BUCHAREST: Romania will raise the VAT tax levied on goods and services to 24 percent from 19 percent to curb the public deficit and obtain a crucial IMF loan disbursement, Prime Minister Emil Boc said Saturday. The move comes after a court on Friday blocked the government`s plan to cut

NEW ORLEANS: A potentially dangerous tropical storm named Alex that experts say could complicate the Gulf of Mexico oil spill clean-up formed Saturday in the Caribbean Sea. At 0900 GMT, the eye of the storm, which packed sustained winds of 40 miles (65 kilometers) an hour, was located

WASHINGTON: US President Barack Obama called on Congress Saturday to give final approval to Wall Street reform, arguing it will ensure the strongest consumer financial protections in US history. "I don`t have to tell you why these reforms are so important," Obama said in his weekly radio

KOLKATA: A 24 -hour transport strike began in West Bengal on Saturday morning at the call of the labour wing of the state’s ruling party in protest against the central government’s step raising fuel prices.  The Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) labour arm Centre of Indian

TAIPEI : Thousands of people took to the streets of Taipei on Saturday to protest just days before Taiwan was set to seal a major trade deal with China. "Oppose ECFA!", "Save Taiwan!", protesters shouted at the march in downtown Taipei organised by the pro-independence Democratic

KABUL : A foreign soldier was killed in a Taliban-style bomb attack in southern Afghanistan on Saturday, NATO said. The death pushes the toll among foreign troops so far this month to 85, by far the deadliest monthly tally since the war began in late 2001. The total for the year so far

BEIJING : At least 11 people died Saturday in northwest China when their bus veered off a road and plunged into a mountainous ravine, state press reported. Twenty-seven people were in the minibus in the Ningxia region when it fell 20 metres (65 feet) into the ravine, Xinhua news agency

HARGEISA: The self-proclaimed state of Somaliland closed its borders Saturday as voters chose their president amid fears Islamists from neighbouring Somalia could try to disrupt the polls. The northern territory has been more stable than Somalia since it broke away in 1991 but a message

KABUL : A huge blast was heard in the Afghan capital Saturday as a US military official arrived for meetings to explain the sacking of the US commander of foreign forces in the country, witnesses told AFP. The blast took place in the centre of the city, at 9.55 am (0525 GMT), the

HUNTSVILLE: Leaders of the industrial world were to shift their attention to Iran and North Korea Saturday as nuclear proliferation and other international security issues take center stage at their summit. "The session tomorrow is going to focus on peace and security, Iran and North

SYDNEY: An Australian mining company which lost its entire board in a plane crash in the Congo said Saturday all the bodies had been recovered and transported to Brazzaville for formal identification. All 11 people on board the chartered twin turboprop were killed when it smashed into

HONIARA  : A strong 6.9-magnitude earthquake struck near the Solomon Islands in the western Pacific Saturday, the US Geological Survey (USGS) said, updating its previous estimate of a 7.1-magnitude quake. No immediate threat of a tsunami was

SYDNEY: The shadowy deposing of Australian leader Kevin Rudd by his female deputy appears to be paying off, with the first polls suggesting Julia Gillard would win the election with a commanding lead. Gillard became Australia`s first female prime minister Thursday after disposing of Rudd

LONDON : French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde Friday called the euro "a credible, solid" currency and expressed confidence that troubled eurozone member Greece will be able to cut its public debt. Asked in an interview with the BBC whether the European currency faced a threat to its

MIRANSHAH : A US drone strike in Pakistan`s lawless northwest tribal belt, on the border with Afghanistan, killed two militants and wounded two others early on Saturday, security officials said. The drone targeted a house in Mir Ali area, 30 kilometres (around 20 miles) east of

NEW YORK - Accused Kingston drug lord Christopher "Dudus" Coke arrived Thursday in New York to face drug and gun-trafficking charges following his extradition from Jamaica, US authorities said.Coke "arrived this evening in the Southern District of New York to face charges of conspiracy to

MONTERREY - Police are increasingly fleeing their posts in rural communities in the Mexican border state of Nuevo Leon after the killings of more than 60 officers in the area so far this year. Authorities blame warring drug traffickers for growing violence in the northern state which has

NEW DELHI - India agreed on Friday to release four detained Pakistani nationals on the eve of talks in Islamabad between the interior ministers of the South Asian neighbours, a government statement said. Home Minister P. Chidambaram "as a gesture of goodwill" approved the release of the

TBILISI - Georgia secretly tore down the historic bronze statue of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet dictator`s home town of Gori overnight, officials said Friday."Stalin`s monument in Gori was dismantled overnight," Deputy Foreign Minister Giga Bokeria told AFP, adding that the government

SINGAPORE - A Swiss expatriate pleaded guilty on Friday to vandalism and trespass for spray-painting a Singapore metro train in a daring stunt for which he is expected to be caned and jailed. Oliver Fricker, 32, is to be sentenced later for the two crimes, which alarmed Singapore