Yahoo! News India

  • Obama says reports US ready for war in Syria are exaggerated Reuters
    Obama says reports US ready for war in Syria are exaggerated

    BERLIN (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday reports that the United States was ready to go to war in Syria were exaggerated and he also reiterated his view that the Damascus government had used chemical weapons and could not regain legitimacy. "Some of the stories that have been out there publicly have gotten a little overcranked in terms of the idea that somehow the United States is preparing to go all in and participate in another war. What we want to do is end a war," Obama said. "We're confident that in fact the (Syrian) government has used chemical weapons. ...

  • Rupee gains ahead of Fed; still near record low Reuters
    Rupee gains ahead of Fed; still near record low

    By Subhadip Sircar MUMBAI (Reuters) - The rupee rose on Wednesday, yet remained within close of its record low hit last week, as outflows from equity markets added to concerns about the funding of the current account deficit ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on its stimulus programme. Such concerns have compounded because of the likelihood of the Fed tapering its bond purchases, which could trigger an outflow from emerging markets. Foreign fund selling in Indian equities have picked up pace to add to the huge sell-off in debt markets. ...

  • World Bank watching U.S. Fed, ready to respond Reuters
    World Bank watching U.S. Fed, ready to respond

    By Paul Ingrassia and Mike Peacock LONDON (Reuters) - The World Bank is concerned about the spillover effects on developing countries of a slowing of U.S. money creation and will move to provide affordable capital when borrowing costs rise, its president said on Wednesday. The U.S. Federal Reserve has sparked a bout of financial market turmoil since its chief, Ben Bernanke, announced on May 22 that the Fed could, before the year is out, begin slowing the pace at which it creates dollars. ...

  • Daniel Radcliffe proves acting skills in London stage role Reuters
    Daniel Radcliffe proves acting skills in London stage role

    By Belinda Goldsmith LONDON (Reuters) - British actor Daniel Radcliffe won plaudits on Tuesday for a new stage role as a bullied Irish cripple that takes him a critical step further away from his days as boy wizard Harry Potter. In his third foray onto the stage in six years, Radcliffe adopts an Irish accent to play Billy, the bullied 17-year-old title character in "The Cripple of Inishmaan", a politically incorrect black comedy by Martin McDonagh. ...

  • Barca tasked with convincing sought-after Thiago to stay Reuters
    Barca tasked with convincing sought-after Thiago to stay

    By Iain Rogers MADRID (Reuters) - Barcelona face a delicate balancing act to convince sought-after Spain Under-21 playmaker Thiago Alcantara that his long-term future lies with the club and he can play a leading role with the La Liga champions next season. The 22-year-old Barca academy graduate, whose contract runs until June 2015, is being groomed as the successor to Xavi in central midfield but is said to be frustrated at a lack of playing time and has attracted the attention of some of Europe's wealthiest clubs. Valued at 22 million euros on website transfermarkt. ...

  • Sensex ends higher ahead of Fed decision Reuters
    Sensex ends higher ahead of Fed decision

    By Abhishek Vishnoi MUMBAI (Reuters) - The BSE Sensex edged up on Wednesday amid volatility as investors awaited the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, with telecom stocks such as Idea Cellular gaining on new roaming regulations. Major markets, including Asia, were stuck within recent ranges as investors keenly awaited comments from Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke whether the U.S. central bank will scale back its bond-buying programme. Traders worry an end to U.S. ...

  • Finmeccanica helicopter corruption trial starts in Italy Reuters
    Finmeccanica helicopter corruption trial starts in Italy

    By Emilio Parodi BUSTO ARSIZIO, Italy (Reuters) - The trial of the former head of Italian defence group Finmeccanica began on Wednesday, with Giuseppe Orsi facing corruption charges over a deal to sell 12 helicopters to the Indian government. Bruno Spagnolini, the former chief executive of AgustaWestland - the division of Finmeccanica that sold the helicopters - is being tried alongside Orsi on the same charges. The scandal has raised the prospect that Finmeccanica could be blacklisted in India, the world's largest arms importer and an important growth market for the state-controlled company. ...

