Washington: The new global power lineup in the US for 2010 compiling the world`s most powerful countries/regions recognised India as the third most powerful country behind the US and China, and predicted that its clout as well as that of China and Brazil would further rise by 2025."Global

COPIAPO, Chile:  A third drilling rig being used in the effort to reach 33 trapped Chilean miners made good progress in its first day of operation, offering hope for accelerating the rescue, officials said Monday.The oil-drilling RIG-421 had burrowed some 23 meters (75 feet) in less than

SEOUL:  North Korea`s ruling party will hold its biggest meeting in decades on September 28 to pick a new leadership, state media reported on Tuesday, and likely anoint an heir to the dynasty as Kim Jong-il`s health deteriorates.Kim, who is believed to have suffered a stroke in 2008, has

BAGHDAD: Iraq has recovered more than 600 historical artefacts that had been stolen and then recovered but mistakenly stored in a warehouse in the country for around two years, a minister said on Monday.The 638 items include statues, spearheads and glass cups that were taken from Iraq and

Srinagar: Thirty nine politicians of different ideologies, personalities and opinions touched down in Srinagar on Monday hoping to make a gentle landing in the volatile Kashmir valley. These politicians were seeking a united political consensus in a state that has seen 100 civilian deaths

BHOPAL: Twenty-two people were killed and dozens more injured when two trains collided in central India on Monday, officials said, in the latest fatal smash on the country`s vast rail network.The crash occurred in the Shivpuri district of Madhya Pradesh, some 350 kilometres (220 miles)

TORONTO: "The King`s Speech," a movie about a stammering British royal pressed to overcome a speech disorder to rally his empire at war, won the Toronto film festival`s People`s Choice Award on Sunday.The film stars Colin Firth as King George VI, who was plagued by a dreaded nervous

TORONTO: "The King`s Speech," a movie about a stammering British royal pressed to overcome a speech disorder to rally his empire at war, won the Toronto film festival`s People`s Choice Award on Sunday.The film stars Colin Firth as King George VI, who was plagued by a dreaded nervous

STOCKHOLM:  Sweden`s centre-right government looked headed for a second term in office, according to early results from Sunday`s vote, while a far-right party will enter parliament for the first time.Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt`s centre-right coalition won 48.8 percent of votes,

BIRMINGHAM: Pope Benedict XVI flew out of Britain Sunday after an historic four-day state visit, as Prime Minister David Cameron said he had made people "sit up and think."The pope departed from Birmingham, central England, at 6:45 pm (1745 GMT) on board an Alitalia plane and was due to

NOUAKCHOTT: Mauritania warplanes attacked militants of Al-Qaeda`s north African wing in northern Mali, senior officers said Sunday, but several politicians in Mali said the strikes had killed civilians.A Mauritanian military official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told AFP the

HAMILTON: Tiny, remote Bermuda found itself late Sunday at the mercy of giant Hurricane Igor, which whipped the territory with fierce winds and rain that authorities fear could spell disaster.The brunt of the unusually large storm, whose eye was bigger than the entire British overseas

BRASILIA: A forest fire was burning out of control Sunday across a big swath of national park very near Brazil`s capital Brasilia, management of the park told AFP.More than 140 firefighters were battling the blaze, which was suspected to have been deliberately started in the dry brushland

NEW YORK: Iran urged the United States on Sunday to free eight Iranians as a "humanitarian gesture," while freed American hiker Sarah Shourd made an emotional plea for the release of two compatriots."Iran was the country that released Sarah. We haven`t even received a note from the United

BERLIN: A woman opened fire in a hospital in Germany`s southwestern town of Loerrach Sunday in a shooting in which she and three other people were killed, police told AFP."According to our information, there were four deaths," said a spokesman for police in the Freiburg region, speaking

MADRID: Basque separatists ETA Sunday called for international mediation and vowed to go further to end a decades-old conflict, two weeks after Spain rejected its ceasefire for failing to renounce violence forever.ETA fighters, blamed for 829 deaths in a flagging campaign of bombings and

JERUSALEM: Top Israeli and Palestinian officials headed Sunday for the United States where they are expected to seek ways to break a deadlock over settlements threatening to sabotage peace talks.Israeli President Shimon Peres left on a four-day visit coinciding with the UN General

BOGOTA: The Colombian army killed at least 18 suspected leftist FARC guerrillas in a battle Sunday near the Ecuadoran border, Defense Minister Rodrigo Rivera said."The operation is underway and the toll that I can give you so far is 18 losses among the terrorists of the FARC," he said,

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