Yahoo! News India

By Hamid Shalizi KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan President Hamid Karzai plans to discuss potential arms deals with Indian officials during a trip to New Delhi this week, officials said, at a time when tensions are running high on Afghanistan's disputed border with Pakistan. Kabul's overtures to New Delhi are likely to rile Islamabad where a new government led by two-time prime minister Nawaz Sharif is set to take office soon, promising improved ties with India. ...

PARIS (Reuters) - A capacity crowd chanting his name, the Eiffel Tower in the background: even by his own glamorous standards, David Beckham got a special send-off on Saturday as he headed into retirement with another title in the bag. "Tonight was a nice way to go out, in front of my family and in front of the capacity crowd who were excited because we won the league," the 38-year-old former England captain told reporters after his 10th and probably final Ligue 1 appearance. ...

By Ed Osmond LONDON (Reuters) - England's Stuart Broad took five wickets to leave New Zealand, chasing 239 for victory, in tatters at 29 for six at lunch on the fourth day of the first test at Lord's on Sunday. Broad removed Peter Fulton (1), Hamish Rutherford (9), Ross Taylor (0), Kane Williamson (6) and Brendon McCullum (8) in the space of 32 balls to put England on the brink of victory. New Zealand earlier bowled out the hosts for 213, Tim Southee completing figures of six for 50 to give the touring side genuine hopes of securing only their fifth test win in England. ...

By Mohammed Abbas LONDON (Reuters) - British Prime Minister David Cameron is "losing control of his party", Conservative Party grandee Geoffrey Howe said on Sunday, as a row raged over whether a close aide to Cameron had labelled grassroots activists "mad, swivel-eyed loons". The furore threatens to further alienate Cameron and his inner circle from the core of his party, with whom ties are already almost at breaking point. ...

By Ann Saphir and Jonathan Spicer REUTERS - The beginning of the end of the Federal Reserve's massive bond-buying program might come sooner than many investors think if recent gains in the U.S. labor market do not prove fleeting. Much will depend on how economic data, which has given mixed signals for growth prospects, develops over the next few months. Reports on job growth in particular will go a long way in helping Fed officials determine whether the time is right to trim the pace of their $85 billion in monthly purchases. The marked improvement in the labor market since the U.S. ...

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian police enraged by the kidnapping of seven of their colleagues by Islamist gunmen in the Sinai Peninsula blocked a commercial border crossing with Israel on Sunday, security sources said. Police have been blocking another border post, the Rafah crossing into the Gaza Strip, since Friday to press the government of Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi, who belongs to the Muslim Brotherhood, to help free the seven. ...

By Jane Chung SEOUL (Reuters) - North Korea fired a short-range missile from its east coast on Sunday, a day after launching three of these missiles, a South Korean news agency said, ignoring calls for restraint from Western powers. Launches by the North of short-range missiles are not uncommon but, after recent warnings from the communist state of impending nuclear war, such actions have raised concerns about the region's security. ...

REUTERS - Australian Matthew Griffin won the SK Telecom Open at South Korea's Jeju Island by one shot after Sunday's final round was called off due to heavy fog. A 40-foot putt from the back of the green on the 18th guaranteed him the third-round lead on Saturday and it turned out to be the winning shot at the 1 billion Korean won OneAsia event at the Pinx Golf Club. "It's unfortunate to finish like this, but I'll take it," Griffin, who leapt to the top of the OneAsia Order of Merit with the win, said. ...

By Sonya Dowsett MADRID (Reuters) - Many duped savers at Spanish lender Bankia are shunning a state-supervised compensation scheme in favour of expensive lawsuits, prolonging a mis-selling scandal and complicating efforts to restore faith in the banking system. The disputes over mis-selling at Bankia and other nationalised banks have created a major headache for the government as it tries to take the next step in their rescue, imposing large losses on holders of junior debt. ...

