World News

Sydney, Sep 29 (IANS) Nearly 750-550 million years ago, aeons before the advent of dinosaurs, earth survived the severest ice age, alternating with extremes of tropical greenhouse conditions.

Nairobi/Mogadishu, Sep 28 (DPA) Somali pirates in possession of a Ukrainian ship Sunday demanded $5 million in ransom, after originally asking for $35 million, said Andrew Mwangura, head of East Africa's Seafarer's Assistance Programme.

Sydney, Sep 28 (IANS) As the Indian consumer goes all out to seek new experiences from food and wine, installs an in-home spa and holidays in exotic destinations, modern retail is well on its way to becoming the key driver of the country's economy, says Geoff Hiscock, an Australian author who studies the economies in Asia, especially India.

Nairobi/Kiev, Sep 26 (DPA) Pirates have seized a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying military tanks off the coast of Somalia, a maritime official said Friday.

Nairobi/Kiev, Sep 26 (RIA Novosti) Pirates off the Somali coast seized a Ukrainian ship en route to Kenya with 21 people on board, Ukraine's foreign ministry has said citing reports from maritime rescue officials in Greece.

Mogadishu, Sep 25 (Xinhua) Somali Prime Minister Nur Hassan Hussein Thursday called on the insurgent groups which have not been part of the peace talks to join in the national reconciliation process and help restore peace in the country.

Johannesburg, Sep 25 (DPA) African National Congress (ANC) deputy leader Kgalema Motlanthe was elected South Africa's caretaker president Thursday in a landslide vote in the National Assembly in Cape Town.

Johannesburg, Sep 25 (Xinhua) The South African parliament Thursday elected Kgalema Motlanthe, the deputy leader of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), as the interim president of the country.

Harare, Sep 25 (DPA) Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has described as 'devastating' the removal from office of his South African counterpart Thabo Mbeki, who is seen as a key ally of the of ageing authoritarian Mugabe in the last eight years.

Jerusalem, Sep 25 (DPA) A full copy of nearly 52,000 testimonies of Holocaust survivors has been transferred to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Centre in Jerusalem, making it the world's largest repository of survivor evidence of the Nazi genocide of the Jews.

Johannesburg, Sep 25 (DPA) African National Congress (ANC) deputy leader Kgalema Motlanthe was due to be sworn in Thursday as South Africa's third president since democracy was established in 1994, five days after Thabo Mbeki was forced out of the job by his party.

Sydney, Sep 25 (DPA) Young people are always told to get a degree because a good education is a passport to a good job.

Sydney, Sep 25 (IANS) A proposed Islamic cemetery, to be built on an historic Anglican graveyard, has stirred a storm in the Australian town of Camden, where the issue of racism was raked up after its council refused to allow the establishment of an Islamic school while permitting the establishment of a Catholic school earlier this year.

Sydney, Sep 25 (IANS) An Indian trainee pilot was killed when his single engine aircraft crashed in Sydney's Luddenham suburb Wednesday, less than a month after another Indian trainee pilot's death in a plane crash.

Sydney, Sep 25 (IANS) An Indian trainee pilot was killed when his single engine aircraft crashed in Sydney's Luddenham suburb Wednesday evening.

Kampala, Sep 25 (DPA) A heavily loaded boat capsized on a northwestern Ugandan lake Wednesday, drowning 18 people, a media report quoted police officials as saying.

Mogadishu, Sep 24 (Xinhua) Twenty civilians were killed and 33 wounded in heavy artillery exchange between insurgents and African Union (AU) peacekeepers here, witnesses and hospital sources said Wednesday.

Sydney, Sep 24 (IANS) Fashion guru Manish Arora's 'Butterfly Dress' and three other Indian design outfits will feature at New Zealand's most coveted fashion and arts extravaganza opening Thursday.

Johannesburg, Sep 23 (DPA) South Africa's ruling African National Congress' (ANC) hopes for a smooth transition of power after its ousting of President Thabo Mbeki were quashed Tuesday when 11 cabinet ministers resigned in a shock move.

Sydney, Sep 23 (IANS) Couples who feel secure with each other are more likely to work out their problems in a spirit of give and take, rather than avoid them.