KOLKATA: The Indian city of Kolkata will mark Thursday the memory of a diminutive nun, born 100 years ago and half a world away, who became a global symbol of compassion for her work with the sick and destitute.Mother Teresa, the "Angel of Mercy," a Nobel peace prize winner and Roman

TOKYO: The former secretary general of Japan`s ruling party, Ichiro Ozawa, said Wednesday he values US democracy but believes Americans are "simple-minded," local media reported."Why is the United States so simple? I like Americans, but they are somewhat like single-cell (organisms),"

NEW YORK: A coalition that includes relatives of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks staged a demonstration Wednesday in support of a plan to build a mosque near the attack site in lower Manhattan.The group, calling itself "New York Neighbors for American Values," gathered Wednesday

MOSCOW: Russian police have seized thousands of copies of a critical book on the country`s powerful Prime Minister Vladimir Putin penned by an opposition leader, his party said Wednesday.Liberal opposition leader Boris Nemtsov`s book entitled "Putin: the Toll, 10 years," was described by

WASHINGTON: An aide to Afghan President Hamid Karzai who is under investigation for corruption is on the payroll of the Central Intelligence Agency, The New York Times reported on Wednesday.Citing unnamed Afghan and US officials, the newspaper said Mohammed Zia Salehi, the chief of

JERUSALEM: Israel`s firebrand foreign minister on Wednesday played down US hopes, shared by his own prime minister, that peace talks starting in Washington next week would bear fruit within one year.Further putting a damper on a public show of enthusiasm by premier Benjamin Netanyahu and

WASHINGTON: US combat troops pulling out of Iraq can claim the ouster of a brutal dictator as a clear success but otherwise leave behind unresolved questions about democracy, terror and neighboring Iran`s power.With Washington about to declare an official end to the combat mission in Iraq

WASHINGTON: The Pakistani Taliban is planning attacks on foreigners participating in flood relief operations in Pakistan, a US official warned Wednesday."According to information available to the US government, Tehrik-e Taliban plans to conduct attacks against foreigners participating in

SEOUL: North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il may have left for China on Thursday in what would be his second trip there this year, a South Korean official said."Judging from circumstances, Chairman Kim might have left for China early Thursday morning," a senior official told AFP on condition of

NEW DELHI: The Indian parliament adopted Wednesday a long-delayed law that will throw open the 150-billion-dollar Indian atomic energy market to foreign private nuclear groups.The law, which has been the subject of fierce wrangling between the government and opposition, is part of a 2008

BAGHDAD: More than a dozen apparently coordinated car bombs targeting Iraqi police and other attacks killed 52 people on Wednesday, just days before the US military officially ends its combat mission here.The trail of bloodshed started in the capital Baghdad before stretching to the north

TEHRAN: Iran has test fired its home-built surface-to-surface Fateh 110 missile, state television reported on Wednesday, less than a week after a similar test was carried out on another missile.State television showed a sand-coloured missile being launched from a vehicle and blasting into

Beirut: Seyyed Hassan Nasarllah, leader of the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah, called on Lebanon`s government to follow Tehran`s footsteps and build a nuclear facility to generate electricity like the reactor in Bushehr, Iran. "The cost of building the Bushehr reactor was less than

BANGKOK: Thailand said Wednesday that the extradition to the United States of an alleged Russian arms dealer dubbed the "Merchant of Death" has been delayed because of legal complications. Police had said on Tuesday that Viktor Bout, who faces terrorism charges, would be escorted from

Beijing: A Chinese vice minister was amongst the 54 seriously injured in the plane crash in Heilongjiang province that left 42 people dead. The passenger aircraft overshot the runway and burst into flames while landing at Lindu airport in Yichun city Tuesday night. Xinhua news agency

Los Angeles: Residents from about 200 homes are being evacuated as a fierce wildfire spread in a mountainous area about 96 km northwest of Los Angeles, US. The fire started around 12.25 p.m. Tuesday near the hills in the Lebec Oaks Road area of Kern county, Sean Collins, a spokesman for

STOCKHOLM: WikiLeaks, the whistle-blowing website that published secret U.S. military files on the war in Afghanistan last month, said it plans to release a document from the Central Intelligence Agency on Wednesday.WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been accused by two women of sexual

JERUSALEM: Israeli settlers warned on Wednesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will face his "day of judgment" if he caves in to pressure to further limit settlement construction in the West Bank."This is not a time to mince words as this is literally a day of judgment for our

MEXICO CITY: Troops uncovered at least 72 bodies, including those of 14 women, on a ranch in northeastern Mexico after a clash with gunmen, the Mexican military said early Wednesday.The gruesome find came after a shootout between troops and suspected drug traffickers near the town of San

BAGHDAD: A suicide attacker blew up his vehicle at a police post in northeast Baghdad on Tuesday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 38, an interior ministry official said.The attack took place around 8:00 am (0500 GMT) in Qahira neighbourhood, the official said.The police and army