By Jeffrey Heller JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu held out the prospect on Sunday of further Israeli strikes inside Syria, pledging to act to prevent advanced weapons from reaching Hezbollah and other militant groups. Although Israel has not publicly taken sides in the civil war between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to topple him, Western and Israeli sources say it has launched air strikes in Syria to destroy weapons it believed were destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah. ...

By William James LONDON (Reuters) - An independent Scotland would have a vastly oversized financial sector that would leave it vulnerable to a Cyprus-style banking crisis, Britain's finance ministry says. Before a referendum due in September 2014 on whether Scotland should split from the United Kingdom, the British government is analysing the impact of independence on Scotland, which has a population of about 5 million. ...

MOSCOW (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon voiced concern on Sunday over North Korea's launch of short-range missiles, urging Pyonyang to refrain from further launches and return to stalled nuclear talks with world powers. Ban, who spoke to Russian state news agency RIA Novosti during a visit to Moscow, called North Korea's launch of three short-range missiles from its east coast on Saturday a "provocative action". "We are very worried over North Korea's provocative action," he told RIA in comments translated into Russian. ...

DUBAI (Reuters) - Iranian authorities executed two men on Sunday convicted of working for Israeli and U.S. spy agencies, Iran's Fars news agency reported. Mohammad Heidari, accused of passing security-related information and secrets to Israeli Mossad agents in exchange for money, and Kourosh Ahmadi, accused of gathering information for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, were hanged at dawn, it said. The sentence for their execution was handed down by Tehran's Revolutionary Court and confirmed by the country's Supreme Court. ...

Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) After playing all kind of roles in TV shows, actress Preet Mullani doesn't know what to take up next.

Hanoi, May 19 (IANS) Vietnam Sunday successfully conducted test flights of six indigenously-made unmanned aerial vehicles, a media report said.

Chennai, May 19 (IANS) Four lorries went up in flames inside the Chennai Port Trust area Sunday evening but tghe cause of the fire is not clear yet, officials said. The fire was brought under control by the tenders located in the port, they added.

Jerusalem, May 19 (IANS) The state of Israel has said it would return the lands of a settlement evacuated in 2005 back to its original Palestinian owners, an Israeli daily said Sunday.

Chennai, May 19 (IANS) Rajasthan Royals will file a police complaint against its three players arrested for spot fixing while the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) set up a panel to probe the scandal, board president N. Srinivasan announced here Sunday.

Moscow, May 19 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia's Public Television, which will be governed by the public rather than by the state or the channel owners and which will not run any commercials, Sunday started its broadcast. It offers viewers news, films, entertainment and cognitive programmes.

Shimla, May 19 (IANS) The Himachal Pradesh government would launch an integrated crop diversification programme to bring additional 3,000 hectares under cultivation of vegetables, Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh said Sunday.

Melbourne, May 19 (IANS) Cricket Australia (CA) Sunday said David Warner has been reported for breaching their Code of Behaviour.

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Three more people have been arrested in the Indian Premier League spot fixing case, Delhi Police said Sunday, taking the number of arrested to 15, including India fast bowler S. Sreesanth and two other players of the Rajasthan Royals.

Mumbai, May 19 (IANS) Ace dancer and actress Lauren Gottlieb, winner of third season of "So You Can Think You Can Dance", is jittery about performing in front of Bollywood dancing diva Madhuri Dixit on "Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa 6".

Puri (Odisha), May 19 (IANS) An Odisha policeman was suspended for his nexus with a murder suspect who was trying to evade arrest, police said Sunday.

New Delhi, May 19 (IANS) Indian chefs often experiment with the recipes and ingredients, true! But a spicy and crispy 'Crab Samosa' served with mango chutney is something that would surely make you think about the level of creativity and imagination of the chefs.

Kolkata, May 19 (IANS) On the eve of completing two years in office, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee Sunday claimed that West Bengal outperformed and outgrew the nation during 2012-13.