germany, Israel, Britain and the US during the 39th meeting of...

By IRNA London : British Prime Minister Gordon Brown was hosting a summit in London Tuesday with the leaders of the three other largest economies in Europe on the global financial turmoil. German chancellor Angela Merkel, French president Nicholas Sarkozy and Italian premier Romano Prodi were attending the meeting along with the president of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso.

By IANS,

By IANS/EFE, Guatemala City : At least five people including three minors were killed in a landslide in Guatemala. The accident occurred on the outskirts of the Guatemalan capital in an area of loose ground which shifted when the people walked over it, causing the landslide that trapped the victims, an official spokesman said Thursday.

Bogota : At least 48 people died and an unknown number are missing in a landslide caused when a creek overflowed in the town...

By IANS/EFE,

By DPA, Wellington : New Zealand civil defence officials issued a tsunami alert Wednesday night after a massive earthquake, estimated between 6.6 and 8.2 on the Richter scale, rocked southern regions of the country. But a statement stressed it was not an emergency warning yet, and advised the public to monitor radio stations for more information. Although there were reports of cracked walls and items toppled from shelves in the Southland province, there were no immediate reports of serious damage or human casualties.

By IANS, Mumbai : North American Airlines, whose passenger jet was detained here for violating norms, was the official carrier for US President Barack Obama during his election campaign last year. "North American Airlines was selected by the Obama team to provide a dedicated and customized aircraft for Senator Obama and his campaign for their exclusive use from April through the presidential election on November 4th (2008)," a posting on the airline website says.

By DPA, Seoul : South Korea and the US Thursday ramped up their surveillance over North Korea, as Pyongyang nullified its truce with Seoul and threatened war. The armed forces of both countries upped surveillance to the penultimate level of a five-state surveillance scale for the first time since North Korea's first nuclear test in October 2006, the South Korean Yonhap news agency reported, quoting a defence ministry official.

By DPA, Washington : US President Barack Obama repeated his past pledges to overturn the military's policy of expelling troops who express homosexual orientation, in a speech Saturday to a national gay rights group. He told the Human Rights Campaign's annual black-tie gala, held in downtown Washington: "I will end, 'Don't ask, don't tell'," as the policy in force since 1993 is known. Obama, who made similar promises during his 2008 election campaign, did not say when or how he would act to allow homosexuals to openly serve in uniform.

By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS London : Britain's first state-funded Hindu school has revised its admission policy in view of criticism of its efforts to define a 'practising Hindu', and has now made temple priests responsible for determining the status of a Hindu family applying for admission to the school. The school, named Krishna-Avanti Primary School, is located in the London borough of Harrow, which has the highest concentration of Hindus in any council in Britain: 40,000. The school is promoted by a charity organisation called the I-Foundation.

By IANS, Colombo : General elections began in Sri Lanka Thursday, two months after President Mahinda Rajapaksa was re-elected with a sweeping margin against his rival and former army chief Sarath Fonseka. More than 14.08 crore people will choose 225 legislators among 7,620 contestants, election officials said. There are 11,000 polling stations across the country. People are participating in this election with less enthusiasm compared to the Jan 26 presidential poll, which recorded a voter turnout of close to 75 percent, Elections Commissioner Dayananda Dissanayake said.

By DPA, Washington: North Korea has informed the US that it has detained a second American citizen who allegedly entered the Stalinist state through China, the US State Department said Friday. State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said no details were provided about the individual, including the identity. The US government is working though the Swedish embassy in Pyongyang to gain access to the detainee, Crowley said.

Colombo: Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised to push ahead with development while opening a Japanese funded highway here Saturday, reiterating he would not...

By Ria Novosti, Moscow: Eight servicemen were killed and two others were injured Monday in an explosion at an arms depot in the city of Ulyanovsk in Russia's Volga region, a defence ministry spokesman said. Alexei Kuznetsov said the explosion occurred when ammunition was being loaded into a truck. He said a defence ministry team is currently investigating the incident. Russia's prosecutor general is overseeing the investigation.

London: A couple in Britain has been arrested on suspicion of Syria-related "terrorism offences", police said Wednesday. The West Midlands Police Wednesday said the couplefrom...

By IANS,

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow : Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has taken up ice skating in a bid to boost the sport in the country.

