World News

US President Barack Obama used a meeting on Sunday with the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to urge pariah state Myanmar to free pro-democracy leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria has approved grants worth US$2.4 billion over two years. With this grant, the Global Fund has approved US$18.4 billion for 144 countries since it was created in 2002 to fight infectious diseases in developing countries.

Washington, Nov. 14 -- A US judge has levied a 13-year jail sentence on former congressman William Jefferson for corruption that involved US companies and countries across a wide swathe of Africa.

Washington, Nov. 14 -- The US urged North Korea on Friday to avoid taking any provocative steps following a clash earlier in the week between North and South Korean warships.

The Nepal Police have issued an arrest warrant against a woman minister in the Madhav Kumar Nepal government for allegedly slapping a senior official earlier this week.

Tokyo, Nov. 14 -- US President Barack Obama on Saturday declared Washington's intent to renew its active role in the Asian region after being "disengaged" in recent years.

The agitating Maoists in Nepal on Friday gave a week's ultimatum to the government to address their demands or else face a more aggressive (read violent) agitation.

Three days after the breathtaking show at Brandenburg Gate to commemorate the fall of the Wall, Berlin ? bombed to nearly rubble 65 years ago ? has turned itself into a theme park to celebrate the event that led 20 years ago to Germany?s reunification.

The Maoists in Nepal on Friday gave a week?s ultimatum to the government to address their demands or face a more aggressive ? read violent ? agitation.

Sri Lanka?s top general, chief of defence staff (CDS) general Sarath Fonseka on Thursday sought to prematurely retire from his post bringing to an end weeks of speculation that he had decided to shed uniform and join politics.

Last month Karen Ignagni held a conference call with reporters to announce the release of a new study commissioned by her lobby, America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). It found that the health care reform bill, then making its way through the Senate Finance Committee, would raise the cost of every family's health care by $400 a year.

Thousands of Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist cadres on Thursday blocked entry points to Singha Durbar, the official seat of Nepal government, as part of a two-day protest to restore what they term ?civilian supremacy?.

The detailed itinerary of the US President Barack Obama?s first-ever visit to China, starting Sunday, is well guarded. But it?s clear that behind the scenes of his global rather than bilateral agenda in Beijing lies relevance for India?s changing ties with the two powers.

He's been depicted as Darth Vader in the Russian press and described as "the scariest person on Earth." Igor Sechin's official title is deputy prime minister, but within Russia, many consider him the most powerful individual in the country after Vladimir Putin. (Yes--that means he's more influential than the president.

Thousands of Unified Communist Party of Nepal-Maoist cadres on Thursday blocked entry points to Singha Durbar, the official seat of Nepal government, as part of a two-day protest to restore what they term ?civilian supremacy?.

The shadowy and reclusive ruler of the military junta in Myanmar general Than Shwe is beginning a three-day visit to Sri Lanka from Thursday. Than Shwe is likely to meet President Mahinda Rajapaksa in Kandy in central Sri Lanka where he would be flown after landing at the international airport in Colombo on Thursday noon.

Stopping well short of triumphalism and choosing to introspect instead on how to build on the lessons of the past, Berlin led the world in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall. The two-and-a-half-hour spectacle was suffused as much with a sense of history as with hope for the future.

It seems to be a season of records in South Asia. After the Maldives cabinet made one in October by holding a meeting under sea, the Nepal cabinet is planning one at a Mount Everest base camp this month.

General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka?s chief of defence staff (CDS) and an architect of the military victory against the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), may resign by the month-end.

General Sarath Fonseka, Sri Lanka?s chief of defence staff (CDS) and an architect of the military victory against the LTTE, is likely to resign by the end of this month. The resignation could clear the way for Fonseka to contest in the upcoming Presidential election against incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa.