UNITED NATIONS: UN chief Ban Ki-moon met with Iran`s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Sunday, urging him to "engage constructively" with the international community on his country`s nuclear program.Ban said in a statement he also stressed to the Iranian leader, whose re-election last year

UNITED NATIONS: World leaders kick off a summit on Monday to hammer out new ways to meet ambitious targets set a decade ago to cut poverty, millions of avoidable deaths and improve equality by 2015.US President Barack Obama, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao

BHOPAL: Two trains collided in bad weather in central India on Monday in an early morning accident that left 13 dead and dozens injured, railway and police officials told AFP.The crash occurred in the Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, about 350 kilometres (220 miles) from state capital

New Delhi:  A Red alert has been issued in Delhi after two Taiwan tourists were fired at by two unidentified men on a motorcycle outside Gate Number 3 of Jama Masjid.The two injured, Zeseweiu Ku, Chiang Kh, were getting on a tourist bus while the incident took place. They both have been

JERUSALEM: Israel on Sunday denounced as irresponsible the reported sale by Russia of P-800 Yakhont cruise missiles to Syria, saying it could threaten the strategic balance in the region.News of the sale emerged on Friday when Russian Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov told reporters in

BAGHDAD: Two near-simultaneous car bombs rocked Baghdad on Sunday killing at least 29 people and wounding 111 in the Iraqi capital`s deadliest day in a month.The twin blasts struck near the Aden junction in north Baghdad and in the residential district of Mansur in the west of the capital

BANGKOK: Thai "Red Shirts" were set to rally in Bangkok and Chiang Mai Sunday to mark four years since a coup ousted Thaksin Shinawatra and commemorating those slain in a May crackdown on their protest.Authorities do not expect violence, but will keep security tight, with army-led command

TOKYO:  Japan plans to take "countermeasures" if China starts drilling in a disputed gas field in the East China Sea amid a simmering territorial row, press reports said Sunday.Japan says aerial photographs show that China has recently transported what appears to be drilling equipment to

KABUL: Three foreign troops have been killed in Afghanistan -- two in a bombing in the south, and another soldier in an insurgent attack in the country`s north, NATO said Sunday.NATO`s International Security Assistance Force said in separate statements that all three died on Saturday, but

STOCKHOLM (Reuters) - Sweden`s centre-right government was expected to win re-election on Sunday, but a strong showing by the far-right might leave the ruling Alliance short of a majority and could rewrite the political map.Two opinion polls on the eve of the election showed the

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton expressed the hope that "responsible" leaders will take control in Iran, in an interview to be aired Sunday."And I can only hope that there will be some effort inside Iran, by responsible civil and religious leaders, to take hold of the

STOCKHOLM: Swedes go to the polls Sunday with surveys hinting voters will re-elect the centre-right government, as the far-right makes its debut in parliament and could be handed the role of kingmaker.Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, 45, is vying to see his four-party coalition become

BRATISLAVA: NATO vowed Saturday to make its command slimmer yet effective as its military chiefs met in Slovakia to discuss modernising the alliance.NATO Military Committee head Giampaolo Di Paola said the new command would be flexible, slimmer but effective, and said he could not give

BRUSSELS: Anger over France`s expulsion of Roma migrants has blown the lid off Europe`s failure to integrate its biggest minority group, fueling calls for sweeping action to end decades of neglect.The French crackdown escalated into a fierce political row which hijacked a summit of

VIENNA: A bitter row over Israel`s assumed nuclear arsenal looks set to dominate the annual general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency which begins Monday.Every year at the week-long conference which brings together all 151 member states of the IAEA, Arab nations table a

LONDON: Pope Benedict XVI has stepped up his displays of contrition towards victims of paedophile priests on his state visit to Britain, but he still has far to go to win back public opinion, observers said.Benedict met five British abuse victims and expressed "deep sorrow" during mass on

VANCOUVER: The only person ever convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings was found guilty of one count of perjury Saturday in this western Canadian city.Inderjit Singh Reyat, a Sikh immigrant to Canada, already served more than 15 years in prison for manslaughter and making the bombs in

SRINAGAR: Police fired on fresh anti-India demonstrations in Kashmir on Saturday, killing three protesters and bringing the number of civilian deaths in an unprecedented wave of unrest to 102.The new deaths came as thousands of Kashmiris poured on to the streets shouting "Go back India"

Kabul: At least 18 Taliban militants and six security personnel, including a soldier, were killed and several civilians injured in clashes in various Afghan provinces amid the country`s second parliamentary polls held Saturday, Xinhua reported.The Taliban who vowed to derail the voting

YANGON: Myanmar state media warned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi`s party on Saturday to drop protests against its dissolution and threatened jail for anyone impeding the November vote.Although the National League for Democracy (NLD) -- officially disbanded this week -- was not named