  • Internet monitoring must have proper limits, Merkel tells Obama Reuters
    Internet monitoring must have proper limits, Merkel tells Obama

    BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel told U.S. President Barack Obama on Wednesday that government monitoring of Internet communications needed to remain within proper limits. "I made clear that although we do see the need for gathering information, the topic of proportionality is always an important one and the free democratic order is based on people feeling safe," Merkel said at a joint news conference with Obama. ...

  • Nadal seeded fifth at Wimbledon Reuters
    Nadal seeded fifth at Wimbledon

    LONDON (Reuters) - Rafa Nadal could face world number one Novak Djokovic, defending champion Roger Federer or home favourite Andy Murray as early as the Wimbledon quarter-finals after being announced as fifth seed for the tournament on Wednesday. Djokovic was named number one, with Murray second and Federer third in seedings that followed the world rankings. Spaniard Nadal, twice a winner at the All England Club and a 12-times grand slam champion, is working his way back up after a seven-month layoff due to a knee injury. ...

  • India to consider allowing extra wheat exports on Friday Reuters
    India to consider allowing extra wheat exports on Friday

    By Mayank Bhardwaj NEW DELHI (Reuters) - India could add another 2 million tonnes of wheat for export in a successful tender scheme as private traders shun more expensive direct sales, bringing the total offered to 6.5 million tonnes. The decision, which could dampen global prices further and help the world's second-biggest wheat producer cut swollen stocks, may come at a cabinet meeting on Friday, Food Minister K.V. Thomas told Reuters on Wednesday. ...

  • Tata Motors upgrades eight existing car models Reuters
    Tata Motors upgrades eight existing car models

    By Aradhana Aravindan PUNE (Reuters) - Tata Motors on Wednesday launched eight upgrades of existing models, including a CNG-fuelled version of its low-cost Nano, but said little about plans for completely new vehicles to help reverse sliding car sales in India. In recent quarters, strong performance at its luxury Jaguar Land Rover unit has helped compensate for weak passenger car sales at home, where Tata is losing market share to rivals Hyundai Motor Co and Maruti Suzuki, which last year launched its successful Ertiga multi-purpose vehicle. ...

  • China completes Internet, phone monitoring scheme for Tibet Reuters
    China completes Internet, phone monitoring scheme for Tibet

    BEIJING (Reuters) - China has completed a monitoring scheme in restive Tibet that requires all telephone and internet users to register under their real names, state media said on Wednesday, as part of a campaign to crack down on what officials describe as rumours. Tibetans are already closely watched, due to decades of often violent unrest in protest at Chinese rule, which Beijing blames on exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama. By the end of last year, all 2.76 million fixed line and mobile telephone users and 1. ...

  • Suicide bomber, gunmen attack UN office in Somalia Reuters

    By Abdi Sheikh MOGADISHU (Reuters) - A suicide bomber and several gunmen attacked a United Nations compound in the Somali capital Mogadishu on Wednesday, police and witnesses said, in a strike that bore the hallmarks of al Qaeda-linked militants. The bomber set off his explosives outside the gate of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) base before attackers ran inside and opened fire on security guards, a senior police official told Reuters. Gunfire could still be heard more than 30 minutes after the initial explosion. It was not immediately clear whether any U.N. ...

  • Syrian rebels claim attack on Shi'ites in Lebanon Reuters

    BEIRUT (Reuters) - A Syrian rebel unit has claimed responsibility in a video for killing four Shi'ite men in Lebanon this week as Syria's civil war spills into its smaller, religiously divided neighbour. In the video, posted on Tuesday by a group calling itself the "Syrian Mujahideen Unit", a fighter says his brigade killed the four men as they were trying to enter Syria. He said they were members of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi'ite militant group that has actively helped Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his fight against a mostly Sunni Muslim revolt. ...

  • Islamists say behind U.N. compound attack in Somalia Reuters

    NAIROBI (Reuters) - The Somali Islamist militant group al Shabaab said on Wednesday its fighters were behind an attack on a United Nations compound in Mogadishu and said a battle between their gunmen and security forces continued more than an hour after an initial blast. "Mujahideen units from the Martyrdom Brigade have stormed the UNDP compound near the airport in Mogadishu," the group said on its official Twitter feed @HSMPRESS1. A U.N. spokesman in Mogadishu said the attackers had entered the compound. (Editing by Richard Lough and Edmund Blair)