National News

By Surojit Gupta
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Indian annual inflation rose to a 3-½ year high of 7.61 percent in late April, prompting the finance minister to pledge that the government would take more action to tame prices if needed.

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - The International Cricket Council (ICC) issued an official warning to the Indian board on Friday over the sub-standard pitch used for last month's final test against South Africa in Kanpur.

By Santosh Menon
LONDON (Reuters) - Oil raced to a new record high above $125 a barrel on Friday, as a strong performance over the last week and a surge in heating oil futures saw investment funds trooping into the market.

By Bappa Majumdar
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Miles of trees stripped of their leaves, heaps of rubble, twisted electricity poles and swarms of hungry people -- the first sights to greet Indian pilot Prashant Karde as he flew in aid for storm-wrecked Myanmar this week.

SRINAGAR, India (Reuters) - India will lodge a protest with Pakistan after soldiers came under heavy cross-border fire while trying to stop a group of armed men from sneaking into its part of Kashmir, a security official said on Friday.

By Surojit Gupta
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Annual inflation rose to a fresh 3-½ year high at 7.61 percent in late April, and analysts said that while moves to boost supplies and curb liquidity would pay off, it would remain high for some time.

By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - The United Nations estimated 1.5 million people have been "severely affected" by the cyclone that swept through Myanmar, as the United States expressed outrage with the country's junta over delays in allowing in aid.

By Louis Charbonneau
UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations estimated 1.5 million people have been "severely affected" by the cyclone that swept through Myanmar and the United States expressed outrage on Thursday at the delays in allowing in aid.

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The United Nations estimates that at least 1.5 million people in Myanmar have been "severely affected" by Cyclone Nargis, U.N. humanitarian affairs chief John Holmes said on Thursday.

By Aung Hla Tun
YANGON (Reuters) - Desperate survivors cried out for aid on Thursday nearly a week after 100,000 people were feared killed by Cyclone Nargis, as pressure piled up on Myanmar to throw its doors open to an international relief operation.

By Nick Mulvenney
EVEREST BASE CAMP, China (Reuters) - A Tibetan woman took the Olympic torch the last steps to the top of Everest on Thursday, realising "a dream of all Chinese people", but Tibetan exiles criticised Beijing for politicising the Games.

By Abhishek Madhukar
DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) - Tibetan exiles in India and Nepal reacted with pain and anger at the Olympic torch reaching the Everest peak on Thursday, saying it was a clever ploy by China to reinforce its claim over Tibet.

By Biswajyoti Das
GUWAHATI, India (Reuters) - A powerful rebel group in revolt-racked northeast accused New Delhi on Thursday of encouraging rival groups to attack them and sabotage a decade-old peace process aimed to end the long-running insurgency.

JAMMU, India (Reuters) - A bus veered off a mountain road in Kashmir on Thursday and fell into a river, killing at least 28 people, police said.

JAMMU, India (Reuters) - A bus veered off a mountain road in Kashmir on Thursday and fell into a river, killing at least 15 people, police said.

By Abhishek Madhukar
DHARAMSALA, India (Reuters) - An envoy to the Dalai Lama said on Thursday Chinese negotiators had shown a willingness to engage with the Tibetan side during recent talks, despite major differences on important issues.

BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - An Indian doctor who was jailed in Britain for withholding information about planned car bomb attacks in London and Glasgow has returned to India but will now face questioning by local police, an officer said.

By Alistair Scrutton
BANGALORE, India (Reuters) - In a dustbowl of a rally in South Asia's "Silicon Valley", India's most powerful politician struggled this week to inject life into a state election campaign that may influence the national government's chances of re-election.

By Aftab Borka
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Leaders of Pakistan's ruling coalition are due to meet in London this week to resolve differences over how to reinstate judges dismissed in November by President Pervez Musharraf, officials said on Thursday.