STOCKHOLM: Swedes go to the polls Sunday with surveys hinting voters will re-elect the centre-right government, as the far-right makes its debut in parliament and could be handed the role of kingmaker.Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, 45, is vying to see his four-party coalition become

BRATISLAVA: NATO vowed Saturday to make its command slimmer yet effective as its military chiefs met in Slovakia to discuss modernising the alliance.NATO Military Committee head Giampaolo Di Paola said the new command would be flexible, slimmer but effective, and said he could not give

BRUSSELS: Anger over France`s expulsion of Roma migrants has blown the lid off Europe`s failure to integrate its biggest minority group, fueling calls for sweeping action to end decades of neglect.The French crackdown escalated into a fierce political row which hijacked a summit of

VIENNA: A bitter row over Israel`s assumed nuclear arsenal looks set to dominate the annual general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency which begins Monday.Every year at the week-long conference which brings together all 151 member states of the IAEA, Arab nations table a

LONDON: Pope Benedict XVI has stepped up his displays of contrition towards victims of paedophile priests on his state visit to Britain, but he still has far to go to win back public opinion, observers said.Benedict met five British abuse victims and expressed "deep sorrow" during mass on

VANCOUVER: The only person ever convicted in the 1985 Air India bombings was found guilty of one count of perjury Saturday in this western Canadian city.Inderjit Singh Reyat, a Sikh immigrant to Canada, already served more than 15 years in prison for manslaughter and making the bombs in

SRINAGAR: Police fired on fresh anti-India demonstrations in Kashmir on Saturday, killing three protesters and bringing the number of civilian deaths in an unprecedented wave of unrest to 102.The new deaths came as thousands of Kashmiris poured on to the streets shouting "Go back India"

Kabul: At least 18 Taliban militants and six security personnel, including a soldier, were killed and several civilians injured in clashes in various Afghan provinces amid the country`s second parliamentary polls held Saturday, Xinhua reported.The Taliban who vowed to derail the voting

YANGON: Myanmar state media warned opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi`s party on Saturday to drop protests against its dissolution and threatened jail for anyone impeding the November vote.Although the National League for Democracy (NLD) -- officially disbanded this week -- was not named

DAMASCUS: Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad met in Damascus on Saturday, two days after Assad held talks with a U.S. envoy about the prospects of renewing peace negotiations with Israel.The meeting suggested that Iran wants to keep close tabs on

BANGKOK: A convoy of Thai "Red Shirts" headed to their northern heartland Saturday for rallies marking four years since the coup that ousted Thaksin Shinawatra and four months since deadly protests ended.The procession of 80 cars, vans and pickup trucks snaked out of the Thai capital as

KARADIYANARU: Sri Lankan authorities Saturday began clearing rubble and wreckage after 25 people were killed in the first major explosion since the end of a decades-long civil war.Heavy earth-moving equipment was being brought to the village of Karadiyanaru, in the east of the island, as

BEIJING: More than 100 protesters rallied Saturday near Tokyo`s embassy in Beijing, furious over Japan`s arrest of a Chinese fishing boat captain, a move that has sparked a major diplomatic row.The demonstration began just metres (yards) from the embassy gate but when police blocked the

SRINAGAR, India: Thousands of residents of Indian Kashmir poured on to the streets Saturday after the death of another protester in a wave of anti-India unrest that has gripped the region for three months.Defying a strict curfew, protesters in Srinagar chanted "we want freedom!" and

WELLINGTON: A storm the size of Australia whipped New Zealand Saturday leaving tens of thousands of people without power and sending a stadium roof crashing down.The second natural disaster to hit the country in a fortnight lifted roofs and uprooted trees as hurricane-force winds swept

UNITED NATIONS: The world`s conflicts, crises and diplomatic dramas -- from stumbling efforts to cut poverty to Iran`s nuclear drive and Pakistan`s flood disaster -- will be debated and disputed by global leaders from Monday at the annual UN summit.Presidents Barack Obama of the United

WASHINGTON: A publisher has agreed to remove US intelligence secrets from a memoir by a former army officer in Afghanistan after the Pentagon raised last-minute objections, officials said Friday.The book, "Operation Dark Heart," had been printed and prepared for release in August but St.

BAMAKO: The Mauritanian army was fighting militants of Al-Qaeda`s north African wing Friday near the border with Mali`s Timbuktu region, a Malian security source told AFP."Clashes are taking place this moment between AQIM and the Mauritanian army on Mauritanian territory, in the area near

HAVANA: The American Ballet Theatre and the New York City Ballet will perform in Cuba for the first time in half a century in November in homage to former prima ballerina Alicia Alonso on her 90th birthday, organizers said Friday.Alonso, who founded Cuba`s national ballet company in 1948,

LONDON: Pope Benedict XVI faced Saturday the first major protests of his visit to Britain as police kept six street cleaners in custody for questioning over a suspected "terrorist" plot linked to his trip.The 83-year-old pontiff was set to lead a huge open-air prayer vigil in London`s