By Xinhua, Beijing : A moderate aftershock measuring 6 on the Richter scale jolted Jiangyou city in China's quake-hit Sichuan province early Sunday, officials said. No casualties were reported. The temblor jolted two townships in Jiangyou city, northern Sichuan, at 1.08 a.m., causing cracks in a mountain and seriously damaging roads. One of the crevices runs 300 meters. Jiangyou is situated near Beichuan county and Mianyang city, which are among places hardest hit by the May 12 earthquake that measured 7.8 on the Richter scale.

By Xinhua Beijing : China has framed a law to improve the country's ability to handle frequent industrial accidents, natural disasters and health and public security hazards. With seven chapters and 70 clauses, the law will be effective from Nov 1. Four colours of emergency declaration (blue, yellow, orange and red) shall be used to indicate the hazard level, with "red" signalling the most serious situation. The new law will help effectively to minimise losses and prevent minor mishaps from turning into major public crisis, lawmakers said.

By DPA Washington : US President George W. Bush has exempted the Navy from an environmental law regulating the use of sonar off the California coast, the White House said. Bush is determined that the Navy needs to use the mid-frequency sonar to effectively train for anti-submarine warfare "in support of worldwide operational and combat activities, which are essential to national security". The law is designed to protect marine life from what environmentalists believe are the harmful effects of sonar that can be lethal or cause whales to beach themselves.

By DPA, Washington/Wellington : At least 25 people died in the Pacific island states of Samoa and American Samoa after a tsunami was triggered by a magnitude 8.0 earthquake Tuesday, according to reports from the region. A number of coastal villages were swept away and reports said the death toll was bound to rise as people who were evacuated to higher ground after the shake returned to lower levels.

By DPA, Singapore : The US and North Korea held Wednesday their highest level meeting in four years over the dismantling of Pyongyang's nuclear programme. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her North Korean counterpart Pak Ui Chun, along with other members of the six-party talks, held an informal session in Singapore on the sidelines of the meetings of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Rice said the unofficial talks were "good," but there were "no surprises".

By IANS/AKI,

By IANS, Colombo : Sri Lankan troops Sunday entered Mullaitivu town, the last stronghold of the Tamil Tigers, an army official said. window.onload = function() {var...

By RIA Novosti, Moscow : US President Barack Obama began his first meeting with Vladimir Putin Tuesday morning at the Russian prime minister's country residence outside Moscow. Obama, on his first visit to Russia since becoming president, held extensive talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev Monday, resulting in a framework agreement for a new strategic arms reduction treaty. After exchanging pleasantries, Putin told Obama that Russia is hoping for better relations with the US, following disagreements that arose with the previous administration.

By IANS, London: Fans of Apple products tend to be hysterically devoted to the global brand. But this desire for iPods and iPads can border on the religious, according to a TV programme.

By Xinhua, Beijing : There are about 13 million abortions performed every year in China and inadequate knowledge about contraception among women is blamed for this high rate of pregnancy terminations, the China Daily reported Thursday. Nearly half of the women who had abortions had not used any form of contraception, Wu Shangchun, divisional director of China's National Population and Family Planning Commission's technology research centre, was quoted as saying by the newspaper.

By Arun Kumar, IANS,

By DPA, Washington : Twenty-four hostages held by a gun-toting student at a high school in Wisconsin have been released Monday night, broadcaster CNN reported quoting police.

Washington: US President Barack Obama Thursday echoed his Wednesday's call for Muslim communities around the world to resist the notion that the West was...

By IANS, Beijing : President Hu Jintao said Saturday that China and India should have a “far-sighted, strategic and long-term perspective” even as they join hands to deal with the global financial crisis. China and India have maintained sound relations and economic cooperation and collaborated in international affairs, Hu told Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the sidelines of the just concluded 7th Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) here.

By IANS/RIA Novosti, Moscow: Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed the hope that the arrests of 10 Russians for spying on the US will not hamper diplomatic ties between the two countries. "I hope the positive developments that have accumulated recently will not be damaged," Putin said during his meeting with visiting ex-US President Bill Clinton Tuesday. The comments came two days after 10 Russian nationals were arrested Sunday by American intelligence officials who accused them of running a spy ring against the US.

By Shabtai Gold, DPA, Geneva : Government bonds are generally attractive to the layman investor as they are relatively safe. The saver can profit while not fretting over the markets. An initiative which has been getting off the ground in the past two years is trying to help those investors sleep even easier, knowing their money will go to the developing world to immunise children.

By Arun Kumar

IANS

Washington : In a decision that may cost India $37 million, the US Supreme Court has ruled that the country's courts can decide New York City's property tax disputes with foreign governments.